Part of the World Ocean, bounded by Europe and Africa from the east and North and South America from the west. The name comes from the name of the titan Atlas (Atlanta) in Greek mythology.

It is inferior in size only to the Quiet; its area is approximately 91.56 million km2. It is distinguished from other oceans by the strong indentation of the coastline, which forms numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of ​​river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas, much more than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference Atlantic Ocean is a relatively small number of islands and a complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and uplifts, forms many separate basins.

States of the coast of the Atlantic Ocean-49 countries:

Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Brazil, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Gabon, Haiti, Guyana, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Grenada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Iceland , Spain, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint -Lucia, Suriname, USA, Sierra Leone, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, France, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa.

NORTHERN ATLANTIC OCEAN

It is divided into northern and southern parts, the border between which is conditionally drawn along the equator. From an oceanographic point of view, however, the equatorial countercurrent, located at 5–8° N latitude, should be attributed to the southern part of the ocean. northern border usually carried out in the Arctic Circle. In some places this boundary is marked by underwater ridges.

Borders and coastline

in the northern hemisphere has a heavily indented coastline. Its narrow northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by three narrow straits. In the northeast, the Davis Strait, 360 km wide, connects it with the Baffin Sea, belonging to the Arctic Ocean. In the central part, between Greenland and Iceland, there is the Danish Strait, with a width of only 287 km at its narrowest point. Finally, in the northeast, between Iceland and Norway, is the Norwegian Sea, approx. 1220 km. East of Atlantic Ocean two water areas deeply protruding into the land are separated. The more northern of them begins with the North Sea, which to the east passes into the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. To the south there is a system of inland seas - the Mediterranean and the Black - with a total length of approx. 4000 km.

In the tropical zone in the southwest of the North Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, connected to the ocean by the Strait of Florida. The coast of North America is indented by small bays (Pamlico, Barnegat, Chesapeake, Delaware and Long Island Sound); to the northwest are the Bays of Fundy and St. Lawrence, Belle Isle, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay.

CURRENTS

Surface currents in the northern part Atlantic Ocean moving clockwise. The main elements of this large system are the warm current of the Gulf Stream directed to the north, as well as the North Atlantic, Canary and Northern Equatorial (Equatorial) currents. The Gulf Stream follows from the Strait of Florida and the island of Cuba in a northerly direction along the coast of the United States and at about 40 ° N. latitude. deviates to the northeast, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. This current divides into two branches, one of which follows the northeast along the coast of Norway and further into the Arctic Ocean. The second branch turns south and further southwest along the coast of Africa, forming the cold Canary Current. This current moves to the southwest and joins the North Equatorial Current, which heads west towards the West Indies, where it merges with the Gulf Stream. To the north of the North Equatorial Current is an area of ​​stagnant water, abundant in algae and known as the Sargasso Sea. Along the North Atlantic coast of North America, the cold Labrador Current passes from north to south, following from the Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea and cooling the coast of New England.

ISLANDS of the Atlantic Ocean

The largest islands are concentrated in the northern part of the ocean; these are the British Isles, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico. On the eastern edge Atlantic Ocean there are several groups of small islands - Azores, Canaries, Cape Verde. There are similar groups in the western part of the ocean. Examples include the Bahamas, Florida Keys and Lesser Antilles. The archipelagos of the Greater and Lesser Antilles form an island arc surrounding the eastern part of the Caribbean Sea. IN pacific ocean similar island arcs are characteristic of deformation regions earth's crust. Deep-water trenches are located along the convex side of the arc.

The Atlantic Ocean is second in size only to the Pacific, its area is approximately 91.56 million km². It is distinguished from other oceans by the strong indentation of the coastline, which forms numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of ​​river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas is much larger than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference of the Atlantic Ocean is a relatively small number of islands and a complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and uplifts, forms many separate basins.

