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ATLANTIS & the Atlantic Ocean 1 (ORIGINAL)

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« Reply #45 on: December 22, 2007, 05:30:48 pm »








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"I'm actually not convinced that Atlantis and Eden were the same thing either."



Neither am I, and I think that when people imply this it creates a lot of confusion. There is far more reason to believe that Eden lay in Africa, the Middle East or Asia. Migration largely seems to have moved westward, with the ancient Greek and Egyptian civilizations, among others, likely having their roots in ancient Vedic culture. (http://www.sulekha.com/expressions/articledesc.asp?cid=306520).

But we should keep in mind that the Atlanteans were described as foreigners to these people - not their ancestors! Equating Atlantis with Eden is what prompts many people to place it in one of the other locations, because if Atlantis were Eden, or the cradle of all civilization, it would seem ludicrous to place it in the Atlantic Ocean.

If I am to believe Plato’s words exactly when it comes to the date, size and location of his Atlantis - which I’d prefer to do in spite of keeping an open mind to other theories as well - then I can only assume Atlantis was just one of many civilizations which thrived during ice age. It may have been home to a beautiful land that seemed like paradise by all appearance, but its people eventually rose to great power, sought dominance over the whole world, and were nearly extinguished in a great cataclysm. But I see no reason thus far to believe it was actually Eden.
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« Reply #46 on: December 22, 2007, 05:34:03 pm »








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atalante
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Some early geographers said that the Atlantic Ocean was bigger than our modern definition. By their definition the syrtes of Africa belong in the Atlantic ocean.
They presumed that the 3 continents (Europe/Asia/Afric) were separated by "tongues" of the surrounding ocean, which reached into the land.

1. Before I demonstrate data which may affect the location of Atlantis, let me cite these geographers' viewpoint about how Africa and Asia are separated.

quote from: http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/Vol6No1/HV6N1Takahashi.html
70 The Gulf of Aden is in fact the entrance to the Red Sea, but is often counted by Islamic geographers as a separate branch of the Indian Ocean. The usual name in Arabic is al-khalîj al-barbarî derived from Barbarâ/Berbera on its shore, but the name bahr al-barbar is found in Bîrûnî, Tafhîm 122.9 (pers. 168.1 daryâ-i barbar)

2. Likewize, the classical Greek geographers had consistently (and erroneously) claimed that the Caspian Sea was connected to the surrounding ocean on the east side of the Caspian. Thus the Caspian sea separates Asia from Europe.

3. Now once these two geographical
"postulates" are understood, it becomes obvious that those early geographers must have recognized a third "tongue" of the surrounding ocean, to separate the continents of Europe and Asia from each other.

I believe the work of "pseudo-Aristotle" was connected to this outlook. Here is an interesting quotation about the matter, written by one of history's greatest geographers. Please note that the western Mediteranean sea is called "this well-known sea which is called the OCEAN by many."

quote from: http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/Vol6No1/HV6N1Takahashi.html
citing Bar Hebraes:
But., Min. V.i.1: That sea which surrounds the whole earth like a single island is called the Atlantic. In the west a narrow mouth is open to it at the Stelae (STLS), or Pillars, of Hercules. Through it it enters the Habitable World as if into some harbour and forms this well-known sea which is called the Oceanus [sic] by many.17 ... V.i.2.: In the south of this sea there are two gulfs and in them are two islands called the Greater and Lesser Syrtes. In its northern (side) are three gulfs, the Sardinian (SDRWNYQWN cod. F, SRDWNYQWN ceteri), the Galatian (G’L’TYQWN cod. F) and the Adriatic (’DRY’NWS cod. F), and after these a slanting gulf called the Sicilian (SYQYLYQWN).

the corresponding quote from pseudo-Aristotle is:
Cf. De mundo syr. 139.16-21, 139.23-140.1 [< gr. 393a 16-21, 23-28]: That sea which is outside the whole Habitable World is called the Atlantic and the Oceanus. It also flows around us here. Because on the west a narrow mouth (fumo aliso) is open to it from the inside – at what are called the Stelae (STLWS) of Hercules – its flow proceeds into this sea by us, as if into some harbour, and thus widens out little by little here, spreading out until it embraces (lobek < perilambánô) the large gulfs which adjoin each other. … It is said first to widen out to the right after proceeding from the Stelae (ST’LS) of Hercules and is divided into two gulfs and passes the islands called the Syrtes, one of which they call the Greater Syrtes and the other the Lesser Syrtes. On the other, northern, side it does not widen out immediately in the same way, but makes there too three gulfs (cubbin),18 that called the Sardinian (SWRDWNYQWN), that called the Galatian (G’LTYQWN) and the Great Adriatic (’DRY’S rabbo). After these is another slanting gulf which is called the Sicilian (SQYLYQWN).
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« Reply #47 on: December 22, 2007, 05:35:24 pm »








