Atlantic Ocean (Geography)

Atlantic Ocean (Geography)
Name	Atlantic Ocean
Caption	Satellite image of the North Atlantic
Location	Between the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Antarctica
Area km2	106460000
Max depth m	8487
Basin countries	United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Norway, Iceland, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Uruguay

Contents

Atlantic Ocean (Geography)

The Atlantic Ocean lies between the North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Antarctica landmasses and connects via the Arctic Ocean to the north and the Southern Ocean to the south. It has been central to voyages by Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Ferdinand Magellan and to naval engagements such as the Battle of the Atlantic, shaping routes used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and Imperial Japanese Navy. Major ports like New York City, London, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, and Cape Town line its shores, while transoceanic agreements including the Svalbard Treaty and institutions such as the International Maritime Organization influence its governance.

Overview

The Atlantic covers roughly one-fifth of Earth's surface and separates continental plates including the North American Plate, South American Plate, Eurasian Plate, and African Plate. Historical exploration tied the ocean to eras like the Age of Discovery and events like the Columbian Exchange and the Transatlantic slave trade; economic networks such as the Triangular trade and the British Empire maritime system depended on its routes. Strategic chokepoints include the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dover Strait, the Florida Strait, and the Suez Canal access via the Mediterranean Sea; modern geopolitics involve actors like NATO, the European Union, and the African Union.

The basin contains major marginal seas including the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Baltic Sea, North Sea, Labrador Sea, and Mediterranean Sea. Prominent island groups include the Azores, Canary Islands, Bermuda, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, Cape Verde, and Fernando de Noronha. Coastal megacities such as Miami, Buenos Aires, Lagos, Abidjan, and Dakar depend on its fisheries and shipping lanes. Bathymetric features range from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge crest to abyssal plains near the Porcupine Abyssal Plain and trenches adjacent to subduction zones like the Puerto Rico Trench.

The Atlantic hosts a pole-to-pole thermohaline circulation leg commonly called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), linked to climate variability in regions including Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, Norway, and Iberia. Surface currents include the Gulf Stream system connecting to the North Atlantic Drift and the Canary Current; the North Equatorial Current, South Equatorial Current, and Brazil Current shape tropical and subtropical circulation affecting coasts of Venezuela, Guyana, Senegal, and Angola. Variability in currents influences events such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation teleconnections and regional phenomena recorded by observatories like the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

The basin is bisected by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent plate boundary characterized by volcanic islands like the Iceland segment and seafloor spreading noted in magnetic anomaly records studied by expeditions from the RRS Discovery and RV Calypso. Transform faults such as the Azores–Gibraltar fracture zone and features like the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone modulate ridge morphology. Continental margins include the North American Atlantic Margin and the West African Margin, with sedimentary basins exploited by energy firms like BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies on the Continental shelf near Norway, Brazil, and Gabon.

Atlantic sea surface temperatures and heat transport influence climates of Western Europe, the East Coast of the United States, and West Africa, affecting storm genesis for systems tracked by agencies including the National Hurricane Center, the Met Office, and Météo-France. The ocean is the primary locus for Atlantic hurricane formation, impacting nations such as Cuba, Haiti, The Bahamas, Mexico, and Dominican Republic; variability ties to indices like the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Seasonal upwelling off Mauritania and Peru and phenomena near Bermuda influence regional fisheries and marine productivity monitored by NOAA and the ICES.

Ecosystems include coral reef systems in the Caribbean Sea, seagrass beds in Florida Bay, kelp forests near Macaronesia, and deep-sea communities at hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge studied by submersibles like Alvin and ROVs from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Iconic species include blue whale, humpback whale, North Atlantic right whale, Atlantic cod, bluefin tuna, and leatherback sea turtle; conservation frameworks include the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Marine protected areas such as around Serranilla Bank and regional agreements like the Barcelona Convention seek to conserve habitats threatened by overfishing and invasive species like Caulerpa taxifolia.

Human activities include shipping lanes used by carriers registered in Panama, Liberia, and Marshall Islands; offshore energy extraction in fields like the North Sea oil fields, Gulf of Mexico platforms, and Campos Basin; and fishing fleets from Portugal, Spain, China, Japan, and Norway. Environmental impacts include plastic pollution highlighted by studies from University of Exeter and marine noise documented by IUCN; events like the Deepwater Horizon spill and the Exxon Valdez grounding (North Pacific reference) exemplify petrochemical risk management changes. International governance involves the International Seabed Authority for deep-sea resources and dispute mechanisms under International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Atlantic coasts vary from fjorded shores in Norway and Greenland to low-lying deltaic zones of the Niger Delta, Mississippi River Delta, and Amazon Delta. Archipelagos include the Svalbard, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cabo Verde, Madeira, and the Antilles with cultural and political ties to states such as Spain, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, and United States. Coastal management programs by the World Bank and regional bodies address sea level rise threats to cities like Miami Beach, Alexandria, Barcelona, and Lagoon of Venice.

Category:Oceans