Where did the Antarctic Ocean go?

Question

When I was in school there were 5 oceans. Prior to that there were the Seven Seas (which I can still name). But my daughter's geography book teaches that there are four oceans. When did this change, how, and why?

Answer 1

The Antarctic Ocean didn't go anywhere. It never was. It's true name is the bSouthern Ocean.

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean or South Polar Ocean, is the oceanic division completely in Earth's southern hemisphere encircling Antarctica, comprising the southernmost waters of the World Ocean south of 60° S latitude. However, the Southern Ocean's northern boundary is not precise. Instead, the Antarctic Convergence, an ocean zone which fluctuates seasonally, separates the Southern Ocean from other oceans. This dynamic, natural boundary is formed by the convergence of two circumpolar currents, one easterly flowing and one westerly.

The Southern Ocean is another name for what have traditionally been considered to be the southernmost portions of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It is the fourth largest of the five principal ocean divisions and the latest to be defined, having been accepted by a decision of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) in 2000, though the term has long been traditional among mariners. The Southern Ocean had been included in IHO's Limits of Oceans and Seas second edition (1937), then dropped from the third edition (1957), only to be reinstated in the fourth edition (which has yet to be formally promulgated due to a number of unresolved disputes). This change reflects the recent findings in oceanography of the importance of ocean currents.


The oceans are

oceans by size)
#1 Pacific (155,557,000 sq km)
#2 Atlantic (76,762,000 sq km)
#3 Indian (68,556,000 sq km)
#4 Southern (20,327,000 sq km)
#5 Arctic (14,056,000 sq km)

(greatest depths in the oceans) (by ocean)
Mariana Trench, Pacific 35,827 ft
Puerto Rico Trench, Atlantic 30,246 ft
Java Trench, Indian 24,460 ft
Arctic Basin, Arctic 18,456 ft
Southern Ocean (greatest depth in dispute)

Answer 2

Your daughter's geography book is officially wrong, I'm afraid. There had always been an argument about whether the Antarctic (or Southern) Ocean was valid or whether it was just the southern sections of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans (which it is really).

So, in 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization created the fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean completely surrounds Antarctica.

The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean).

For some time, those in geographic circles have debated whether there are four or five oceans on earth.

Some consider the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific to be the world's four oceans. Now, those that side with the number five can add the fifth ocean and call it the Southern Ocean or the Antarctic Ocean, thanks to the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO).

Answer 3

Seas are different from oceans. There is an Arctic Ocean but not an Antartic Ocean.

Love,
Snag

Answer 4

antarctic ocean? im not familiar with it but oceans are big, so im guessing they divided the 3 into 6, put them with the remaining one, and viola! theres 7 now!

Answer 5

antarctic ocean

Answer 6

it got demoted, like Pluto was.... not "oceany" enough