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Excellent referencing, as usual, Atalante, to which I'll also once again add this quote from Critias:

quote:
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"The whole country was said by him to be very lofty and precipitous on the side of the sea, but the country immediately about and surrounding the city was a level plain, itself surrounded by mountains which descended towards the sea; it was smooth and even, and of an oblong shape, extending in one direction three thousand stadia, but across the centre inland it was two thousand stadia. This part of the island looked towards the south, and was sheltered from the north."
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If we conclude the ancient knew their geography, we can also assume that they knew the difference between an island and a peninsula.
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« Reply #48 on: December 22, 2007, 05:38:07 pm »








dhill757

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Riven,
Here is an interview with one of the Russian scientists who visited the Ampere Seamounts in the 1980's. Apparently, they have been there in 1974, 1978, 1984 and 1986. That's a lot of visits, and the information in the article seems to correspond with the recent interest in the area of the ocean just to the east. I read a quote today from Dr. Maxine Asher's website where she also says that there are "four sunken cities in the area just to the west of Gibraltar."


quote:
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Searching for the Lost Continent
07/09/2003 16:45



Russian scientist believes, Atlantis lies between Gibraltar and the Azores.
Doctor of Geology and Mineralogy, professor Alexander Gorodnitsky has recently celebrated his 70th birthday.  This is a world-known scientist from the Russian Institute of Oceanology. Alexander Gorodnitsky is also known in Russia as a poet and a song writer.
Alexander Gorodnitsky chaired the laboratory of the marine geophysics at the Arctic Geology Research Institute in Leningrad. He took part in a lot of expeditions in various areas of the World Ocean, he explored the ocean at the depth of five kilometers in underwater vehicles. He was the first scientist in the world to calculate the lithosphere power. The professor published more than 260 scientific works, including eight studies about the geology and geophysics of the ocean floor.

You wrote a song about Atlases, you read books about Atlantis. What is it: a return to the old romantic hobby, or something more serious?

It is probably both. Vyacheslav Kudryavtsev, Director of the Metahistory Institute, believes, there is a mouth of an ancient river on the continental slope to the south-west of the British Isles. Kudryavtsev thinks, an ancient town might have existed on the banks of the river too. He is determined to go there to explore that place. There is no actual evidence to prove that supposition, but a theory says that the Greenland ice melted in the beginning of the historic time, and the Gulf Stream made it to the north. The continent with such a beautiful name - Atlantis - was flooded as a result of the ocean level change. It seemed to be very interesting to me, especially after we came across a strange construction under the water - it looked like the ruins of an ancient city.

We have all necessary equipment at our disposal at the Oceanology Institute: we have underwater probes and vehicles, which allow to submerge to the depth of the ocean. We have already developed the project of the mission, freighted a ship, we have even obtained a permission from the UK. We just need $200,000 for the expedition, but Russian sponsors have refused to help us.
Why breaking a lance - a lot of people believe that there is no Atlantis at all, because there has not been any evidence found to prove the existence of the ancient continent.

The absence of findings is not supposed to be the base to say no to further attempts and works. It simply testifies to the low level of the research. About 15 years ago scientists found a proof that a large ancient civilization used to exist - the huge Hittite Kingdom.

I think that the lost continent is situated somewhere between Gibraltar and the Azores. In 1984 and 1986 our expedition was working on the slopes of Mount Ampere, when we found very strange constructions at the depth of only 100 meters - they looked like rooms and walls. I submerged to see that myself, made some sketches. Other geologists drew alters or walls - that was what they had seen, we could not take any photographs at that time. At first it seemed to me that those rooms and walls had been created by the nature, but the rooms were equal in size. The human psychology is organized very specifically: if someone had said that professor Gorodnitsky found the lost continent, no one would have believed such a message.

Yes, it is true, but there were a lot of other scientists, who were trying to find Atlantis, Jacques Yves Cousteau, for example.

It was Cousteau, who explored the sea floor around Santorin volcano and found the ruins of an ancient state there. A lot of people believed that it was Atlantis. However, such a point of view contradicted to Plato's words, who said that Atlantis was situated on the other side of Pillar of Hercules. From the point of view of the modern geology, I dare to prove that the underwater mountain chain between Gibraltar and the Azores is the lost continent. Canaries and Green Cape islands are the last peaks of Atlantis.