North Atlantic Ocean

borders and coastlines. The Atlantic Ocean is divided into northern and southern parts, the boundary between which is conventionally drawn along the equator. From an oceanographic point of view, however, the equatorial countercurrent, located at 5-8 ° N latitude, should be attributed to the southern part of the ocean. The northern boundary is usually drawn along the Arctic Circle. In some places this boundary is marked by underwater ridges.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Atlantic Ocean has a heavily indented coastline. Its relatively narrow northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by three narrow straits. In the northeast, the Davis Strait, 360 km wide (at the latitude of the Arctic Circle), connects it with the Baffin Sea, which belongs to the Arctic Ocean. In the central part, between Greenland and Iceland, there is the Danish Strait, with a width of only 287 km at its narrowest point. Finally, in the northeast, between Iceland and Norway, is the Norwegian Sea, approx. 1220 km. To the east, two water areas deeply protruding into the land separate from the Atlantic Ocean. The more northern of them begins with the North Sea, which to the east passes into the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. To the south there is a system of inland seas - the Mediterranean and the Black - with a total length of approx. 4000 km. In the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, there are two oppositely directed currents one below the other. The lower position is occupied by the current from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, since the Mediterranean waters, due to more intensive evaporation from the surface, are characterized by greater salinity, and consequently, greater density.

In the tropical zone in the southwest of the North Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, connected to the ocean by the Strait of Florida. The coast of North America is indented by small bays (Pamlico, Barnegat, Chesapeake, Delaware and Long Island Sound); to the northwest are the Bays of Fundy and St. Lawrence, Belle Isle, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay.

The largest islands are concentrated in the northern part of the ocean; these are the British Isles, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico. On the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean there are several groups of small islands - Azores, Canaries, Cape Verde. There are similar groups in the western part of the ocean. Examples include the Bahamas, Florida Keys and Lesser Antilles. The archipelagos of the Greater and Lesser Antilles form an island arc surrounding the eastern part of the Caribbean Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, such island arcs are characteristic of regions of crustal deformations. Deep-water trenches are located along the convex side of the arc.

The basin of the Atlantic Ocean is bordered by a shelf, the width of which varies. The shelf is cut through by deep gorges - the so-called. submarine canyons. Their origin is still a matter of controversy. According to one theory, the canyons were cut by rivers when the ocean level was below present. Another theory links their formation with the activity of turbidity currents. It has been suggested that turbidity currents are the main agent responsible for the deposition of sediments on the ocean floor and that it is they that cut submarine canyons.

The bottom of the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean has a complex rugged relief, formed by a combination of underwater ridges, hills, basins and gorges. Most of the ocean floor, from a depth of about 60 m to several kilometers, is covered with thin silty deposits of dark blue or bluish-green color. A relatively small area is occupied by rocky outcrops and areas of gravel-pebble and sandy deposits, as well as deep-water red clays.

Telephone and telegraph cables have been laid on the shelf in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean to connect North America with northwestern Europe. Here, the areas of industrial fishing, which are among the most productive in the world, are confined to the area of ​​the North Atlantic shelf.

In the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, almost repeating the outlines of the coastlines, a huge underwater mountain range approx. 16 thousand km, known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This ridge divides the ocean into two approximately equal parts. Most of the peaks of this underwater ridge do not reach the surface of the ocean and are located at a depth of at least 1.5 km. Some of the highest peaks rise above ocean level and form the islands - Azores in the North Atlantic and Tristan da Cunha - in the South. In the south, the range bends around the coast of Africa and continues further north into the Indian Ocean. A rift zone extends along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean move clockwise. The main elements of this large system are the warm current of the Gulf Stream directed to the north, as well as the North Atlantic, Canary and Northern Equatorial (Equatorial) currents. The Gulf Stream follows from the Florida Strait and Cuba Island in a northerly direction along the coast of the USA and approximately 40°N. sh. deviates to the northeast, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. This current divides into two branches, one of which follows the northeast along the coast of Norway and further into the Arctic Ocean. It is because of it that the climate of Norway and all of northwestern Europe is much warmer than would be expected at latitudes corresponding to the region stretching from Nova Scotia to southern Greenland. The second branch turns south and further southwest along the coast of Africa, forming the cold Canary Current. This current moves to the southwest and joins the North Equatorial Current, which heads west towards the West Indies, where it merges with the Gulf Stream. To the north of the North Equatorial Current is an area of ​​stagnant water, abundant in algae and known as the Sargasso Sea. Along the North Atlantic coast of North America, the cold Labrador Current passes from north to south, following from the Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea and cooling the coast of New England.

