Hi Friends!
1. For starters, did you know that 94 percent of life on Earth is aquatic? That makes us land-dwellers a very small minority.
2. About 70 percent of the planet is ocean, with an average depth of more than 12,400 feet. Given that photons (light) can't penetrate more than 330 feet below the water's surface, most of our planet is in a perpetual state of darkness.
3. Fifty percent of the United States (in terms of our complete legal jurisdiction, which include ocean territory) lies below the ocean.
4. The deep sea is the largest museum on Earth. There are more artifacts and remnants of history in the ocean than in all the world's museums, combined.
5. We have only explored less than 5% of the Earth's oceans. In fact we have better maps of Mars than we do of the ocean floor (Even the submerged half of the United States).
6. The longest mountain range in the world is under water. Called the Mid-Oceanic Ridge, this chain of mountains runs through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and into the Indian and Pacific oceans. It runs more than comprises 23 percent of the Earth's total surface.
7. The Ocean boasts an array of unusual geographic features, such as pillars that reach several stories high and chimneys that send up sulfuric acid mark of the floor, along with underwater volcanoes that spew mud and methane, rather than lava.
8. These wonderful formation aren't barren, either. Underwater hot springs that shoot water that's 650 degrees Fahrenheit-hot enough to melt lead-boast a profusion of life, from 10ft tall tubeworms to giant clams that function without digestive systems.
9. Extreme temperatures aren't the only seeming barrier to life, but again, the laws below the surface differ from above. The immense pressure of the water on a human diving to greater depths is one of the biggest hurdles to exploring the deepest parts of the oceans- yet, at depths that would crush the Titanic like a Coke can, crabs, octopuses and tubewroms got about their business.
10. Another example is the male Squid, with turns a warm brown color to attract females, or white to warn away interloping males. Most intriguing is that the male never shows its white, aggressive side to the female. In a colorful show of marine multitasking, the male squid will turn the side facing his prospective mate the welcoming brown, while simultaneously turning sideways so that she can't see he's made his outward-facing flank white.
Enjoy!
1. For starters, did you know that 94 percent of life on Earth is aquatic? That makes us land-dwellers a very small minority.
2. About 70 percent of the planet is ocean, with an average depth of more than 12,400 feet. Given that photons (light) can't penetrate more than 330 feet below the water's surface, most of our planet is in a perpetual state of darkness.
3. Fifty percent of the United States (in terms of our complete legal jurisdiction, which include ocean territory) lies below the ocean.
4. The deep sea is the largest museum on Earth. There are more artifacts and remnants of history in the ocean than in all the world's museums, combined.
5. We have only explored less than 5% of the Earth's oceans. In fact we have better maps of Mars than we do of the ocean floor (Even the submerged half of the United States).
6. The longest mountain range in the world is under water. Called the Mid-Oceanic Ridge, this chain of mountains runs through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and into the Indian and Pacific oceans. It runs more than comprises 23 percent of the Earth's total surface.
7. The Ocean boasts an array of unusual geographic features, such as pillars that reach several stories high and chimneys that send up sulfuric acid mark of the floor, along with underwater volcanoes that spew mud and methane, rather than lava.
8. These wonderful formation aren't barren, either. Underwater hot springs that shoot water that's 650 degrees Fahrenheit-hot enough to melt lead-boast a profusion of life, from 10ft tall tubeworms to giant clams that function without digestive systems.
9. Extreme temperatures aren't the only seeming barrier to life, but again, the laws below the surface differ from above. The immense pressure of the water on a human diving to greater depths is one of the biggest hurdles to exploring the deepest parts of the oceans- yet, at depths that would crush the Titanic like a Coke can, crabs, octopuses and tubewroms got about their business.
10. Another example is the male Squid, with turns a warm brown color to attract females, or white to warn away interloping males. Most intriguing is that the male never shows its white, aggressive side to the female. In a colorful show of marine multitasking, the male squid will turn the side facing his prospective mate the welcoming brown, while simultaneously turning sideways so that she can't see he's made his outward-facing flank white.
Enjoy!
