The climate of the Indian Ocean. Interesting facts and features of the Indian Ocean

The youngest and warmest ocean of the planet is the Indian Ocean. Most of its waters are located in the Southern Hemisphere, and in the North it literally cuts into the continent. For this reason, people consider it a huge sea, which is divided into many bays. The climate of the Indian Ocean is most suitable for beach holidays. In this vast pond is a record number of islands, which have long been chosen by tourists from all over the world. Features of the climate of the Indian Ocean also make it the most vivid and unique in terms of flora and fauna. Therefore now we will not be distracted by epithets, but in detail we will consider all aspects of this amazing reservoir.

Total information

Geography will help us to understand the situation and parameters of the reservoir. The Indian Ocean is the third largest on the planet after the Pacific and the Atlantic. It occupies about 20 percent of the Earth's water area. Its area is 76.17 million square kilometers, and the volume reaches 282.65 kilometers cubic. The deepest point of the ocean is in the Sunda Trench, and its depth is 7729 meters. From all directions, the ocean touches the continents: in the west it is sultry Africa, in the north - Asia, in the east it borders with Australia, and in the South reaches the shores of ice Antarctica (although some scientists believe that there it goes to the Southern Ocean). This position of the Indian Ocean causes its weather conditions and currents, most of which are warm.

History

Up to the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the Indian Ocean was presented to people as one big sea that washes the shores of the whole world. On its shores, the first world civilizations, the first city-states, were born. In addition, the first ships and boats in the history of mankind were dropped into the waters of this "sea". From then until now, the climate of the Indian Ocean has not changed. Since it was for centuries very warm and calm, in the 15th century it was in its waters that the so-called era of geographical discoveries began. The first expanse of the ocean began to explore Vasco da Gama, followed by James Cook and many others. The study of the same bottom of this huge body of water, its flora and fauna began only in the 19th century. Then for the first time the researchers found that the local waters are warm, not only because the ocean is mostly in the tropics. Its bottom is spoiled by faults of the bark, from which the burning lava erupts. Thus, the warm air above the surface and the heat emanating from the earth's crust, greatly heats the water, making them favorable both for sea inhabitants and for beach lovers.

Gulfs, seas, islands

The significant and very voluminous parts of the Indian Ocean are its numerous seas. In general, they occupy up to 15 percent of its water area and are located off the coast of adjacent continents, as well as between numerous archipelagos. Now we list all the seas and bays in a clockwise direction. Let's start with the Red - the northernmost and the most salty. It is followed by the Arabian Sea, or the Persian Gulf, the Lakadiv Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea, the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea, or the Gulf of Carpentaria, the great Australian Gulf, the Mawson, Davis, Commonwealth and Cosmonauts. Such a number of adjacent water bodies is due not only to the shoreline of the continental coastlines, but also to the islands. The largest of them is Madagascar. It is followed by Zanzibar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, the Andaman Archipelago, Socotra, Comoros, King, Seychelles, Maldives and many others.

Geological structure

Features of the Indian Ocean are in its diverse relief, which is under the water column. On its water area there is a mass of tectonic faults, many places of connections of lithospheric plates. Due to this, in different parts of the ocean has a different bottom, which affects the weather, the color of water, and flora and fauna. Isolate three segments of the ocean, different from each other in structure:

• The African part. There is a shelf and a pronounced continental slope. Due to this bottom is mostly flat, there are only small hills. Away from the shore are the oldest seamounts, many of which come to the surface in the form of extinct volcanoes and overgrown with corals. The most famous of them are Seychelles.
• Indo-Australian part. In this segment, the shelf is very narrow, located near the coast of Asia and has a steep slope. This part of the ocean is the most extensive, and it includes numerous ridges, elevations and depressions, represented in the form of cones. Some of them come to the surface, forming the mainland islands (Christmas Island).
• The Antarctic part. On the shores of the coldest continent of the world, the ocean is cut by canyons, through which the waters of the underground rivers of Antarctica flow. Near the coast of the continent is a deep trench, which goes into a large plain

Climatic belt of the reservoir

In order to better understand this issue, we need a map of the Indian Ocean. Based on its data, we see that most of the water area lies in the Southern Hemisphere. In the North, the third largest ocean falls only in the tropical and subequatorial belts. Then it crosses the line of the equator itself - the hottest zone of the planet. In the Southern Hemisphere, the ocean is divided into subequatorial, tropical, subtropical, temperate, subantarctic and Antarctic belts. It is worth noting that, since the temperate zone, the ocean is being reduced to a large extent. These areas are conditionally called the rings that cover Antarctica. They are all famous for cold currents and even frosts.

