Atlantic Ocean

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Atlantic Ocean
Area
• Total	85,133,000 km²

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest ocean in the world. It is between Europe, Africa, North America, South America, and Antarctica, stretching around 15,000 kilometers from north to south. It is bordered by the Denmark Strait, Davis Strait, Iceland–Faroe Rise, and Wyville Thomson Ridge, which separate it from the Arctic Ocean. It is separated from the Pacific Ocean by Cape Horn at the tip of South America and from the Indian Ocean by Cape Agulhas at the tip of Africa. It covers 25% of Earth’s total ocean area, with a grand 93.363 million square kilometers. Groups of islands within the Atlantic Ocean include the Azores, Bermuda, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Greenland, Iceland, the British Isles, Faroe Islands, Madeira, Newfoundland, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, Bouvet Island, Gough Island, and many more.

The Atlantic is a major component of the global climate and economic system. Climate-wise, the Atlantic drives climate patterns through the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation). Recent evidence points to the AMOC weakening notably during the 20th–21st century and nearing a dangerous tipping point, which will primarily affect the imperial core (North America and Europe) with sea-level rise, rapid cooling in the North Atlantic, and changes to rainfall in the Amazon. As the world becomes warmer, this effect is intensified in the Atlantic, as warming sea surfaces increase tropical cyclone intensification and rainfall, leading to stronger and longer-lasting hurricanes.

The Atlantic was historically the center of primitive accumulation, as noted by Karl Marx in his newspaper Neue Rheinische Zeitung, where he states: “The Pacific Ocean will have the same role as the Atlantic has now, and the Mediterranean had in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, the role of the great water highway of world commerce.” The Atlantic was the stage for colonialism and slavery through the transatlantic slave trade, as well as the colonial exploitation of the Global South that flooded stolen resources across Europe and North America, leading to the creation of the modern capitalist world market.

Economy

You can see imperial control over the world’s oceans through the modern fishing industry, including deals like the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, in which the U.S. signed an “agreement” in 1988 with sixteen Pacific Island nations to fish for tuna in their exclusive economic zones in exchange for economic development. However, the U.S. naturally overfishes in these areas at the expense of local livelihoods and ecological safety, prioritizing profit for Statesian fishing firms. These firms continue to overfish despite concerns about depletion, habitat degradation, and climate-related damage.

If we consider all the damage being done to the climate by overfishing and other forms of harsh exploitation of marine resources, it is not a stretch to consider that these actions could have consequences that affect the Atlantic’s circulation. Either major slowdowns or a collapse would produce a humanitarian crisis which, when combined with the global inequality of the Global South, would certainly create famines, deaths by flooding, mass displacement, and climate refugees.

Ocean resources are abundant, with the North Sea and the coast of Newfoundland among the world’s major fishing grounds. Major catches include cod, capelin, herring, sardines, anchovies, and shellfish. Ocean catches account for two-fifths of the world’s total. The Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, the Gulf of Guinea, and the Mediterranean Sea all contain rich oil and natural gas resources, with coal, iron, and various placer deposits (ilmenite, rutile, etc.) found in their nearshore areas.

The maritime industry is highly developed, with the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, respectively. Major shipping routes include the North Atlantic route connecting Europe and North America; the Far East route connecting Europe and Asia/Oceania; the Mid-Atlantic route connecting Europe with the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean countries; and the South Atlantic route connecting Europe and South America. The North Atlantic route is the world’s busiest shipping route.

Major ports on the east coast include Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, London, Le Havre, Marseille, Genoa, Constanta, Alexandria, Casablanca, and Cape Town, while those on the west coast include New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, New Orleans, Houston, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires.

Geography

The Atlantic Ocean stretches 15,000 km from north to south and 2,800 to 6,000 km from east to west, with an average depth of 3,646 meters. However, depths vary, with the deepest point being 8,300 meters at the Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is an underwater mountain range that runs through the center of the Atlantic Ocean, and some ridges that are part of the MAR have risen above sea level to form islands such as Iceland, the Azores, Saint Paul Island, and Ascension Island.

Some deep-sea basins by the ridge include: in the east, the Western European Basin, Iberian Basin, Canary Basin, Cape Verde Basin, Guinea Basin, Angola Basin, and Cape Basin; in the west, the North American Basin, Brazil Basin, and Argentina Basin. The average temperature of the Atlantic is 5.6 ℃ (42.08 °F). The northern part of the Atlantic is warmer compared to the southern part, though near the equator it can reach between 26–27 ℃ (78.8–80.6 °F). The Atlantic Ocean has two primary wind-driven circulations: the northern circulation, which flows clockwise, includes the North Equatorial Current, the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, and the Canary Current; and the southern circulation, which flows counterclockwise, includes the South Equatorial Current, the Brazil Current, the West Wind Drift, and the Benguela Current.