Atlas stands next to Pillar of Hercules, which means that ancient people had reasons for that. Of course, it would be ridiculous to think that we will find a golden statue or ruins of ancient towns. Any expedition has a chance to be a success, because there is always an opportunity to discover something new. If we manage to prove that Europe used to spread far behind the Pyrenees, it will change the perception of the human history. In addition to it, it is a great chance for Russian scientists to discover Atlantis!

Scientists say, the angle of inclination of the axis of the equator is changing, which will eventually make continents collide with each other. The collision will cause a monstrous earthquake, the land will sink under the water, tsunamis will flood practically everything. What is your attitude to such forecasts?

They are nonsense. The stability of continent plates tectonics is determined with endogenous (internal) factors. As far as the Earth's axis is concerned, one may not worry about it for the coming 100,000 years. It will remain as it is now and will not cause an earthquake that would be capable of destroying continents.
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« Reply #49 on: December 22, 2007, 05:39:28 pm »






dhill757

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Here is a really interesting page featuring the pyramids of Tenerife!



http://www.piramidesdeguimar.net/ingles/pagina.htm 
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« Reply #50 on: December 22, 2007, 05:41:22 pm »








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Source: 
National Science Foundation
Date: 
2000-12-12



Huge New Hydrothermal Vent System Found On Seafloor; Surprise Discovery Dubbed "Lost City"






A new hydrothermal vent field, which scientists have dubbed "The Lost City," was discovered December 5th on an undersea mountain in the Atlantic Ocean. The unexpected discovery occurred at 30 degrees North on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge during an oceanographic cruise aboard the research vessel Atlantis. A team of scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Duke University, the University of Washington and other institutions conducted the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported expedition. "We thought that we had seen the entire spectrum of hydrothermal activity on the seafloor, but this major discovery reminds us that the ocean still has much to reveal, "says Margaret Leinen, NSF assistant director for geosciences.

"These structures, which tower 180 feet above the seafloor, are the largest hydrothermal chimneys of their kind ever observed," said Deborah Kelley, a University of Washington geologist and co-principal investigator on the cruise.

"If this vent field was on land, it would be a national park," added Duke University structural geologist Jeff Karson, a second co-principal investigator who, along with Kelly, dove in the submersible Alvin to the site.

Perhaps most surprising is that the venting structures are composed of carbonate minerals and silica, in contrast to most other mid-ocean ridge hot spring deposits which are formed by iron and sulfur-based minerals. The low-temperature hydrothermal fluids may have unusual chemistries because they emanate from mantle rocks.

Nothing like this submarine hydrothermal field has ever been previously observed, say the scientists. These events are unique, they believe, because they rest on one-million-year-old ocean crust formed tens of kilometers beneath the seafloor, and because of their incredible size. Dense macrofaunal communities such as clams, shrimps, mussels, and tube worms, which typify most other mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal environments, appear to be absent in this field.

The Lost City Field was discovered unexpectedly while studying geological and hydrothermal processes that built an unusually tall, 12,000-foot-mountain at this site. In this area, deep mantle rocks called serpentinized peridotites, and rocks crystallized in subseafloor magma chambers, have been uplifted several miles from beneath the seafloor along large faults that expose them at the surface of the mountain.

"As so often happens, we were pursuing one set of questions concerning building of the mountain and we stumbled onto a very important new discovery," said Donna Blackman, a geophysicist from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and chief scientist of the expedition. She added that "the venting towers are very spectacular and, although they bring up a whole new set of questions, we will learn about the evolution of the mountain itself as we study the vents carefully in the future."

Observations using the submersible Alvin and deep-towed Vehicle Argo, operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, show that the field hosts numerous active and inactive hydrothermal vents. The steep-sided, 180-foot-tall deposits are composed of multiple spires that reach 30 feet in width at their tops. They are commonly capped by white, feathery hydrothermal precipitates. The tops and sides of the massive edifices are awash in fluids that reach temperatures up to 160 degrees.

From the sides of the structures, abundant arrays of delicate, white flanges emerge. Similar to cave deposits, complex, intergrown stalagmites rise several meters above the flange roofs.

Underneath the flanges, trapped pools of warm fluid support dense mats of microbial communities that wave within the rising fluids. Downslope, hundreds of overlapping flanges form hydrothermal deposits reminiscent of hot spring deposits in Yellowstone National Park. During the Alvin dive, expedition leader Patrick Hickey collected rocks, fluids, and biological samples for shorebased analyses.

"By studying such environments, we may learn about ancient hydrothermal systems and the life that they support," suggested Kelley.

For more photos and graphics, see http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/mar.


