Mostly what comes to our mind while having a vacation in tropical country is the beach. But what exactly is a beach? Is it the boundary between the land and the sea? When we are on the beach, what do we see actually? Sea or ocean? We often hear those two things, what is ocean and what is sea? Are they similar?
Sea is a collection of water that covers the surface of a very broad layer of soil and generally the water contains salt and is associated with the ocean. While the ocean is a vast sea and also a continuous mass of salt water that is only separated by continents or large islands. Well, it can be seen from its understanding that there are differences between sea and ocean.
Although both are vast waters, both’s water is generally blue and salty, it turns out that there is a difference between the sea and the ocean. Because of this difference, the continents in the world such as the Pacific Ocean cannot be called the Pacific Sea, as well as the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, both of which cannot be called the Indian Ocean or the Atlantic Sea. And vice versa, as well as the Java Sea cannot be called the Java Ocean, the Arafura Sea cannot be called the Arafuru Ocean, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, etc. cannot be called an ocean.
Then, what is the major difference between the sea and the ocean? Actually, from several things to consider, sea and ocean are indeed different. We should include their size, depth, and location. Therefore, most people said that they are similar yet different.
Here are the differences between sea and ocean:
1.Viewed in broad terms
In terms of size or width, the sea and oceans have quite striking differences. The ocean is far wider than the sea. As proof, we can see the sizes of some oceans and several seas in the world.
- The Pacific Ocean has an area of 165,250,000 square kilometers
- The Atlantic Ocean has an area of 106,450,000 square kilometers
- The Indian Ocean has an area of 73,556,000 square kilometers
- The Antarctic Ocean has an area of 20,327,000 square kilometers
- The Arctic Ocean has an area of 14,056,000 square kilometers
- The South China Sea has an area of 3,500,000 square kilometers
- The Caribbean Sea has an area of 2,754,000 square kilometers
- The Mediterranean Sea has an area of 2,500,000 square kilometers
- The Bering Sea has an area of 2,000,000 square kilometers
- The Gulf of Mexico has an area of 1,600,000 square kilometers
Well, from the summary of the vast ocean and the sea above, it can be proven that the oceans and seas have very wide differences of sizes. The most extensive sea, that is the South China Sea, compared to the smallest ocean, the Arctic Ocean alone has a difference of more than 10,000,000 square kilometers.
This shows that in terms of size, the ocean is indeed far wider. One factor that answers why the size or area of the ocean with this ocean differs very much is that the sea is part of the ocean, while the ocean is a collection of several seas. This can be evidenced by a number of advantages regarding the list of oceans in the following world.
- The Indian Ocean is a collection of several seas, that is the South China Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Indonesian Sea, and others.
- The Atlantic Ocean is a collection of several seas, that is the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea and also the Norwegian-Greenland Sea.
- The Arctic Ocean is a collection of several seas that is the Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Sea, Tanjung Hudson, Tanjung Baffin, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, White Sea, along with other existing water bodies surrounding.
- The Pacific Ocean is a collection of several seas, that is the Sulawesi Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Tasman Sea, and the Yellow Sea
Those are the major difference of both of them. It should be clear enough that indeed ocean is a merger of several united seas, then called the Ocean.
2.Viewed from the Depth Side
The difference between the sea and the ocean is not only seen in terms of size or width, but also in terms of depth. When viewed in terms of depth, the ocean is much deeper than the sea, because even from the size, ocean is also wider than the sea. To prove it more thoroughly, it can be seen from some data on the depths of the sea and also the oceans in the world.
- The Mariana Trench located in the Pacific Ocean has a depth of 11,033 meters
- The Puerto Rico Sea Trench in the Atlantic Ocean has a depth of 8,648 meters
- The Sea Trench in the south of Java in the Indian Ocean has a depth of 7,725 meters
- The Japanese Sea has an average depth of 1,666 meters
- The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,501 meters.
- The Bering Sea has an average depth of 1,491 meters
- The South China Sea has an average depth of 1,463 meters
If seen from the ocean and sea depth data above, it can be seen that the ocean is deeper than the sea.
3.Based on its location
The difference between the ocean and also the sea is not only viewed in terms of depth and size, but it can be seen from its location or physical characteristics. In terms of location or physical characteristics, the sea separates two land forms in the form of islands while the ocean separates two or more land forms and is in the form of continents.
For the exact proof, it can be seen from some data about the location of the sea and also the oceans in the world.
- The Pacific Ocean separates the Asian Continent, the Australian Continent, and also the Americas
- The Atlantic Ocean separates the Americas, the European Continent, and also the Afrika Continent
- The Indian Ocean separates the Continent of Africa, the Continent of Asia, and also the Continent of Australia.
- The Java Sea separates Java Island, Sumatra Island and Kalimantan Island
- Maluku Sea separates Sulawesi Island from the Maluku Islands
- The Seram Sea separates the Maluku Islands from North Maluku
That’s how you can differentiate the sea and ocean from some segments in an easy way but sometimes to differentiate both of them, we can’t use our bare eyes; therefore, it needs scientific research to define whether it’s an ocean or a sea.