A report on Southern Ocean

The Antarctic Ocean, as delineated by the draft 4th edition of the International Hydrographic Organization's Limits of Oceans and Seas (2002)
A general delineation of the Antarctic Convergence, sometimes used by scientists as the demarcation of the Southern Ocean
The International Hydrographic Organization's delineation of the "Southern Ocean" has moved steadily southwards since the original 1928 edition of its Limits of Oceans and Seas.
"Southern Ocean" as alternative to the Aethiopian Ocean, 18th century
1928 delineation
1937 delineation
Area inside the black line indicates the area constituting the Pacific Ocean prior to 2002; darker blue areas are its informal current borders following the recreation of the Southern Ocean and the reinclusion of marginal seas
Continents and islands of the Southern Ocean
A map of Australia's official interpretation of the names and limits of oceans and seas around Australia
1564 Typus Orbis Terrarum, a map by Abraham Ortelius showed the imagined link between the proposed continent of Antarctica and South America.
Portrait of Edmund Halley by Godfrey Kneller (before 1721)
"Terres Australes" (sic) label without any charted landmass
James Weddell's second expedition in 1823, depicting the brig and the cutter Beaufroy
Famous official portrait of Captain James Cook who proved that waters encompassed the southern latitudes of the globe. "He holds his own chart of the Southern Ocean on the table and his right hand points to the east coast of Australia on it."
Admiral von Bellingshausen
USS Vincennes at Disappointment Bay, Antarctica in early 1840.
1911 South Polar Regions exploration map
Frank Hurley, As time wore on it became more and more evident that the ship was doomed ( trapped in pack ice), National Library of Australia.
MS Explorer in Antarctica in January 1999. She sank on 23 November 2007 after hitting an iceberg.
Seas that are parts of the Southern Ocean
Manganese nodule
An iceberg being pushed out of a shipping lane by (L to R) USS Burton Island (AGB-1), USS Atka (AGB-3), and USS Glacier (AGB-4) near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 1965
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the strongest current system in the world oceans, linking the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific basins.
Location of the Southern Ocean gyres.
Regional Working Group zones for SOOS
Orca (Orcinus orca) hunting a Weddell seal in the Southern Ocean
A wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) on South Georgia
Fish of the Notothenioidei suborder, such as this young icefish, are mostly restricted to the Antarctic and Subantarctic
Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are the most southerly of Antarctic mammals.
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a keystone species of the food web.
A female warty squid (Moroteuthis ingens)
An adult and sub-adult Minke whale are dragged aboard the Japanese whaling vessel
Severe cracks in an ice pier in use for four seasons at McMurdo Station slowed cargo operations in 1983 and proved a safety hazard.

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica.

- Southern Ocean
The Antarctic Ocean, as delineated by the draft 4th edition of the International Hydrographic Organization's Limits of Oceans and Seas (2002)

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Antarctica

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Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent.

Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent.

Antarctica, a composite satellite image
A speculative representation of Antarctica labelled as 'Terra Australis Incognito' on Jan Janssonius's Zeekaart van het Zuidpoolgebied (1657), Het Scheepvaartmuseum
Eastern Antarctica is to the right of the Transantarctic Mountains and Western Antarctica is to the left.
Vinson Massif from the northwest, the highest peak in Antarctica
Glossopteris sp. leaf from the Permian of Antarctica
The Antarctic Plate
Pine Island Glacier, photographed in November 2011
Ice mass loss since 2002
Image of the largest hole in the ozone layer recorded, in September 2006
Emperor penguins with juveniles
Orange lichen (Caloplaca) growing on the Yalour Islands, Wilhelm Archipelago
Refuse littering the shoreline at Bellingshausen Station on King George Island, photographed in 1992
A whale in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
Adélie Land, depicted by Jules Dumont d'Urville in his Voyage au Pôle Sud (1846)
The Nimrod Expedition of 1907–1909 (left to right): Frank Wild, Ernest Shackleton, Eric Marshall and Jameson Adams
The "ceremonial" South Pole, at Amundsen–Scott Station
The U.S. delegate Herman Phleger signs the Antarctic Treaty in December 1959.
The cruise ship Silver Cloud in Wilhelmina Bay
An aerial view of McMurdo Station, the largest research station in Antarctica
An Antarctic meteorite, Allan Hills 84001 on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
The Nimrod Expedition of 1907–1909 (left to right): Frank Wild, Ernest Shackleton, Eric Marshall and Jameson Adams

Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole.