------------------------------------------------------------------------

This story has been adapted from a news release issued by National Science Foundation.
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« Reply #51 on: December 22, 2007, 05:43:09 pm »








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Source: 
University Of Washington
Date: 
2003-07-25





             Hydrothermal Vent Systems Could Have Persisted Millions Of Years, Incubated Life






The staying power of seafloor hydrothermal vent systems like the bizarre Lost City vent field is one reason they also may have been incubators of Earth's earliest life, scientists report in a paper published in the July 25 issue of Science.


Discovered just 2½ years ago during a National Science Foundation-funded expedition in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, Lost City has the tallest vents ever seen – the 18-story behemoth at the site dwarfs most vents elsewhere by at least 100 feet. Water is circulated through the vent field by heat from serpentinization, a chemical reaction between seawater and the mantle rock on which Lost City sits, rather than by heat from volcanic activity or magma, responsible for driving hydrothermal venting at sites scientists have been studying since the early 1970s.

If hydrothermal venting can occur without volcanism, it greatly increases the places on the seafloor of early Earth where microbial life could have started. It also means explorers may have more places than previously thought to look for microbial life in the universe.

Although the Lost City vent field is a youthful 30,000 years old, Lost City-type systems might be able to persist hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of years, says lead author Gretchen Früh-Green of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and co-authors from the University of Washington, Duke University and National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration. One can imagine how such stable, long-lived systems pumping out heat, minerals and organic compounds for millennia might improve the chances for life to spark and to be sustained until it could take hold, say these scientists.

"It's difficult to know if life might have started as a result of one or both kinds of venting," says Deborah Kelley, University of Washington oceanographer, "but chances are good that these systems were involved in sustaining life on and within the seafloor very early in Earth's history."

As far as longevity and stability, it's possible that black-smoker systems might last as long as 100,000 years but it's unlikely, Kelley says. That's because black-smoker systems typically form where new seafloor is being created, a process that – even if a volcanic eruption doesn’t bury a hydrothermal vent field in lava – will eventually shove the seafloor bearing the vents away from the source of volcanic heat needed to power them.

Lost City is already nine miles from the nearest volcanically active spreading center and sits on 1.5 million-year-old crust. Seawater permeating deeply into the fractured surface of the mantle rocks transforms olivine into a new mineral, serpentine. The heat generated during this process is not as great as that found at volcanically active sites – where fluids can reach 700 F – but it is enough to power hydrothermal circulation and produce vent fluids of 105 to 170 F.

Tectonics, the movement of the Earth's great plates, contributes to the fracturing of the mantle rock. But a big reason this kind of system is so self-sustaining, the Science report says, is that fracturing also happens because rocks undergoing serpentinization increase in volume 20 percent to 40 percent. Kelley likens it to water seeping into tiny cracks in roads, then freezing and expanding to cause ruts and frost heaves in the pavement.

Scientists think many Lost City-type systems were possible on early Earth because so much of the mantle had yet to be skinned over with crust, putting it in contact with seawater and making serpentinization possible, Kelley says.

Lost City is the only vent field of its kind known today but scientists say more could exist. Within a 60-mile radius of Lost City are three similar mountains and there are other, potential sites along thousands of miles of ridges in the mid-Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Arctic.

Beyond Earth, peridotite – the mantle material that reacts with seawater during serpentinization – is abundant on all the terrestrial planets in our solar system, says Jeff Karson, Duke University professor. "Peridotite can be exposed by tectonic processes or by major cratering events. This means that Lost City-type venting could occur, or has occurred, in oceans on other planets, and such venting would have the potential to support microbial systems."

Lost City-type systems also may be conducive to life because their fluids are high pH and rich with organic compounds compared to black-smoker systems.

Black smokers get their name because it can appear as if smoke is billowing from the vents. What's actually being seen are dark minerals precipitating when scalding hot vent waters meet the icy-cold ocean depths. Water venting at Lost City, in comparison, is hot enough to shimmer but not "smoke." Because of the different chemistry, black-smoker vents are a darkly mottled mix of sulfide minerals whereas the Lost City vents are nearly 100 percent carbonate, the same material as limestone in caves, and range in colors from white to cream to gray.

The field, named Lost City in part because it sits on a seafloor mountain named the Atlantis Massif, was discovered Dec. 4, 2000, when scientists weren't even looking for hydrothermal vents.

"The discovery of the Lost City vent field is a wonderful example of serendipity in science – studying one problem and discovering something totally new and unexpected," says David Epp, program director in NSF's marine geology and geophysics program. "The detailed work is just beginning and should change the way people think about vent systems."

This spring, the NSF funded the first major scientific expedition to Lost City since its discovery. Led by Kelley and Karson, the expedition is documented at: http://www.lostcity.washington.edu/

Other Science co-authors are the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 's Stefano Bernasconi, University of Washington's Kristin Ludwig and Giora Proskurowski, and National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration 's David Butterfield.