South Atlantic Ocean

Some experts attribute to the Atlantic Ocean in the south the entire body of water up to the Antarctic ice sheet itself; others take for the southern boundary of the Atlantic an imaginary line connecting Cape Horn in South America with the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The coastline in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is much less indented than in the northern part; there are also no inland seas along which the influence of the ocean could penetrate deep into the continents of Africa and South America. The only major bay on the African coast is Guinea. On the coast of South America, large bays are also few in number. The southernmost tip of this continent - Tierra del Fuego - has a rugged coastline, bordered by numerous small islands.

There are no large islands in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, however, there are separate isolated islands, such as Fernando de Noronha, Ascension, Sao Paulo, St. Helena, the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, and in the extreme south - Bouvet, South Georgia , South Sandwich, South Orkney, Falkland Islands.

In addition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there are two main submarine mountain ranges in the South Atlantic. The whale range extends from the southwestern tip of Angola to about. Tristan da Cunha, where it joins the Mid-Atlantic. The Rio de Janeiro ridge stretches from the Tristan da Cunha Islands to the city of Rio de Janeiro and is a group of separate underwater hills.

The main current systems in the South Atlantic move counterclockwise. The South Tradewind current is directed to the west. At the prominence of the east coast of Brazil, it divides into two branches: the northern one carries water along the northern coast of South America to the Caribbean, and the southern, warm Brazilian Current, moves south along the coast of Brazil and joins the West Winds Current, or Antarctic, which heads east and then to the northeast. Part of this cold current separates and carries its waters north along the African coast, forming the cold Benguela Current; the latter eventually joins the South Equatorial Current. The warm Guinea Current moves south along the coast of Northwest Africa to the Gulf of Guinea.

Secrets of the Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean has been known to human civilization since time immemorial. It was here, according to ancient legends, that the mysterious island of Atlantis was located, which went under water seventeen thousand years ago. A warlike and courageous people (Atlanteans) lived on it, and the god Poseidon reigned over it together with his wife Kleito. The name of their eldest son was Atlan. In his honor, the boundless sea washing this land was named the Atlantic.

Atlantic Ocean

The mysterious civilization has sunk into oblivion, the sea was renamed the ocean, but the name has remained. The secrets of the Atlantic Ocean have not disappeared anywhere. As the centuries passed, there were no fewer of them. But before you get acquainted with everything unusual and mysterious, you need to get a general idea of ​​the majestic waters that wash both the shores of hot Africa, and the lands of old Europe, and the distant rocky coast of the American continent, covered with a haze of fabulous legends.

Today, the Atlantic Ocean is called a huge body of water on planet Earth, which accounts for 25% of the volume of the oceans. Its area is almost 92 million km², together with the adjacent seas and the Atlantic part of the Southern Ocean. From north to south, the waters of the Atlantic stretch for 15.5 thousand km, and from west to east, in the narrowest part (from Brazil to Liberia), they are 2.8 thousand km wide.

If we take the distance of Atlantic waters from the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the eastern coast of the Black Sea, then there will be a completely different figure - 13.5 thousand km. The depth of the ocean is also a great difference. Its average value is 3600 m, and the maximum is recorded in the Puerto Rico trench and corresponds to 8742 meters.

The bottom of the Atlantic is divided lengthwise into two parts by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It exactly repeats the outlines of a huge body of water and stretches in a wide winding mountainous chain: from the north - from the Reykjanes Ridge (Iceland), to the African-Antarctic Ridge in the south (Bouve Island), going beyond the border of the distribution of Arctic ice.

Scattered to the right and left of the ridge are hollows, troughs, faults, small ridges that make the topography of the ocean floor very complex and confusing. The coastline (especially in northern latitudes) also has a complex structure. It is strongly indented by small bays, has vast water areas that go deep into the land and form seas. Numerous straits in the coastal zone of the continents, as well as straits and channels connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean, are also an integral part.

The Atlantic Ocean washes the shores 96 state formations. It owns 14 seas and 4 large bays. Diverse climate in these geographical and geological areas earth's surface provide numerous surface currents. They flow full-flowing in all directions and are divided into warm and cold.

