Location: body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern
Ocean, and the Western Hemisphere
Geographic coordinates: 0 00 N, 25 00 W
Map references: World
Area:
total: 76.762 million sq km
note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis
Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico,
Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia
Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative: slightly less than 6.5 times the size
of the US
Coastline: 111,866 km
Climate: tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the
coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean
Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent
from August to November
Terrain: surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador
Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise
warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern
Atlantic, counterclockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic;
the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged
north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench -8,605
m
highest point: sea level 0 m
Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals
(seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits,
polymetallic nodules, precious stones
Natural hazards: icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark
Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August
and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands;
ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic
from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from
May to September; hurricanes (May to December)
Environment - current issues: endangered marine species
include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; drift
net fishing is hastening the decline of fish stocks and contributing
to international disputes; municipal sludge pollution off eastern
US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean
Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North
Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea,
North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea
Geography - note: major chokepoints include the Dardanelles,
Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic
straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage,
The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the
Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic
Ocean
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