Under the sea: what is in our oceans

Business Insights

24/01/2018

We have more water than land on Earth, with oceans covering 71% of the globe. Estimates by NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center claim that there is 321,003,271 cubic miles of water within these vast areas.

People are often surprised after hearing the figures above. Many ask the question: if we have so much water, what is under it? Tracerco specialists in subsea technologies aim to find out.

Marine life

We already know that there are thousands of species in our ocean and there is likely to be many more to discover – but this can only be achieved through constant advancements in technology – some scientists have said that the number of unknown creatures could scale up into the millions.

Around the entire world, there are around 4,000 species of coral reef fish, the equivalent of almost a quarter of the planets marine fish species. It’s also worth knowing that a millilitre of ocean water contains close to 1 million bacteria and 10 million viruses.

Beautiful views and a deep depth

The Mariana Trench is the deepest known area of the world’s oceans. Located in the western Pacific Ocean and to the east of the Mariana Islands, the deepest point found here measures in at an estimated 11,000 metres — or 36,000 feet. The average depth of the Earth’s oceans is also 3,720 metres — or 12,200 feet.

Another surprising fact is that longest mountain range on Earth is actually under the sea. Named the Mid-Oceanic Ridge, this mountain chain stretches for more than 56,000km across and covers parts of the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, Earth’s highest mountain in the ocean is the Mauna Kea. Found off the coast of Hawaii, the mountain rises for 10,203 metres (33,474 feet) from the ocean floor, with 4,170 metres (13,680 feet) viewable above sea level.

The largest living structure on the planet is also in the deep blue sea. This is the Great Barrier Reef — it measures around 2,600km and is so huge that it can be spotted from the Moon.

More uniquely, close to the Gulf of Mexico, there are many underwater volcanoes – however, they don’t explode with lava, just mud and methane. There’s also underwater hot springs found across the Earth’s oceans, where water with temperatures of 650°F shoot out — that’s hot enough to melt lead.

National Geographic suggests that we have only ventured through around 5% of the world’s oceans which opens up doors to new possibilities. We also have a more detailed map of Mars than we do of Earth’s ocean floor!

Interesting findings

Our oceans hold more history than the museums on our land do. There is almost 20 million tons of gold within the Earth’s oceans too — if all which was suspended was mined, there would be enough to give each person on the planet around 9 pounds of gold.

At the bottom of the ocean, it is suggested that $60 billion of sunken treasure remains.

It has been researched by scientists who have made public comments that there could be around 50 quadrillion tons of dissolved solids on the ocean bed, ranging from calcium to magnesium salts.

A harmful product that is often distributed into the ocean is plastic, and an estimate of 14 billion pounds worth of waste is already living there.

Trade & communication

Countries around the world are continuously trading, 90% of this is done by ships to cross the ocean. However, we also communicate with other countries around the world through the use of underwater cables and subsea technology.

Sources:

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/geography/general-geography/ocean-facts/

http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/nature/fun-surprising-facts-about-the-oceans

http://www.savethesea.org/STS%20ocean_facts.htm

http://facts.randomhistory.com/pollution-facts.html