In the northern latitudes, up to the equator, the North Trade Wind, Gulf Stream and North Atlantic currents dominate. They carry warm waters and delight the world mild climate and high temperatures. This cannot be said about the Labrador and Canarian currents. The latter are cold and create frosty and slushy weather on the adjacent lands.

South of the equator, the picture is the same. The warm South Trade Wind, Guinean and Brazilian currents rule here. The cold West Winds and the Bengal Wind try to be equal in everything to their more humane counterparts and also make their feasible negative contribution to the formation of the climate of the southern hemisphere. In general, the average temperature on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean is plus 16 ° Celsius. At the equator, it can reach up to 28 ° Celsius. But in the northern latitudes it is very cold - here the water freezes.

Icebergs of the Atlantic

From what has been said, it is not difficult to guess that from the north and south the waters of the Atlantic are squeezed by eternal giant ice crusts. True, there is a little overkill at the expense of eternity, since very large blocks of ice often break off from them and begin to slowly drift towards the equator. Such blocks are called icebergs, and they move north of Greenland up to 40 ° N. latitude, and in the south of Antarctica to 40 ° S. sh. Their remnants are also observed closer to the equator, reaching 31-35 ° southern and northern latitudes.

Very large sizes is a loose concept. More specifically, there are icebergs that are tens of kilometers long and sometimes exceed 1,000 km² in area. These ice floes can travel through the expanses of the ocean for years, hiding their true size under the water surface.

The fact is that a mountain of ice shines blue above the water, which corresponds to only 10% of the total volume of the iceberg. The remaining 90% of this block is hidden in the ocean depths due to the fact that the density of ice does not exceed 940 kg / m³, and the density sea ​​water on the surface ranges from 1000 to 1028 kg/m³. The usual, average height of an iceberg, as a rule, corresponds to 28-30 meters, while its underwater part is just over 100-120 meters.

Meeting such a sea traveler for ships has never been a joy. It poses the greatest danger already in adulthood. By this time, the iceberg has thawed significantly, its center of gravity has shifted, and the huge ice block has turned over. Its underwater part is above the water. It does not shine blue, but is a dark blue ice cap, which, especially in conditions of poor visibility, is very difficult to distinguish on the surface of the ocean.

The sinking of the Titanic

A typical example of the insidiousness of floating ice blocks can be the death of the Titanic, which occurred on the night of April 14-15, 1912. It sank 2 hours 40 minutes after colliding with an iceberg in the northern waters of the Atlantic Ocean (41° 43′ 55″ N, 49° 56′ 45″ E). This resulted in the death of 1,496 passengers and crew members.

True, we must immediately make a reservation: it is rather imprudent to write off everything on a "stray" iceberg. This shipwreck is one of the greatest mysteries of the Atlantic Ocean today. There is still no clue to the causes of the tragedy, although there are a great many different Versky and assumptions.

As expected, the largest passenger ship in the world (length 269 m, width 28.2 m, displacement 46,300 tons) collided with an iceberg, which had a venerable age and apparently turned over in the water more than once. Its dark surface did not give reflections, it merged with the water surface of the ocean, so it was very difficult to notice a huge floating ice block in time. The culprit of the tragedy was recognized only when he was at a distance of 450 meters from the ship, and not 4-6 km, as usually happens in such situations.

The sinking of the Titanic made a lot of noise. It was a worldwide sensation at the beginning of the second decade of the twentieth century. Mostly everyone was amazed - how could such a huge and reliable ship sink so quickly, dragging hundreds and hundreds of unfortunate people to the bottom with it. Nowadays, real reasons Many researchers tend to see a terrible tragedy not in the ill-fated iceberg (although few people deny its indirect role), but in completely different factors that for some reason, at one time, were hidden from the general public.

Versions, conjectures, assumptions

The official conclusion of the commission investigating the disaster was unequivocal - the ice of the Atlantic turned out to be stronger than steel. He ripped open the underwater part of the Titanic's hull like a tin can. The wound was terrible: its length reached 100 meters, and six of the sixteen waterproof compartments were damaged. This turned out to be enough for the proud Briton to sink to the bottom and forever calm down at a great depth, taking with him to the sea soil human lives and colossal wealth.

