Continents and Oceans Overview
Mr. Jeremy Rinkel
Geography of the oceans
Earth’s oceans:
• Cover 70.8% of Earth’s surface
• Are interconnected (“world ocean”)
• Have huge size and volume (as a reservoir, contain 97% of Earth’s water)
The four principal oceans
• Pacific• Atlantic• Indian• ArcticPlus:• Southern or
Antarctic Ocean
Figure 1-2
Comparing oceans to the continents
Figure 1-3
Comparing depth of the oceans to elevation on land
Figure 1-4
Early exploration of the oceans
• Pacific navigators peopled many remote islands
Figure 1-6
Early exploration of the oceans
• Advancements of European navigators– Phoenicians explored the Mediterranean Sea
and beyond– Pytheas developed method to determine
latitude– Eratosthenes calculated circumference of Earth– Ptolemy produced map that shows known land
surrounded by largely unexplored oceans
Early exploration of the oceans
• The Vikings explored the North Atlantic and established many colonies
Figure 1-7
Early exploration of the oceans
• During the Age of Discovery, Columbus and Magellan make journeys of exploration
Figure 1-8
Early exploration of the oceans
• Voyaging for science began with English navigator and explorer Captain James Cook– Mapped many unknown islands– Determined outline of the Pacific Ocean– Sampled ocean properties– Modified shipboard diet to eliminate scurvy– Used John Harrison’s chronometer to
determine longitude
Seven continents
• What exactly is a continent? – A continent is large landmasses on the earth’s
surface.– North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, Australia, and Antarctica are the seven continents of Earth.
Africa
South America
Australia
Asia
Antarctica
North America
Europe