Difference Between Sea and Ocean
What is the Sea?: Difference Between Sea and Ocean
Seas are large bodies of water that connect to the ocean but are bound or contained by a landmass. Some seas are completely surrounded by land, but they are large enough to be considered seas instead of lakes. Example: Caspian Sea or the Dead Sea which is technically a lake but still called Sea.
Seas are still composed of saltwater, but they are geographically smaller than oceans. There are also seas that contain freshwater, one example is the Sea of Galilee.
Seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land. The Sargasso Sea is the only Sea without a land border. It is defined only by ocean currents.
As for the sea, it can be surrounded by lands and/or the ocean. Therefore, there are several kinds of seas on the blue planet.
- A “shelf” sea is like an extension of the ocean. It is actually the case with the Channel, North Sea or the Caribbean Sea which all largely border the Atlantic Ocean.
- An “inland” sea can only connect with another sea, like the Baltic Sea, Black Sea or the Adriatic Sea.
- A “semi-enclosed” sea is linked to the ocean through a narrow passage just like the Mediterranean Sea joins the ocean via the Strait of Gibraltar.
- An “enclosed” sea does not connect with any sea or ocean, just like the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea for example.
What is the Ocean?: Difference Between Sea and Ocean
An ocean is a body of water that composes much of a planet’s hydrosphere. Over 70% of Earth’s surface is covered with oceans. There are five main oceans in the world. These are the Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Atlantic, and (more recently recognized as an ocean) the Southern (or Antarctic). But what defines these bodies of water as ‘oceans’?
In general, the water which covers the Earth is often referred to as the World Ocean, as the ocean makes up one global, interconnected body of saltwater.
Difference between Sea and Ocean are:
| Sea | Ocean |
| Sea is made up of salty water but is smaller in size compared to oceans. | The ocean covers approximately 70% of the earth’s total surface. The ocean is also made up of salty water. |
| The largest sea is the Meditteranean Sea. The area of the Meditteranean sea is approximately 1.14 million square miles. | The largest Ocean is the Pacific Ocean with an area of approximately 60 million square miles. The smallest Ocean is the Arctic Ocean covering an area of 5.4 million square miles. |
| Seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land. | Oceans are not necessarily located close to land. |
| Aquatic life exists in abundance in seas as seas are usually located close to the Land. | Oceans have reduced aquatic life as it is far away from the land and deeper than the Seas. |
| There is a large quantity of marine life in the Seas as sunlight is able to penetrate deeper into the seas, allowing photosynthesis. | The marine life in oceans is usually confined to bacteria, shrimp, and microscopic planktons. This is due to the lack of sunlight penetration deep into oceans thus not giving much scope for photosynthesis. |
Generally, Seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land.
Also refer,
- Difference between Scalars and Vectors
- Difference Between Ductility And Malleability
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