Ch. 13- Oceans & Seas - created from Mind Map

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Oceans are vast bodies of salt water that separate the continents

Sea: a large section of ocean mostly surrounded by land or islands

Gulf: Similar to seas, but usually smaller than seas

Bay: Generally smaller than gulfs

Straits: A narrow ocean passage separating bodies of lands

Origin of the Ocean. Young Earth:

They cover~ 71% of all the earth's surface

Origin of the Ocean. Old Earth:

Hold over~ 97% of all the water on the planet

Absorb most of the sun's heat

Influence the earth's weather

Make climate more uniform compared to that of other planets

Most of the oxygen in our atmosphere comes from photosynthetic organisms living in the ocean

Without oceans, little to no life on earth would exist

Appeared within the first 500 million years of earth's formation

Maybe from icy comet impacts that deposited water

Maybe from early solar nebula

Earth began as a water planet