Indian Ocean: geographical position, bottom relief

One of the largest water objects located among the continents is the Indian Ocean. The geographical position and history of his research is the topic of the article.

The world ocean consists of the Pacific, Indian,Atlantic and the Arctic. All of them differ from each other geographically. Each has its own unique natural features. Nevertheless, with the Quiet, the Indian Ocean has many similarities in common.

Geographical position

This water body has a rather peculiarlocation. The impressive part is in the Southern Hemisphere. From the northern part, the Indian Ocean is bounded by the Eurasian continent. The geographical position of this object has the following peculiarity: with the Arctic Ocean it has no connection.

The water object, referred to in this article,is the third largest. What is the geographical position of the Indian Ocean relative to the tropics? In the north-east, as already mentioned, it borders on Eurasia. In the southeast, if we recognize the existence of the Southern Ocean - with the Antarctic zone of convergence. The area of ​​the water body is more than sixty two million square kilometers.

The Islands

Weak ruggedness of the banks is typical forAfrican continent. The second mainland on the east side is washed by the Indian Ocean. The geographical position of it has one more feature: a small number of large islands. The coastline is indented slightly. Large islands are located mainly on the border of the ocean. The coral include Coconut, Maldives, Andaman, Chagos. To the volcanic - Seychelles, Mascarene, Prince Edward, Crozet.

Borders

Physical and geographical location of the Indian Oceancan be seen on the map below. In the north and north-west, that is, from the side of Eurasia and the African continent, the peninsulas are cut relatively large. They are separated from each other by the seas and gulfs, which have different depths, the structure of the bottom. By origin these parts of the ocean are also different. To the large peninsulas are only a few. Namely - Arabian and Somalia.

In the east, between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, a large part of the Hindustan Peninsula cuts into the ocean. And the Persian Gulf is actually its inland sea.

Madagascar

What else can I say on the topic "Geographicalthe position of the Indian Ocean "? The 7th grade of the school curriculum studies the characteristics of this water body. The basic concepts are outlined above. Of course, even the students of the lower grades know about the existence of Madagascar. This island is also in the Indian Ocean and is the largest. And it ranks fourth in size among all the islands of the Earth.

Bottom relief

The Indian Ocean is small in size. However, the relief of its bottom is very diverse. The northern part has a distinct submarine margin. A fairly large amount of sedimentary material is present on the coast of Eurasia.

Angle of slope of the continental slope in BengalThe bay is forty-five degrees. This is a distinctive feature of the relief of the bottom of the Indian Ocean. There is no such steep slope in the World Ocean anymore. The mid-oceanic ridge has the largest form of bottom relief. It includes three branches that extend in different directions. Parts of the ridge in the south of the Indian Ocean are connected with the ridges of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. In the northern part there is a rift, which is dissected by deep transverse faults. These faults branch out closer to the Red Sea.

The characteristic features of the bottom relief are the rapidity of the continental slope, the presence of a transition zone and branched mid-ocean ridges.

The above features of the bottom relief, as well asgeographical position of the Indian Ocean. Photos of this object are presented in the article. It is worth saying a few words about the history of the study of the ocean. It is known that its shores are areas of ancient civilization.

History of research

The first seafarers plowed the waternamely within the Indian Ocean. At least that's what most researchers think. The means by which people in ancient times crossed the ocean's expanses were small bamboo rafts. However, ships of this type are used today by the inhabitants of Indochina.

Later in India, a new tool was createdmovement: ship catamaran type. Their images are preserved on the walls of the oldest temples. The first routes of navigation on the Indian Ocean were the Arabs. Information about this water body has been accumulating since the travels of Vasco da Gama.

Features of nature

Features of the Indian Ocean climate - seasonalwind monsoon, which have a huge impact on the conditions in the northern part. In the south, the Antarctic influence is noticeably cooling. The characteristics of climate also affect the water masses. The northern part warms up well.

Plankton is abundant in the water masses. Especially a lot of unicellular algae in it, as a result of which the surface layer becomes extremely cloudy and changes its color. In the ocean live and mackerel, and sardinella, and a shark. The natural world of the areas located near coral reefs is especially rich.

In the winter of 2004, as a result of a catastrophic earthquake, residents of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia suffered. Its epicenter was in the Indian Ocean, two hundred and fifty kilometers from Sumatra.

Economic activity

The natural wealth of this ocean has not been studiedcompletely. The relief abounds in rich fossils. In some areas on the bottom there are huge oil deposits. However, the extraction and transportation of this natural liquid lead to contamination. In states that are located off the north-west coast, desalination of waters is regularly carried out. In these countries, fishing is extremely developed.

A lot of sea roads pass through this ocean. Especially there are many navigable routes in the north. The direction of movement of these roads is associated with monsoons.