The sinking of the Titanic

The sinking of the Titanic

Such a verdict is not convincing for a specialist, and even a person who is far from shipbuilding understands that the carrying hull of a huge liner plowing the oceans cannot in any way resemble a tin can. The melted ice of the old iceberg also does not have sufficient hardness, which, judging by the conclusion, should have exceeded the strength of a diamond in order to cut through the steel plating of a multi-ton passenger ship for tens of meters.

You can build various assumptions and hypotheses for an arbitrarily long time, but only practical research can answer all questions. In this situation, given the depth at which the Titanic lay, survey work became possible no earlier than the 80s of the XX century. It was by this time that deep-sea vehicles appeared that could stay at a depth of 4 kilometers for a long time.

The first such swallow was the expedition of the American oceanologist Robert Ballard, who in September 1985 arrived at the scene of the tragedy on the ship Knor. She was armed with a deep-water towed complex "Argo". It was he who determined the depth of the remains of the Titanic. The water column in this place was 3,750 meters. The ship lay on seabed, split into two parts, the distance between them was approximately 600 meters.

No visible damage that caused the death of the ocean liner was found. Robert Ballard considered that they were hidden by the ground, in which the multi-ton structure was bogged down. A lacerated wound on the body of the Titanic was not found during the second expedition organized by an American scientist in 1986.

French and American experts followed the beaten track. In the summer of 1987, they arrived in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and spent two long months at the crash site. Using the Nautil deep-sea submersible, the researchers recovered more than 900 items from the bottom of the sunken ship. These were samples of ship utensils, some of which ended up in museums, and some went to private collections.

Survey of the Titanic

A submersible explores the sunken Titanic

Finally, in 1991, the ship Akademik Mstislav Keldysh arrived at the site of the sinking of the Titanic. On board was an international research expedition led by Canadian geologist and oceanographer Steve Blask. The expedition had at its disposal two autonomous underwater vehicles Mir-1 and Mir-2. On them, the researchers made 38 dives. The ship's hull was examined, a sample of the side plating was taken, film, video and photography were carried out.

Despite all efforts, a ragged hole, several tens of meters long, was not found. But it was possible to find a hole, the size of which did not exceed square meter, and numerous cracks were observed along the lines of the rivets.

A steel fragment that broke away from the Titanic's hull was sent for testing. It was checked for metal fragility - the conclusion was not encouraging: the prototype was amazingly fragile. This could be attributed to the long 80 years on the seabed, which significantly affected the properties of steel. Therefore, for the objectivity of the picture, a similar piece of metal was tested, which has been preserved at the shipyard since 1911. The result was almost the same.

It's hard to believe, but the Titanic's hull did not meet regulatory requirements. It was made from a material with a high content of sulfur compounds. The latter gave the steel structure a high brittleness, which, in combination with ice water, made it very brittle.

If the hull were made of steel that meets all the standards and requirements, then after contact with the iceberg, it would bend, but retain its integrity. In the same situation, the ship hit an iceberg with its starboard side - and the blow was of little force, but the fragile skin of the Titanic could not stand it either. It split along the rivet lines below the waterline. Icy water poured into the holes that formed, which instantly filled the lower compartments and, most likely, caused the explosion of red-hot steam boilers.

The huge ship began to rapidly sink into the waters of the Atlantic. According to eyewitnesses, at first the Titanic sank on an even keel, which indicates that the lower compartments were filled with water evenly. Then came the trim on the nose. The stern began to rise up, reached a vertical position, and the multi-ton colossus very quickly went to the bottom. Already at great depth, due to high pressure, the Titanic split into two parts, which were pulled along the ocean floor for more than 500 meters.

Who benefited from the sinking of the Titanic?

It turns out that this catastrophe has nothing to do with the secrets of the Atlantic Ocean: everything seems to be clear. No, there is no need to rush to conclusions. As already mentioned, there are many versions of the death of an ocean liner, and among them there is not one that can be called the ultimate truth. There are many other assumptions, opinions of very authoritative people who consider the cause of the terrible catastrophe from a completely different angle.

So to this day there is a version that the White Star Line company, the owner of the ship, was the culprit of the accident. It was its leaders who initially planned the construction of the Titanic with gross violations of all possible norms and rules. The purpose of this grand scam was to obtain a huge insurance policy that could correct the precarious financial situation of the company and save it from total collapse.

