Question

Which is the second largest ocean?
A. Pacific ocean
B. Atlantic ocean
C. Indian ocean
D. Arctic ocean

Answer 1

Hint: The second largest ocean is also the busiest ocean from the point of view of trade and commerce and has an area of 106,460,000 square kilometres.

Complete answer: The International Hydrographic Organization has divided and named the interconnected oceans of the world into five major regions - Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Southern Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean out of all other oceans in the world is the second-largest ocean after the Pacific Ocean. It is a relatively narrow body of water that curves in the ‘S’ shape where the continental masses run parallel to each other. It covers about 21 percent of the Earth’s total surface area and separates the continent of North and South America from Africa and Europe. The area of the Atlantic Ocean including its dependent seas is approximately 106,460,000 square kilometres and excluding them it is 82,440,000 square kilometres.
The deepest point occurs in the Puerto Rico Trench. The Mid-Atlantic, running roughly down the centre of this ocean region separates the Atlantic Ocean into two larger basins. This ocean region drains some of the Earth’s major rivers including the Amazon, the Orinoco, the Río de la Plata, the NIger, the Loire, the Rhine, the Elbe, the Mississippi, St. Lawrence and the Congo. The Atlantic Ocean is divided into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean on the basis of the distribution of ocean currents at about 8 degrees North.

Thus, the correct answer is option (B).

Note: The study underwater depth of the Atlantic Ocean is overwhelmed by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), a submarine mountain range. It runs from 87 degrees North, south of the North Pole to subantarctic Bouvet Island at 54 degrees South.