Extent of the Atlantic Ocean according to the 2002 IHO definition, excluding Arctic and Antarctic regions

Atlantic Ocean

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Second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 106460000 km2.

Second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 106460000 km2.

Extent of the Atlantic Ocean according to the 2002 IHO definition, excluding Arctic and Antarctic regions
The Aethiopian Ocean in a 1710 French map of Africa
False color map of ocean depth in the Atlantic basin
As the Gulf Stream meanders across the North Atlantic from the North American east coast to Western Europe its temperature drops by 20 C-change.
Path of the thermohaline circulation. Purple paths represent deep-water currents, while blue paths represent surface currents.
In the subpolar gyre of the North Atlantic warm subtropical waters are transformed into colder subpolar and polar waters. In the Labrador Sea this water flows back to the subtropical gyre.
Approximate extent of the Sargasso Sea
Sargassum fish (Histrio histrio)
Waves in the trade winds in the Atlantic Ocean—areas of converging winds that move along the same track as the prevailing wind—create instabilities in the atmosphere that may lead to the formation of hurricanes.
Tropical wet and dry climate in San Andrés Island Caribbean, Colombia
Iceberg A22A in the South Atlantic Ocean
Excavation of the Ertebølle middens in 1880
Based on the medieval Íslendingasögur sagas, including the Grœnlendinga saga, this interpretative map of the "Norse World" shows that Norse knowledge of the Americas and the Atlantic remained limited.
The Atlantic Gyres influenced the Portuguese discoveries and trading port routes, here shown in the India Run ("Carreira da Índia"), which would be developed in subsequent years.
Embarked and disembarked slaves in the Atlantic slave trade 1525–1863 (first and last slave voyages)
Cod fishery in Norway
Banks of the North-East Atlantic
Banks of the North-West Atlantic
Capture of Atlantic north-west cod in million tons
Bahama Banks
Agulhas Bank
Marine debris strewn over the beaches of the South Atlantic Inaccessible Island

As one component of the interconnected World Ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south (other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica).

Extent of the Indian Ocean according to International Hydrographic Organization

Indian Ocean

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Third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering 70560000 km2 or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface.

Third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering 70560000 km2 or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface.

Extent of the Indian Ocean according to International Hydrographic Organization
The Indian Ocean, according to the CIA The World Factbook (blue area), and as defined by the IHO (black outline - excluding marginal waterbodies).
During summer, warm continental masses draw moist air from the Indian Ocean hence producing heavy rainfall. The process is reversed during winter, resulting in dry conditions.
Air pollution in South Asia spread over the Bay of Bengal and beyond.
Madagascar's Elephant bird, Mauritius's Dodo bird and ostrich (from left to right)
According to the Coastal hypothesis, modern humans spread from Africa along the northern rim of the Indian Ocean.
The Austronesian maritime trade network was the first trade routes in the Indian Ocean.
Greco-Roman trade with ancient India according to the Periplus Maris Erythraei 1st century CE
The economically important Silk Road was blocked from Europe by the Ottoman Empire in c. undefined 1453 with the fall of the Byzantine Empire. This spurred exploration, and a new sea route around Africa was found, triggering the Age of Discovery.
For most of the 16th century, the Portuguese dominated the Indian Ocean trade.
Malé's population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to more than 220,000 people in 2020.
An unnamed Chagossian on Diego Garcia in 1971 shortly before the British expelled the islanders when the island became a U.S. military base. The man spoke a French-based creole language and his ancestors were most likely brought to the uninhabited island as slaves in the 19th century.
Major ocean trade routes in the world includes the northern Indian Ocean.
Mombasa Port on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast

To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use.

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Antarctic Circumpolar Current

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Ocean current that flows clockwise (as seen from the South Pole) from west to east around Antarctica.

Ocean current that flows clockwise (as seen from the South Pole) from west to east around Antarctica.

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The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest current system in the world oceans and the only ocean current linking all major oceans: the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Seawater density fronts after.
The ACC (red circle near the middle of the image) in relation to the global thermohaline circulation [ (animation)]
The Falkland Current transports nutrient-rich cold waters from the ACC north toward the Brazil–Malvinas Confluence. Phytoplankton chlorophyll concentration are shown in blue (lower concentrations) and yellow (higher concentrations).

