Page 176 - Purple Butterfly Book 2

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unit 8
4. Extension to Science The Oceans
What is big, blue, and covers 71% of the Earth’s surface? That’s right! The ocean! Of course, you know all about the ocean. Or do you? Did you know, for example, that if all of the ice glaciers melted, the sea level would rise about 80 meters, or the height of a 26-story building? Or, that there is enough water in all of the oceans to fill a cube 1,000 kilometers tall? The sea has always been something mysterious, holding infinite possibilities
just under its surface. Poets have spent years
staring at the sea, trying to describe its untamable
majesty and dangerous beauty. Many sailors
have left behind their lives, and their families just
to spend their lives near it. Scientists have spent
decades trying to find out its secrets, but they are
nowhere near finishing. Did you know that even
though hundreds of thousands of marine life forms
have been discovered, scientists think that there
could be millions that haven’t?
As you already know, there are five oceans covering the Earth:
The Pacific Ocean:
• The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world and covers up more than 30% of the planet.
• Its name comes from the Latin word “pacificus”, which means peaceful.
• The lowest known point on Earth, the Challenger Deep, is located in the Pacific Ocean. Its depth is 10,920 meters, or 35, 827 feet.
• The Ring of Fire, which is an area where a lot of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen, is located in the Pacific Ocean.
• The largest coral reef in the world, the Great Barrier Reef, (which is located near Australia) is in the Pacific Ocean.
• It contains around 25,000 different islands, which is much more than any other ocean.
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(Credit: iStockphoto/Zeynep Mufti)
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