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Which five oceans are recognized by most ocean researchers?
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ocean
Earth's oceans and their marginal seas cover nearly 71 percent of the planet's surface.
While Earth is often described as having a single "world ocean" due to the continuous nature of its interconnected waters, researchers generally recognize five major oceans. These bodies of water are separated by arbitrary boundaries, often defined by the continents that frame them.12
The five oceans are:
- Pacific Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Indian Ocean
- Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean)
- Arctic Ocean
The Southern Ocean is distinguished from the southern portions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which generally aligns with 60° S latitude. While these divisions are useful for area-volume analyses and hypsometry, many scientists note that water properties, ocean currents, and biological populations are not constrained by these man-made borders.12