The ACC is the dominant circulation feature of the Southern Ocean and has a mean transport estimated at 100–150 Sverdrups (Sv, million m3/s), or possibly even higher, making it the largest ocean current.

Pacific Ocean

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Largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions.

Largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions.

Partial picture of the Pacific Ocean from space, by the Apollo 11 crew
Model of a Fijian drua, an example of an Austronesian vessel with a double-canoe (catamaran) hull and a crab claw sail
Map showing the migration of the Austronesian peoples, the first seaborne human migration in history (c.3000-1500 BCE)
Map showing a large number of Spanish expeditions across the Pacific Ocean from the 16th to 18th centuries including the Manila galleon route between Acapulco and Manila, the first transpacific trade route in history.
Universalis Cosmographia, the Waldseemüller map dated 1507, from a time when the nature of the Americas was ambiguous, particularly North America, as a possible part of Asia, was the first map to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. South America was generally considered a "new world" and shows the name "America" for the first time, after Amerigo Vespucci
The bathyscaphe Trieste, before her record dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 23 January 1960
Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars taking over Tahiti on 9 September 1842
Sunset over the Pacific Ocean as seen from the International Space Station. tops of thunderclouds are also visible.
The island geography of the Pacific Ocean Basin
Regions, island nations and territories of Oceania
Tarawa Atoll in the Republic of Kiribati
Sunset in Monterey County, California, U.S.
Impact of El Niño and La Niña on North America
Typhoon Tip at global peak intensity on 12 October 1979
Ring of Fire. The Pacific is ringed by many volcanoes and oceanic trenches.
Ulawun stratovolcano situated on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Mount Saint Helens in 2020
Pacific Ocean currents have created 3 "islands" of debris.
Marine debris on a Hawaiian coast
Prime Minister Suga declined to drink the bottle of Fukushima's treated radioactive water that he was holding, which would otherwise be discharged to the Pacific. 2020.
Made in 1529, the Diogo Ribeiro map was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size
Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1754.
Maris Pacifici by Ortelius (1589). One of the first printed maps to show the Pacific Ocean<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-01-093/|title=Library Acquires Copy of 1507 Waldseemüller World Map – News Releases (Library of Congress)|publisher=Loc.gov|access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref>
Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1702–1707
Ladrilleros Beach in Colombia on the coast of Chocó natural region
Tahuna maru islet, French Polynesia
Los Molinos on the coast of Southern Chile

It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

The location of the Weddell Sea, part of the Southern Ocean

Weddell Sea

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The location of the Weddell Sea, part of the Southern Ocean
Scarred and chiselled sea ice in the Weddell Sea

The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre.

Victoria (Australia)

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State in southeastern Australia.

State in southeastern Australia.

Swearing Allegiance to the Southern Cross at the Eureka Stockade on 1 December 1854 – watercolour by Charles Doudiet
Köppen climate types in Victoria
The estimated resident population since 1981
Melbourne, the state capital, is home to more than three in four Victorians.
Chinatown, Melbourne. 2.7% of the Victorian population was born in China, 6.7% of the Victorian population is of Chinese ancestry, and 3.2% of the Victorian population speaks Mandarin at home
The Victorian Parliament House, built in 1856, stands in Spring Street, Melbourne. The building was intended to be finished with a dome, but was not completed due to budget constraints.
The Legislative Council Chamber, as photographed in 1878
One of many local government seats, Geelong Town Hall
Camberwell High School, a public secondary school in Victoria
The University of Melbourne, ranked as one of the best universities in Australia and in the Southern Hemisphere, is Victoria's oldest university.
The State Library of Victoria forecourt
Victoria's stand at the Paris Exhibition Universal of 1867, showing bales of wool
Yallourn Power Station in the Latrobe Valley
A current Melbourne C 2 class (Citadis) and a D-class tram
Statue outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground commemorating the origins of Australian rules football
Panorama of the MCG during the AFL Grand Final on 30 September 2017
Island Archway on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.
Aireys Inlet
Victorian cities, towns, settlements and road network
Average January maximum temperatures:
Average July maximum temperatures:
Average yearly precipitation:
The Melbourne skyline at night
Brighton Beach bathing boxes
Mornington Mills Beach
Autumn in the Dandenong Ranges
The Twelve Apostles
Jan Juc, Torquay

Victoria is bordered with New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west, and is bounded by the Bass Strait to the south (with the exception of a small land border with Tasmania located along Boundary Islet), the Great Australian Bight portion of the Southern Ocean to the southwest, and the Tasman Sea (a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean) to the southeast.

