Marine biology etextbook
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Base map from NOAA (NGDC)
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The Oceans and Seas of the world form a relatively thin film of water that covers approximately
70.8% of the earth's surface. This thin
layer of water is interrupted by the continental
land masses,
which rise above the surface over about 29.2% of the earth's surface. About 76.7% of the world's
oceans are relatively deep (over 3,000 meters in depth), with only a small fraction (about 7.4%)
over the continental
shelves
(0-200 meters depth). About 15.9% of the oceans are over the continental
slope (between 200 and 3,000 meters in
depth). The ocean floor, that portion over 3,000 meters in depth, occupies the remaining 76.7%
of the area of the world's oceans.
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Percent area of world's oceans at different depths
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Depth in meters
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| Percent
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| 0- 200 meters |
| 7.6% |
| 200- 1000 meters |
| 4.3% |
| 1000- 2000 meters |
| 4.2% |
| 2000- 3000 meters |
| 6.8% |
| 3000- 4000 meters |
| 19.6% |
| 4000- 5000 meters |
| 33.0% |
| 5000- 6000 meters |
| 23.3% |
| 6000- 7000 meters |
| 1.1% |
| > 7000 meters |
| |
0.1% |
References
Moiseev, P.A. 1971
NOAA-NGDC, 1988
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