If you’ve ever lived near or visited the coast, you’d know that it provides some of the most scenic locations in the world. Have you ever been to the beach, and simply been captivated by the ocean view? Many people have! If you didn’t know before, our planet’s surface is covered by several bodies of water. In fact, 71% of our planet is ocean territory! You probably knew that, though. There are some things about the ocean that many people don’t know! Did you know that the ocean is home to millions of tons of gold? Or that current maps of Mars are more detailed than our mysterious oceans? Yes, that’s right! We know more about other planets than we do about or own! If this interests you, then we have a lot of reading for you. Read below for ocean wall art facts!
Flow With the Motion of the Ocean!
- Did you know that one of the loudest noises of all time came from an event called an “icequake?” in 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration captured a sound now called “The Bloop.” This sound was loud enough to be picked up by sensors situated 3,000 miles away. The sound was so loud, that many people thought it came from some sort of animal, despite the fact that no know animal exists that is large enough to produce it. After 15 years of research, the NOAA concluded that the noise came from seismic activity that resulted in a break of frozen ground.
- Who doesn’t like looking at waves form and roll on the ocean? Did you know that the biggest waves aren’t the ones that form above the ocean surface? The largest waves are actually ones you can’t see from the shorelines. These big waves occur underneath the ocean; they’re called internal waves! They take place between two streams of water with different densities. They can grow to be up to 650 feet tall!
- When we want to cool off, where do we head? The pool? The beach? Pretty much anywhere with water, right? One thing many people don’t know is that in the deepest part of the ocean, the water temperature can be the hottest. There are many hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the seafloor. The water released from these vents can be almost 750 degrees! The intense water pressure at the bottom of the ocean is the main reason for why this water is so hot!
- Have you ever wondered why the plants and coral that come from the ocean are often so beautiful? Stunning pinks, purple and neon greens are found in all kinds of plant life in the ocean. Why aren’t there as many plants that look like that here? The answer? Well, it’s the sun! As we all know, the sun can be incredibly damaging to our skin. Sun exposure can cause burn, and prolonged exposure has been linked to cancer! Despite the fact that they’re not living and breathing creatures like us, plants are still subject to the same sun damage that we are. In order to protect themselves, they do something called fluorescing. They have adapted over millions of years to change color, thereby absorbing sunlight efficiently so that they are damaged by it.
- As previously stated, there is tons and tons of gold at throughout the planet’s oceans. In fact, there’s estimated to be 20 million tons of gold out there! Unfortunately, most of this gold has been diluted; most of the gold in the sea is concentrated into small amounts of a few parts per trillion. The ocean floor also has undissolved gold embedded inside of it, but it isn’t particularly cost efficient for anyone to mine it. If this gold could be gathered, however, there’d be enough to give every person on Earth nine pounds! Read below for more ocean wall art facts.
The Ocean Breeze Puts My Mind at Ease!
- Is there a more beautiful natural water-formation than a waterfall? Millions of people travel to Niagara Falls year after year just to view the gargantuan rapids. Did you know the the planet’s largest waterfall isn’t above ground? That’s right! It’s under the ocean! The tallest waterfall that exists above land is Angel Falls in Venezuela, which has a drop of over 3,200 feet. The Denmark Strait Cataract, which is an underwater waterfall between Greenland and Iceland, has a drop of 11,500 feet. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?
- Speaking of underwater formations, did you know that the large majority of Earth’s volcanic activity actually occurs underwater? In fact, 90% of all volcanic activity occurs in the ocean, with the largest known concentration of active underwater volcanoes being in the South Pacific. This particular concentration of volcanoes is in an area the same size as the state of New York. It contains a gargantuan 1,133 volcanoes in total!
- We previously talked about seismic activity under the water. This activity doesn’t only cause ice to break, but also causes cataclysmic events like tsunamis! Tsunamis are gigantic series of waves cause by the displacement of a large volume of water. Tsunamis move at speeds of over 500 miles per hour when the ocean depth is at least 3.7 miles deep.
- You can’t have an article about the ocean without mentioning pirates, ships and treasure, right? Did you know there’s an estimated three million shipwrecks in the ocean? This includes the most famous ones known to man, like the disaster of the Titanic and the Santa Maria. Due to these shipwrecks, the ocean houses a countless number of treasures and artifacts from several periods throughout history. There are more treasures at the bottom of the sea than in all the world’s museums!
- Did you know that the ocean is the largest natural magnet in the world? Unlike other magnets, the sea doesn’t draw in metallic objects. Instead, it’s the biggest magnet and conductor of solar energy in the world. Due to global warming, unfortunately, this is a bad thing. Ocean temperatures have risen rapidly over the past few decades and decimated the populations of all kinds of marine life. Did you enjoy these ocean wall art facts?
Conclusion
Now that you know so much about the ocean, what do you think of it? When you go out to the beach, will you be thinking of the the things going on below the ocean surface? If you ask us, the ocean is kind of scary! Underwater heat vents, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes! It’s all too much! So we try not to think about it and just take in the magnificent views that the ocean gives us. We hope you enjoyed reading this blog! Thanks for reading these ocean wall art facts!