------------------------------------------------------------------------

This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Of Washington.



http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/07/030725080845.htm
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« Reply #52 on: December 22, 2007, 05:44:33 pm »








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                                      Scientists Seeking Secrets Of "Lost City"





The remarkable hydrothermal vent structures serendipitously discovered last December in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, including a massive 18-story vent taller than any seen before, are formed in a very different way than ocean-floor vents studied since the 1970s, according to findings published July 12 in the journal Nature. The circulation of fluids that forms this new class of hydrothermal vents apparently is driven by heat generated when seawater reacts with mantle rocks, not by volcanic heat.


No one has previously seen a field quite like this but Deborah Kelley, a University of Washington oceanographer and lead author of the Nature paper, says this kind of vent may be common on the seafloor. If so, scientists may have underestimated the extent of hydrothermal venting, the amount of heat and chemicals pouring into the world's oceans and the abundance of life that thrives in such conditions.

"Rarely does something like this come along that drives home how much we still have to learn about our own planet," Kelley says. "We need to shed our biases in some sense about what we think we already know."

The Lost City Field, named partly because it sits on the seafloor mountain Atlantis Massif, was discovered Dec. 4. The expedition was funded by the National Science Foundation and led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Donna Blackman, UW's Kelley and Duke University's Jeffrey Karson. Blackman and Karson are among the paper's co-authors.

Lost City is like other hydrothermal vent systems where seawater circulates beneath the seafloor gaining heat and chemicals until there is enough heat for the fluids to rise buoyantly and vent back into the ocean. As the warm fluids mix with cold seawater the chemicals separate from the vent fluids and solidify, sometimes piling up into impressive mounds, spires and chimneys of minerals.

It was immediately clear, however, that the Lost City Field was unlike other hydrothermal vent systems in a number of ways. First, there was the height attained by some of the structures – the mighty 180-foot vent scientists named Poseidon compares to previously studied vents that mostly reach 80 feet or less. The new vents are nearly 100 percent carbonate, the same material as limestone in caves, and range in color from a beautiful clean white to cream or gray, in contrast to black smoker vents that are a darkly mottled mix of sulfide minerals. And perhaps the Lost City's most distinctive feature is that it is sitting on 1.5 million-year-old crust formed from mantle material.

"We did not realize that hydrothermal activity of this sort could be taking place on seafloor generated millions of years ago," says Margaret Leinen, assistant director for geosciences at the National Science Foundation.

Most previously known vents form along the youngest part of spreading "centers," areas where tectonic forces pull apart the seafloor and magma flows up into the space sometimes during volcanic eruption. Heat from the underlying magma chambers drives hydrothermal vent circulation and generates water temperatures as high as 400°C.

Lost City is in a part of the ocean where magma chambers are present only rarely and volcanic eruptions happen perhaps every 5,000 to 20,000 years, compared to fast-spreading centers where eruptions may occur every five to 10 years. In the area of the Lost City, spreading and faulting during the last 1 million to 1.5 million years has stripped the mountain down to the underlying mantle rocks. Hydrothermal circulation appears to be driven by seawater that permeates into the deeply fractured surface and transforms olivine in the mantle rocks into a new mineral, serpentine, in a process called serpentinization.

The heat generated during serpentinization appears to drive hydrothermal circulation at the Lost City, Kelley says. The process produces low temperature fluids of 40 to 75°C that are rich in methane and hydrogen.

Papers published in the early 1990s noted that methane-hydrogen signatures were common over slow- or ultra-slow-spreading centers like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where Lost City is. That led scientists to believe that venting was occurring, but there had been no example like the Lost City Field before now, Kelley says.

If the Nature paper is right about the forces driving hydrothermal circulation at the Lost City Field, Kelley says it's easy to imagine there could be many more such systems. Within a mere 50-mile radius of the Atlantis Massif are three similar mountains subject to the same fracturing, the same intrusion of seawater and perhaps the same reactions with mantle material. And those four represent only a tiny fraction of the potential sites along the 6,200 mile Mid-Atlantic Ridge, as well as the Indian ridges and the Arctic Ridge, also considered slow- and ultraslow-spreading centers.

Although large animals that typify other vent environments appear to be rare at Lost City, microbial life seems to thrive there. The microbial samples collected at Lost City show a community that is diverse and so dense in places that magnification reveals rocks so covered with microorganisms that one can't see the minerals, Kelley says. "These environments may host a significant and important amount of microbial life, if these systems prove to be common and operate for long periods on old ocean crust."

