differnce between a sea and an ocean?

Question

i have asked many people and never seem to get the same answer

Answer 1

This is a really good question! I always had an idea of the answer -- oceans are a lot bigger than seas -- but this time I did some wikipedia research, and I learned quite a bit. Putting together stuff from different wiki articles, here's what I found ...

I always thought that oceans were huge bodies of water surrounded by continents. But since 70% of the earth is water, the broadest definition would look at it the other way around ... the continents are large bodies of land surrounded by ocean!

Looking at it this way, there is a "World Ocean" consisting of just about all the salt water in the world the landlocked inland seas such as the Caspian, Aral, Dead, Salton, and Great Salt Lake. (Those are inland seas, or salt-water lakes.)

Next, they divide the World Ocean into the five oceans we know: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern (the Antarctic Ocean, recently renamed), and Arctic.

The Arctic may not be an ocean at all, but a "mediterranean sea" between Asia and North America. Under that view, it would be an arm of the North Atlantic, but most commonly, it's considered an ocean in its own right.

There are two kinds of seas (not counting the so-called "inland seas") -- "mediterranean seas" and "marginal seas". Both kinds are parts of, or are connected to, oceans.

Mediterranean seas are mostly surrounded by land, but they exchange water with the oceans. The Mediterranean Sea (note caps) between Europe and Africa is an example. It's a branch of the Atlantic Ocean. The Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico is another "mediterranean sea" mostly surrounded by North and South America. It exchanges water with the Atlantic Ocean. In that case, the Antilles Islands acts as a barrier between the Caribbean and the Atlantic, with water exchange through the several inlets.

Other examples of mediterranean seas include the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Sea of Cortes (Gulf of California). Also note that seas can have other seas attached. Examples include the Adriatic and Aegean Seas which are branches of the Mediterranean Sea.

The other kind of sea is called a "marginal sea". These are branches of the ocean, partially surrounded by land, and, critically, subject to ocean currents (unlike mediterranean seas). The Arabian Sea, the South China Sea, and the Bering Sea are examples.

So the big difference between "mediterranean" and "marginal" seas is whether ocean currents run through them, or whether they merely "exchange" water with the ocean.

Um -- I guess this answers the question, at least as well as I can, about the difference between oceans and seas. Like I said, I learned quite a bit while researching this one.

Answer 2

An Ocean is a lot bigger than a sea. Thats the only difference

Answer 3

They are about the same except a sea is smaller than an ocean

Answer 4

not sure that i know, but it seems to me that a sea is surrounded at least partially by land, and therefore is contained more than an ocean. also, a sea shares water line with an ocean. an ocean may share water line with another ocean, or a sea.
think of adriatic, mediterannean, sea of india, etc.
differences seems self-evident when you condsider the bodies of water in question

Answer 5

I think the difference is that seas are surrounded by lands, so they have shores. But oceans don't have contact to a certain land, they connect to lands through local seas or gulfs. There is no physical border.
And so the oceans are much bigger.

Answer 6

Ocean is way bigger then the sea. Don't know what the qualifications would be though.

Answer 7

Oceans touch different continents and seas don't.

Answer 8

seas are partially inclosed by land whereas an ocean is seemingly limitless

Answer 9

Scientists don't have a hard and fast definition that separates the two. Check out 'Ask a Scientist'.

Answer 10

oceans are much bigger than seas