The Northern Tropics

We will begin to consider the climate of the Indian Ocean from this natural zone, which is also the most visited by tourists. It is located off the coast of the Persian Gulf in the west and the Andaman Sea in the east, as well as in all adjacent territories. This area is a classic area of monsoon development. In winter, they have a moderate speed, so the region is almost always cloudless and dry. In the summer, their strength increases, as a result of which often not only showers, but also tornadoes. Note that the peculiarities of the climate of the Indian Ocean in this region are that the western part is much drier and saline than the eastern one. Here, record high temperatures (32-34 degrees Celsius) rise, and only 500 mm of precipitation falls. In the east of the region, on the contrary, rains occur more often, even in winter, because of which the salinity of many reservoirs decreases.

Equatorial zone

The equator is the main latitude along which the Indian Ocean stretches. Photos that often appear in a variety of tourist brochures are made in this region, and now we'll figure out why. Firstly, in this zone there is very lush vegetation, which was formed due to the huge amount of precipitation - up to 4000 mm. Secondly, in the region of the equator there are the main oceanic ridges that form its relief. Here a lot of atolls, surrounded by blue lagoons, is a typical "tropical paradise". In general, the climate of the Indian Ocean in the equatorial zone is many times wetter than in the tropical zone, but it is more stable. There is no sharp seasonal temperature and humidity drop, but monsoons do happen often.

Southern Tropics

Considering the features of the Indian Ocean, it is impossible to overlook this climatic zone. It is considered the most calm and, at the same time, extensive. This is dominated by trade winds, which intensify in the winter, only occasionally creating a storm, and weakening in the summer. Winter in this region lasts from May to September, and during this period over the ocean is gathering a lot of clouds. There is a huge amount of precipitation - up to 1500 mm, often there are fogs. In the summer (December-March) it is very dry. Humidity drops to 300 mm, the winds subside, clouds and fogs disappear. The air temperature in winter is about 20 degrees Celsius, and in the summer it rises to 25.

Moderate southern belt

For a more detailed examination of this climatic zone, we again need a map of the Indian Ocean. It is important that there be a delineation of water areas. According to this scheme, one can see that in the temperate climate zone the Indian Ocean is part of the ring that is located around Antarctica. Here it connects with the Pacific Ocean in the east and with the Atlantic in the west. In the region there are sharp seasonal temperature changes. So, in winter it drops to 10 or 15 degrees below zero, and in summer it rises to 10-15 degrees of heat. This region is famous for its low atmospheric pressure, because there are always fogs and clouds. In winter, western winds bring rainy cyclones, which causes storms. In summer it is relatively sunny and calm.

Subantarctic belt

Above we mentioned that the Indian Ocean is the warmest part of the world's waters, the zone of eternal sun and summer. Here at any time of year you can enjoy warm waves, hot sand and sunbathe every day. Now we will look at how cold the Indian Ocean can be. Photos of its water areas, which lie near Antarctica, represent a typical icy seascape. Here, year round icebergs float, the waters give off a cold, clear blue from their purity, the air is filled with ozone. In winter, the Indian Ocean in the subpolar zone freezes, the water salinity level rises to 34%. In summer, the glaciers melt, due to which the salt concentration in the water decreases to 32%. The air temperature in winter is about 30 degrees below zero, and in summer it rises only to 2-3 degrees of heat.

Polar Regions

The narrowest, most amazing and atypical part of the Indian Ocean is the coastal strip near Antarctica. Its width varies from 50 to 100 km, and this whole area is a perpetual glacier that never melts. The local features of the Indian Ocean are, first, in the presence of numerous icebergs. They melt, only getting into warmer latitudes. The coast line as such is not there, because there are no seas and bays here. Before the shores of the eternal glaciers on the bottom of the Indian Ocean is a giant pit, which is filled with sewage continental waters and glaciers that melt in the summer. Above zero, the temperature does not rise here. Precipitation is practically absent, since air is maximally discharged, and the pressure is lowered to the limit.

Summarizing

We have just briefly examined part of the course in Geography, Grade 7. On the one hand, the Indian Ocean is very simple to study. It is small in its territory, its main part is in hot latitudes, therefore, the waters here are mostly warm. Where is more difficult is its geological structure. Scientists note that this ocean of all the existing on the planet is the youngest, and therefore the volcanic processes that occur under the thickness of its water, still do not stop. For the same reason, it has so many islands that originated from the mountains overgrown with corals. Many see them as a great place to relax, but in fact each such zone is seismically unstable and even dangerous.