Other authors of the paper are Gretchen Fruh-Green of the Institute for Mineralogy and Petrology in Zurich; Pete Rivizzigno of Duke; David Butterfield, Marvin Lilley, Eric Olson, Mathew Schrenk, Kevin Roe and Geoff Lebon, all from the University of Washington or affiliated with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration; and the shipboard party on the expedition last December.
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« Reply #53 on: December 22, 2007, 05:46:04 pm »








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                                                             Atlantic Ocean





From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Earth's five Oceans

* Atlantic Ocean
* Arctic Ocean
* Indian Ocean
* Pacific Ocean
* Southern Ocean


The Atlantic Ocean is Earth's second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. The ocean's name, derived from Greek mythology, means the "Sea of Atlas".

This ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending in a north-south direction and is divided into the North Atlantic and South Atlantic by equatorial counter currents at about 8° north latitude. Bounded by North and South America on the west and Europe and Africa on the east, the Atlantic is linked to the Pacific Ocean by the Arctic Ocean on the north and the Drake Passage on the south. An artificial connection between the Atlantic and Pacific is also provided by the Panama Canal. On the east, the dividing line between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean is the 20° east meridian. The Atlantic is separated from the Arctic Ocean by a line from Greenland to southernmost Svalbard to northern Norway.

Covering approximately 20% of Earth's surface, the Atlantic Ocean is second only to the Pacific in size. With its adjacent seas it occupies an area of about 106,450,000 km2 (41,100,000 sq. miles); without them, it has an area of 82,362,000 km2 (31,800,000 sq mi). The land area that drains into the Atlantic is four times that of either the Pacific or Indian oceans. The volume of the Atlantic Ocean with its adjacent seas is 354,700,000 km3 (85,093,000 cu. miles) and without them 323,600,000 km3 (77,632,000 cu. miles).

The average depth of the Atlantic, with its adjacent seas, is 3,332 m (10,932 ft); without them it is 3,926 m (12,877 ft). The greatest depth, 8,605 m (28,232 ft), is in the Puerto Rico Trench. The width of the Atlantic varies from 2,848 km (1,769 miles) between Brazil and Liberia to about 4,830 km (3,000 miles) between the United States and northern Africa.

The Atlantic Ocean has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. These include the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, and Norwegian-Greenland Sea. Islands in the Atlantic Ocean include Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland, Rockall, Great Britain, Ireland, Fernando de Noronha, the Azores, the Madeira Islands, the Canaries, the Cape Verde Islands, Bermuda, the West Indies, Ascension, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia Island.
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« Reply #54 on: December 22, 2007, 05:47:21 pm »








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                                                         Ocean Bottom





The principal feature of the bottom topography of the Atlantic Ocean is a great submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It extends from Iceland in the north to approximately 58° south latitude, reaching a maximum width of about 1,600 km (1,000 miles). A great rift valley also extends along the ridge over most of its length. The depth of water over the ridge is less than 2,700 m (8,900 ft) in most places, and several mountain peaks rise above the water, forming islands. The South Atlantic Ocean has an additional submarine ridge, the Walvis Ridge.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge separates the Atlantic Ocean into two large troughs with depths averaging between 3,660 and 5,485 m (12,000 and 18,000 ft). Transverse ridges running between the continents and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge divide the ocean floor into numerous basins. Some of the larger basins are the Guiana, North American, Cape Verde, and Canaries basins in the North Atlantic. The largest South Atlantic basins are the Angola, Cape, Argentina, and Brazil basins.

The deep ocean floor is thought to be fairly flat, although numerous seamounts and some guyots exist. Several deeps or trenches are also found on the ocean floor. The Puerto Rico Trench, in the North Atlantic, is the deepest. In the south Atlantic, the South Sandwich Trench reaches a depth of 8,428 m (27,651 ft). A third major trench, the Romanche Trench], is located near the equator and reaches a depth of about 7,760 m (24,455 ft). The shelves along the margins of the continents constitute about 11% of the bottom topography. In addition, a number of deep channels cut across the continental rise.

Ocean sediments are composed of terrigenous, pelagic, and authigenic material. Terrigenous deposits consist of sand, mud, and rock particles formed by erosion, weathering, and volcanic activity on land and then washed to sea. These materials are largely found on the continental shelves and are thickest off the mouths of large rivers or off desert coasts. Pelagic deposits, which contain the remains of organisms that sink to the ocean floor, include red clays and Globigerina, pteropod, and siliceous oozes. Covering most of the ocean floor and ranging in thickness from 60 m (200 ft) to 3,300 m (10,900 ft), they are thickest in the convergence belts and in the zones of upwelling. Authigenic deposits consist of such materials as manganese nodules. They occur where sedimentation proceeds slowly or where currents sort the deposits.
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« Reply #55 on: December 22, 2007, 05:48:32 pm »








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                                                      Water Characteristics





The salinity of the surface waters in the open ocean ranges from 33 to 37 parts per thousand and varies with latitude and season. Although the minimum salinity values are found just north of the equator, in general the lowest values are in the high latitudes and along coasts where large rivers flow intothe ocean. Maximum salinity values occur at about 25° north latitude. Surface salinity values are influenced by evaporation, precipitation, river inflow, and melting of sea ice.

