There is still debate about the Southern Ocean. A number of scientists suggest considering the quality of water around Antarctica, while many of their colleagues argue that all these waters are part of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. However, on many geographic maps the Southern Ocean is separately indicated, and most likely, this name will finally take root soon.
1. Despite the fact that its waters are very cold, many living creatures live here. The total mass of small crustaceans and krill alone in the Southern Ocean reaches, according to scientists, 2.2 billion tons. 2. Its coastal waters, directly washing the shores of Antarctica, freeze in winter. 3. In the Southern Ocean, 100 to 200 thousand icebergs drift simultaneously. There is no way to count them all, for this would require very significant resources. 4. The South Ocean appeared on Russian maps and atlases only at the end of the 20th century, as Soviet cartographers rejected the very fact of its existence, holding a conservative point of view.
5. In 1559, the conditional boundary of the Southern Ocean was first crossed by people. The first was the Dutch captain Geeritz. Later, the famous James Cook also crossed the border, but more than 100 years passed between the first and second visits of people to these parts. 6. Hydrologists include thirteen coastal seas washing the shores of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. 7. The length of the coastline of the Southern Ocean almost entirely consists of the length of the coastline of Antarctica, and exceeds 18 thousand kilometers. 8. Earlier, the border of the South Arctic Circle was taken beyond the border of the Southern Ocean, but this was later revised.
9. For the first time they began to put it on maps as a separate ocean back in the 17th century. 10. At the bottom of the deepest point of the Southern Ocean (as much as 8264 meters), most of the highest mountains of the Earth could be hidden. 11. By geological standards, the Southern Ocean cannot be called old. Scientists have established that it formed about 30 million years ago, after the continental drift of Antarctica and South America broke away from each other. 12. There is still no clear definition of the boundaries of the Southern Ocean. Even among those scientists who distinguish it in a separate ocean, fierce discussions are held on this topic.