That is why the ocean liner, despite warnings about icebergs from ships in the same area, was moving at the highest possible speed (20.5 miles per hour). The task of the captain of the ship was one - to provoke a collision of the Titanic with a huge floating ice floe.

Most likely, no one could even imagine such a number. dead people, since according to all calculations it turned out that the ship would sink for a long time. The main stake was placed on rescue ships, which should have had enough time to get to the scene of the tragedy and manage to save all passengers and valuables on board. However, unpredictable fate has made its own adjustments to the original scenario.

In addition to this rather dubious and unsteady version, there is another. It's a fire in a coal bunker. With prolonged storage, the lower layers of coal begin to smolder, releasing explosive gas. The temperature gradually increases, the concentration of gas vapors increases. In such a situation, an explosion can occur from a normal push. The collision with the iceberg became the detonator that caused a huge surge of energy that tore and destroyed the entire lower part of the ship.

In a word, even today there is no consensus on the causes of the terrible tragedy. Only the remains of a ship resting at a great depth can reveal this secret of the Atlantic Ocean. Their scrupulous study by dozens of specialists is possible only under normal terrestrial conditions. To do this, you need to raise the Titanic from the bottom of a huge reservoir.

Technically, this is extremely difficult to implement. As for the financial side of the issue, here is a different picture. Although such work will cost crazy money, but they will more than pay off. After all, we must not forget that gold bars worth 10 million pounds sterling lie on the ship. Jewelry, diamonds, jewelry are also stored here. the richest people of the world that sailed on this ship. Fragments of the Titanic hull, the remains of the interior, dishes will leave the auctions with a bang at fabulous prices.

If we consider the unfortunate Titanic as a source of material wealth, then he is by no means alone. The bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is the Klondike, El Dorado. There is a huge number of ships here, which are simply stuffed with precious metals, diamonds, and other valuables that can make anyone who gets to them rich. This is precisely the whole question: to break through the thickness of oceanic waters is an overwhelming task not only for individual adventurers, but also for serious firms and solid financial structures.

Underwater cemeteries of ships

At the beginning of the XXI century, there are many companies specializing in the search for sunken ships. The game is worth the candle, because according to experts, at least 80,000 ships of all countries and peoples that have been shipwrecked over the past 400 years, carrying valuables worth 600 billion dollars, are resting at the bottom of the Atlantic alone.

One of these companies - the American company "Odyssey" - discovered in 2007, in the area of ​​the Canary Islands, a Spanish sailing ship. On board were 500 thousand old gold and silver coins. Their total weight reached 17 tons, and the cost was 500 million dollars. This is $100 million more than the riches that were raised in 1985 from the Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Florida in the twenties years XVII century.

The lion's share of all the valuables that went to the bottom of the ocean in the 16th and in the first half of the 17th centuries rest on Spanish ships, which in a continuous caravan brought gold, silver, precious stones and products from the Indian peoples stolen from the Indian peoples to Europe.

In theory, the good obtained in this way cannot be the property of the state. The Spanish government thought otherwise. At the beginning of the 21st century, it declared 800 Spanish ships sunk in the 16th-18th centuries, carrying illegally acquired utensils, as a national treasure. The monetary equivalent of all this wealth is estimated at 130 billion dollars.

Underwater treasures are available for search teams in the coastal zones of the Atlantic Ocean. Here, as a rule, ships sank, running aground or reefs. On the vast expanses of water, where at least 3000 meters lie under the keel, galleons, brigantines, frigates carrying cargo, and then steamships, motor ships, yachts, battleships went to the bottom, having experienced all the power and strength of ocean storms (the height of the waves in the Atlantic often reaches 10-15 meters) or deceit and cruelty pirate ships and submarines of the enemy during the years of hostilities.

The ratio of ships drowned in coastal zones and in the open ocean over the past 400 years is 85 to 15. That is, it turns out that the closer to the coast, the more dangerous. Only every seventh ship perished in the vast and majestic expanses of the Atlantic Ocean, the rest of the floating craft sank in the visibility of native or foreign shores, which, as they say, were within easy reach.