Surface water temperatures, which vary with latitude, current systems, and season and reflect the latitudinal distribution of solar energy, range from less than 2° to 29°C (28° to 84° F). Maximum temperatures occur north of the equator, and minimum values are found in the polar regions. In the middle latitudes, the area of maximum temperature variations, values may vary by 7 to 8°C (12.6 to 14.4°F).

The Atlantic Ocean consists of four major water masses. The North and South Atlantic central waters constitute the surface waters. The sub-Antarctic intermediate water extends to depths of 1,000 m (3,300 ft). The North Atlantic deep water reaches depths of as much as 4,000 m (13,200 ft). The Antarctic bottom water occupies ocean basins at depths greater than 4,000 m (13,200 ft).

Due to the Coriolis force, water in the North Atlantic circulates in a clockwise direction, whereas water circulation in the South Atlantic is counter clockwise. The South tides in the Atlantic Ocean are semi-diurnal; that is, two high tides occur during each 24 lunar hours. The tides are a general wave that moves from south to north. In latitudes above 40° north some east-west oscillation occurs.
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« Reply #56 on: December 22, 2007, 05:49:54 pm »








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                                                           Climate





The climate of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent land areas is influenced by the temperatures of the surface waters and water currents as well as the winds blowing across the waters. Because of the oceans' great capacity for retaining heat, maritime climates are moderate and free of extreme seasonal variations. Precipitation can be approximated from coastal weather data and air temperature from the water temperatures. The oceans are the major source of the atmospheric moisture that is obtained through evaporation. Climatic zones vary with latitude; the warmest climatic zones stretch across the Atlantic north of the equator. The coldest zones are in the high latitudes, with the coldest regions corresponding to the areas covered by sea ice. Ocean currents contribute to climatic control by transporting warm and cold waters to other regions. Adjacent land areas are affected by the winds that are cooled or warmed when blowing over these currents. The Gulf Stream, for example, warms the atmosphere of the British Isles and northwestern Europe, and the cold water currents contribute to heavy fog off the coast of northeastern Canada (the Grand Banks area) and the northwestern coast of Africa. In general, winds tend to transport moisture and warm or cool air over land areas. Hurricanes develop in the southern part of the North Atlantic Ocean.
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« Reply #57 on: December 22, 2007, 05:52:03 pm »








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                                                     History and Economy





The Atlantic Ocean appears to be the youngest of the world's oceans. Evidence indicates that it did not exist prior to 100 million years ago, when the continents that formed from the breakup of the ancestral supercontinent, Pangaea, were being rafted apart by the process of seafloor spreading. The Atlantic has been extensively explored since the earliest settlements were established along its shores. The Vikings, Portuguese, and Christopher Columbus were the most famous among its early explorers. After Columbus, European exploration rapidly accelerated, and many new trade routes were established. As a result, the Atlantic became and remains the major artery between Europe and the Americas (known as transatlantic trade). Numerous scientific explorations have been undertaken, including those by the German Meteor expedition, Columbia University's Lamont Geological Observatory, and the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office.

The ocean has also contributed significantly to the development and economy of the countries around it. Besides its major "transatlantic" transportation and communication routes, the Atlantic offers abundant petroleum deposits in the sedimentary rocks of the continental shelves and the world's richest fishing resources, especially in the waters covering the shelves. The major species of fish caught are cod, haddock, hake, herring, and mackerel. The most productive areas include the Grand Banks off Newfoundland, the shelf area off Nova Scotia, Georges Bank off Cape Cod, the Bahama Banks, the waters around Iceland, the Irish Sea, the Dogger bank of the North Sea, and the Falkland Banks. Eel, lobster, and whales have also been taken in great quantities. All these factors, taken together, tremendously enhance the Atlantic's great commercial value. Because of the threats to the ocean environment presented by oil spills, plastic debris, and the incineration of toxic wastes at sea, various international treaties exist to reduce some forms of pollution.



* In 1919, the American NC-4 became the first airplane to cross the Atlantic (though it made a couple landings on islands along the way).

* Later in 1919, a British airplane piloted by two men named Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to Ireland.

* In 1921, the British were the first to cross the Atlantic in an airship.

* In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight in an airplane (between New York City and Paris).

