Oceans cover over 97% of the Earth’s surface. Earth is called the “Water Planet”. When you look at a map of Earth, you see that all the waters of the oceans are one continuous mass. In studying the...

Oceans and Life
Abstract
Oceans covers almost ¾ of the surface of the earth and full of diversities. Most of the part of
earth hydrosphere is a part of ocean. Ocean water is more dense due to the presence of the salt in
its water. Various types of aquatic species exist in ocean water like fishes, molluscs, plants, coral
reefs etc. diversity among oceans are different as per the climatic conditions of the regions. Some
of them have maximum diversity while some of them are less diverse. On the basis of their
physical features oceans are divided into various zones from the surface to the ocean floors. But
during these days oceans are polluted due to human interference in the regions. Commercial
ships, Cruise, military navigation polluting the waters of the ocean and due to that biodiversity of
the ocean is at risk. Countries are trying to prevent and restore the loss of biodiversity due to
pollution.
Physical Features of Oceans
Oceans cover almost 97% of the earth's surface. In general an ocean is a body of saline
water that consists of almost all the hydrosphere available on earth. Ocean water is more dense
than normal drinking water due to the presence of salt. The ocean is one of the most diverse
ecosystem present on the earth most of the part of the ocean biodiversity is beyond the reach of
the human exploration due to physical limitations but we are trying to access the hidden part of
the biodiversity. It is well known that pressure increases with an increase in depth from the water
surface, hence it is not possible for us to access the deep location inside the oceans due to huge


pressure which we will not be able to bear. Scientists are trying to access this location with the
help of machines and cameras. Ocean water is made up to 96.5% of water and 3.5% of solids
(etap, 2013). The main component of ocean water is salt that is also called NaCl or sodium
chloride. in addition to that ocean water also contains Magnesium, Sulfate, Calcium, Potassium,
Carbon, Bromine, Boron, Strontium, Fluorine and Nitrogen ions (etap, 2013). Since it is also
well known that the above listed materials are essential components for beginning of life hence
some scientist agree that life began in the oceans (etap, 2013).
For understanding the oceans and its physical features we need to study its ocean floors. Greatest
example to study the ocean floor is the Mauna Kea mountains in Hawaii which is 2 miles above
the ocean water surface and six miles below the surface of water in the pacific ocean (MOS,
2013). Most of the ocean floors are common information and structure and they formed by the
plate tectonics (MOS, 2013). On the ocean floor in various volcanoes, mountains , ridges are
present. Deep trenches available on the ocean floors can easily swallow the whole Everest
present on the earth. Ocean floors start from 200m deep continental shelves then continental
slopes which continues to the deepest portion of the oceans (MOS, 2013). Beyond continental
slopes plain and long mountain ranges occurs called abyss (MOS, 2013).
Features of the Ocean floor (MOS, 2013)


The ocean floor is full of sediment and various plant species. This floor is very rich in mineral
and nutrients as this is made up of the dead bodies of plants and various species (MOS, 2013). In
addition to that it is very fertile in nature as made up of the material carried by the rivers from
around the world that’s why a very diverse vegetation can be seen on the ocean floor (MOS,
2013).
It is believed that around 500 million years ago oceans was formed on the basis of analysis of the
fossils found in rocks on the ocean floors (Duke, 2013). There are several theories predicted
about the origin of the oceans, but no one is able to explain all the puzlles about oceans hence no
one is perfect. Many earth scientists agree with the hypothesis that both the atmosphere and the
oceans have accumulated with each other due to geological processes on the earth's crust (Duke,
2013). As per the theory, the ocean had its origin from the prolonged escape of water vapor and
other gases from the molten igneous rocks of the Earth to the clouds surrounding the cooling
Earth (Duke, 2013)....