One of the largest underwater cemeteries is the English Channel. Its length is 560 km, its width in the west is 240 km, in the east 32 km, and the average depth is 63 m. Only in some places the depth exceeds this mark and reaches 170 m. There are many shoals, fogs are frequent. At the bottom of the strait rests countless ships, especially in its western part.

In terms of the number of shipwrecks, the waters in the area of ​​​​Cape Hatteras (North Carolina, USA) do not lag behind. There is a narrow long spit here, the eastern ledge of which is actually the ill-fated cape. This place is characterized by countless shoals, constant storms, fogs, strong currents. Vessels that dare to approach these shores expose themselves to a very real danger - the manifestation of carelessness, frivolity and ignoring the direction, almost constantly, leads to tragic consequences.

Bermuda Triangle

Perhaps the most intriguing mystery of the Atlantic Ocean can be called the Bermuda Triangle. Its peaks lie at the southern tip of Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. It is included in the so-called Devil's Belt, part of which is also the Devil's Triangle, located in the Pacific waters, around Miyake Island (Japan).

The excitement around this seemingly unremarkable place arose in the second half of the 20th century. Before, for hundreds of years, everything seemed to be normal. The ships sedately crossed this expanse of the ocean, and the crews on them did not even guess what mortal danger they were exposing themselves to.

The year 1950 put an end to such outrageous frivolity. It was then that a short article by Associated Press correspondent Edward Johnson came out. It was not even an article, but a thin pamphlet published in Florida in a small circulation. It was called the "Bermuda Triangle", and the facts presented in it told about the mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft in the Bermuda region.

Bermuda Triangle

She did not attract the attention of the public in any way, but apparently forced the attention of individuals who feed on sensations and circulation of bestsellers to draw attention to themselves. However, it took almost 15 years before Vincent Gladdis's article titled "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" saw the light of day. It was published in 1964 in a spiritualist magazine. With a short break, a book by the same author, Invisible Horizons, was published. In it, a whole chapter was already given to the mysterious part of the ocean.

A more detailed solid and capacious work was presented to the readers ten years later. The author of this bestseller, simply and concisely called "The Bermuda Triangle", was Charles Berlitz. It provided a lot of data on the mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft, and also described incomprehensible phenomena associated with changes in the properties of time and space. Reputable publishing houses different countries reprinted this book, and, for short term, tens of millions of citizens living in different parts of the planet have learned about the Bermuda Triangle.

In any business, there will always be corrosive skeptics who do not feed with bread, but let them spoil a barrel of honey with a fly in the ointment. A blow to such a successfully and dynamically spreading sensation was dealt as early as the next 1975 by the American journalist Lawrence David Kouche. This gentleman did not leave a stone unturned from all the arguments and statements of Charles Berlitz on the pages of his book “The Secret bermuda triangle unraveled."

To the credit of the author, the content of the book is by no means unsubstantiated criticism, which would be based on envy of a more successful and crafty colleague, but a serious study based on a painstaking study of documents and eyewitness accounts. It was on the basis of factual material that many errors, inaccuracies, and sometimes outright hoaxes were revealed in the work of Charles Berlitz.

The conclusion of Lawrence David Couchet's book is unequivocal: nothing mysterious, supernatural, inexplicable happens in the Bermuda Triangle. The statistics of tragedies in this section of the Atlantic Ocean corresponds to similar data in any other place of the huge reservoir. The mysterious disappearances of material objects are fictitious, and stories about ships abandoned by crews, about lost time, about instantaneous movement in space for hundreds of kilometers are a myth.

Critics of anomalous phenomena are sober-minded people. In order to convince them of something, it is necessary to provide iron evidence of this phenomenon. But in Everyday life It is not that simple. What lies beyond the real cannot be explained in terms of the laws of physics, mechanics or chemistry. Here, rather, the human imagination and faith in the mysterious and unusual dominate.

By the way, many paranormal phenomena that take place in the Bermuda Triangle can be interpreted as a direct consequence of the usual banal processes occurring in the waters of the Atlantic. For example, the mysterious disappearance of ships has a simple explanation related to methane emissions. This gas escapes from the gas hydrate deposits on the seabed and saturates the water. The density of the latter drops sharply. A ship that enters such a section of the ocean immediately sinks.