* After rowing for 81 days and 2,962 miles, on December 3, 1999 Tori Murden became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone when she reached Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands.



Location: body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern Ocean, and the Americas

Geographic coordinates: 0 00 N, 25 00 W

Map references: World



Area:



* total: 76.762 million km2

* note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies


Area - comparative: slightly less than 6.5 times the size of the US

Coastline: 111,866 km

Climate: tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November. Storms are common in the North Atlantic during northern winters, making ocean crossings more difficult and dangerous.
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« Reply #58 on: December 22, 2007, 05:53:40 pm »








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Terrain


surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic, counter-clockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin first discovered by the Challenger Expedition.



Elevation extremes

* lowest point: Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m
* highest point: sea level 0 m

Natural resources

oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones

Natural hazards

icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September; hurricanes north of the equator (May to December)

Environment – current issues

Endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; drift net fishing is killing dolphins, albatrosses and other seabirds (petrels, auks), hastening the decline of fish stocks and contributing to international disputes; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea

Geography – note

Major chokepoints include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean (previously known as the Ethiopic Ocean). During the Cold War the so called Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) Gap was a major strategic concern, the seabed in that area was laid with extensive hydrophone systems to track Soviet submarines.

Ports and harbours

Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Cork (Republic of Ireland), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), Liverpool (UK), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Newport News (US) Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Peiraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Santos (Brazil), Southampton (UK), Stockholm (Sweden)

Transportation – note

Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways

External links

* This info from Public Domain.

* See http://oceanographer.navy.mil/warning.html Thanks US Navy Oceanographer

* CIA – The World Factbook – Atlantic Ocean


(http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/zh.html)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean
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« Reply #59 on: December 22, 2007, 05:55:20 pm »








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                                                               Sea





From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A sea (pronounced see) is a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean. The term is also used for large, usually saline, lakes that lack a natural outlet, such as the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Galilee. The term is used in a less geographically precise manner as synonymous with ocean, as in the tropical sea or down to the sea shore, or even sea water referring to water of the ocean.

Many seas are marginal seas.
Contents [showhide]
1 List of seas, divided by ocean
1.1 Pacific Ocean
1.2 Atlantic Ocean
1.3 Indian Ocean
1.4 Arctic Ocean
1.5 Southern Ocean
1.6 Landlocked seas


List of seas, divided by ocean

Pacific Ocean

* Bering Sea
* Gulf of Alaska
* Sea of Cortez (aka Gulf of California)
* Sea of Okhotsk
* Sea of Japan
* Seto Inland Sea
* East China Sea
* South China Sea
* Sulu Sea
* Celebes Sea
* Bohol Sea (aka Mindanao Sea)
* Philippine Sea
* Flores Sea
* Banda Sea
* Arafura Sea
* Timor Sea
* Tasman Sea
* Yellow Sea
* Coral Sea

Atlantic Ocean

* Hudson Bay

* James Bay


* Baffin Bay
* Gulf of St. Lawrence
* Caribbean Sea
* Gulf of Mexico
* Sargasso Sea
* North Sea
* Baltic Sea

* Gulf of Bothnia


* Irish Sea
* Mediterranean Sea

* Adriatic Sea
* Aegean Sea
* Black Sea

* Sea of Azov


* Ionian Sea
* Ligurian Sea
* Mirtoon Sea
* Tyrrhenian Sea
* Gulf of Sidra
* Sea of Marmara
* Sea of Crete


* Bay of Biscay
* Gulf of Guinea


Indian Ocean

* Red Sea
* Gulf of Aden
* Persian Gulf
* Gulf of Oman
* Arabian Sea
* Bay of Bengal
* Java Sea

[edit]


Arctic Ocean

* Barents Sea
* Kara Sea
* Beaufort Sea

* Amundsen Gulf


* Chukchi Sea
* Laptev Sea
* East Siberian Sea

Southern Ocean

* Weddell Sea
* Ross Sea

Landlocked seas

* Aral Sea
* Caspian Sea
* Dead Sea
* Sea of Galilee


Extraterrestrial seas

Lunar maria are vast basaltic plains on the Moon that were thought to be bodies of water by early astronomers, who referred to them as "seas."

Liquid water is thought to be present under the surface of several moons, most notably Europa.

Liquid hydrocarbons are thought to be present on the surface of Titan, though it may be more accurate to describe them as "lakes" rather than "seas". The distribution of these liquid regions will hopefully be better known after the arrival of the Cassini probe.

Science

The term "sea" has also been used in quantum physics. Dirac sea is an interpretation of the negative energy states that comprises the vacuum.

See also

* ocean, river, geography, firths of Scotland, inlet, sea salt,
* ship, International Maritime Organization

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea
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