Sea ice in the Ross Sea

Ross Sea

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Sea ice in the Ross Sea
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Bloom in the Ross Sea, January 2011

The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth.

Drake Passage showing the boundary points A, B, C, D, E and F accorded by the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina

Drake Passage

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Body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.

Body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.

Drake Passage showing the boundary points A, B, C, D, E and F accorded by the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina
Tourist expedition ship sailing across the Drake Passage to Antarctica
Depth profile with salinity and temperature for surface
The Drake Passage (middle of image) in relation to the global thermohaline circulation [ (animation)]
The plot shows an yearly average (2020) of the surface current strength (from GODAS dataset), together with streamlines. Following the streamlines, it is easy to see that the current is not closed in itself but interacts with the other ocean basins (connecting them). The Drake Passage plays a major role in this mechanism.
Water circulates around the globe as if it was on a conveyor belt. The Drake Passage is the narrowest channel, and its shape (width, depth and bottom roughness) strongly affects the global circulation.
The Drake Passage influences the global surface temperature and Atlantic circulation. With a closed Drake Passage, there is no Antarctic Circumpolar Current (as the Pacific and Atlantic are not connected), no North Atlantic Deep Water cell, the Southern Hemisphere is warmer and the Northern Hemisphere is colder. Gradually deepening the Drake Passage, a lighter ACC appears, but with a DP of 690m depth there is still no NADW, and the Northern Hemisphere is still colder. Only with the current shape (width and depth) of the Drake Passage the Southern Hemisphere is cold enough for the Antarctic Ice Sheet to appear, and the Atlantic Circulation is strong enough for the Northern Hemisphere to warm. (adapted from [Sijp and England, 2003] )
Density (buoyancy) drives an internal circulation only if the denser (colder or saltier) water mass lays above the less dense (warmer or less salty) one. In absence of any perturbation, the fluid assumes a stratified form. Neglecting salinity differences, the only possible drivers of such a circulation is vertical temperature differences. However, water gets heated and cooled at the same level, namely at the surface at the equator and at the surface at the poles. The force that pushes colder water above warmer water is internal mixing, which is more intense in presence of rough topography, such as in the Drake Passage.
Rough seas are common in the Drake Passage
Tourists watch whales in the Drake Passage
Seabird (light-mantled sooty albatross) flying over the Drake Passage
Humpback whales are a common sight in the Drake Passage
Hourglass dolphins leaping in the Passage
Drake Passage or Mar de Hoces between South America and Antarctica
Drake Passage

It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean.

South Australia

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State in the southern central part of Australia.

State in the southern central part of Australia.

European settlers with Aboriginal Australians, 1850
Charles Sturt's expedition leaving Adelaide
Nicolas Baudin, who mapped the coastline of South Australia, along with Matthew Flinders
Satellite image of eastern South Australia. Note the dry lakes (white patches) in the north.
Barossa Valley, northeast of Adelaide
The rugged coastline of Second Valley, located on the Fleurieu Peninsula
Arid land in the Flinders Ranges
Climate types in South Australia
Vineyard in Eden Valley. South Australia's wine industry is the largest in Australia.
Flinders Medical Centre. Health care and social assistance is the largest ABS defined employment sector in South Australia.
Wheat fields at Nuriootpa. Agriculture is a large industry for the state.
Parliament House, Adelaide
Old Parliament House in 1872
Estimated resident population since 1981
Adelaide is the largest metropolitan area in the state.
University of Adelaide
South Australian cities, towns, settlements and road network
Eyre Highway west of the Nullarbor, South Australia
A ferry crossing the Murray River towards the town of Waikerie, South Australia
The Showdown, a local derby between South Australia's two AFL teams and
Sunflower crop in the Adelaide Hills

According to Australian maps, South Australia's south coast is flanked by the Southern Ocean, but official international consensus defines the Southern Ocean as extending north from the pole only to 60°S or 55°S, at least 17 degrees of latitude further south than the most southern point of South Australia.