Ocean Facts – 43 Interesting Facts About Oceans

Interesting Facts About the Ocean

Tsunamis in oceans happen when tectonic movements cause displacement of large amount of water. They are also caused by underground volcanic eruptions.

The biggest tsunami happened in 1958 at Lituya Bay, Alaska and it reached a peak height of 516 meters.

The most devastating tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2004 and was caused by the largest earthquakes with a magnitude of 9.1-9.3.The tsunami claimed more than claimed 230,000 lives in countries Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives and Somalia.

Light cannot penetrate more than 300 feet in the ocean.

The Mid-Oceanic Ridge is the longest mountain range in the world underwater and runs through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean into the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is 35,000 miles long and the peaks are higher than those in the Alps. It accounts for 23 percent of the Earth’s total surface.

One of the biggest resources in the oceans is oil. One third of oil comes from offshore fields in the ocean.

The Arabian Sea, Venezuela, Mexico and the North Seas, Russian Far East has huge reserves of oil.

The entire atmosphere of the planet has a mass equivalent to just ten meters of the oceans depths. 8 feet of ocean depth has as much heat as the entire atmosphere. The ocean has been serving as a heat sink for thousands of years.

The ocean looks blue because it absorbs the red and orange light while it reflects shorter wavelength light, blue which also penetrates deeper into the ocean.

Oceans harbor a host of unusual structures such as pillars which can reach hundreds of feet. It also has hydrothermal vents which look like chimneys and spew sulfuric acid.