Sargasso Sea
area, North Atlantic Ocean
Sargasso Sea, area of the North Atlantic Ocean, elliptical in shape and relatively still, that is strewn with free-floating seaweed of the genus Sargassum. It lies between the parallels 20° N and 35° N and the meridians 30° W and 70° W inside a clockwise-setting ocean-current system, of which the Gulf Stream (issuing from the Gulf of Mexico) forms part of the western rim. The sea reaches depths of 5,000–23,000 feet (1,500–7,000 meters) and is...