The released methane is not limited to aquatic environment. It rises into the air and also reduces its density. This can lead to the death of aircraft, which is almost impossible to explain to people on the ground. We must not forget that the gas dissipates very quickly both in water and in air. That is, he is a killer, leaving no traces behind.

Anomalies over time can be explained by increased activity magnetic field in the Bermuda Triangle. Passengers of the aircraft who find themselves in a bunch of magnetic forces can be convinced of their impact by looking at the hands of the wrist watch that have stopped or slowed down. After some time negative factor disappears, the clock starts running normally again, but everyone, without exception, is behind by the same number of minutes. This gives rise to the false opinion that the plane was lost in another dimension.

If we talk about ships found in the ocean, on which there was not a single crew member, then here the blame can be put on infrasound, which occurs on the water surface under certain conditions. The human brain, heart, other organs of his body - they all have their own oscillation frequency. If some of them coincide with the frequency of infrasound, then the resulting resonance can ruthlessly hit the psyche of people, plunge them into horror and panic, make them jump overboard and die in the water.

All the arguments presented are quite convincing and realistic. But we must not forget that this is not evidence, but only assumptions. Supporters of the paranormal version can also put their vision of the problem to the public, which will be no less convincing and will find many adherents.

Where is the truth? Probably, as always, in the middle. A sober look, combined with faith in the unusual and supernatural, will be more productive in solving the mysteries of not only the Bermuda Triangle, but also other mysteries of the Atlantic Ocean, of which there are a great many both on its surface and in the dark depths.

Based on material factruz

What continents and countries is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, you will learn from this article.

Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean on the planet. It is located in the north between Iceland and Greenland, in the east between Africa and Europe, in the west between South and North America, and Antarctica in the south. The area of ​​the Atlantic Ocean is 91.6 million km². About ¼ part falls on the inland seas. The average salinity of the water is 35 ‰. The coastline is heavily indented into regional water areas.

Note that the Atlantic Ocean did not appear on the planet immediately. Many million years ago, both Americas, Europe, Africa and Antarctica represented a single landmass. For the last 40 million years, a very important process has been taking place on Earth - the opening of the ocean basin. Then sushi was divided into modern continents. The opening of the ocean basin continues to this day.

What continents are washed by the Atlantic Ocean?

The Atlantic Ocean washes all continents except Australia. Namely:

• eastern coast of North America
• Eastern coast of South America
• western coast of africa
• western shores of Eurasia
• northwestern shores of Antarctica

Which countries are washed by the Atlantic Ocean?

The waters of the Atlantic Ocean wash 49 major countries. Here is a complete list in alphabetical order: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Brazil, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Gabon, Haiti, Guyana, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Grenada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal , St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Suriname, USA, Sierra Leone, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, France, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa.

Now I'm so nostalgic! For the first time in so many years, I opened the atlas, which for some reason I have kept since my school days, looked at the map ... Yes, now I have to look at it to give the correct answer, but once I could name all the countries that are washed by the waters without hesitation Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. And tell me more about each one.

Countries washed by three oceans

In general, these oceans are not too close to each other. Because they wash only three countries. This:

By the way, all three of these countries are quite large. That is why they can link as many as three oceans. And then in some places it will be only indirect access to ocean waters: for example, this can be said about the connection between Russia and the Atlantic Ocean. Our territory is adjacent not to the waters of the Atlantic itself, but to the Baltic Sea connected with them.

But yes - even such a connection with the ocean through the seas is still considered to be access to the ocean.

Is there a country washed by all the oceans at once

Imagine how great it would be: if you want, you go to one ocean, if you want, to another. Choose any to your taste, you don’t even need to leave the country.

Only here is a country so huge that it is washed by all four oceans, just doesn't exist. But have a mainland- the one on which we live with you - Eurasia:

Is there any benefit for the country from access to the ocean

In ancient times, this benefit was enormous. Still, then a significant part of long-distance travels took place on ships. Also, another way move between continents just didn't exist.

Now we have planes that can extremely quickly fly to any point on the planet. But sea travel is still not written off - that's enough a good way to transport multi-ton cargo.

In addition, it contains many minerals. Yes, and fish too - and fish, I think, people will eat forever.