Most hurricanes form in the eastern Atlantic near the Cape Verde Islands and follow the path of the trade winds into the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, although the exact path of any hurricane is unpredictable. Clay minerals likely having been deposited by the mainland river Orinoco and the Magdalena River. In the shallow waters mainly turtle grass, manatee grass, and shoal grasses are found. Deepest Point: Wheatley Deep (19,028 feet). There are 90 species of mammals in the Caribbean including sperm whales, humpback whales and dolphins. On continental slopes and ridges calcareous silts are found. Such storms also have been a major cause of crop failure in the region. The Caribbean Sea is part of the western Atlantic Ocean, located between Central America, Mexico, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, and Cuba. Interestingly, the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean is close to the Cayman Trough. The area's importance largely results from one-third of the world's shipping sailing through its waters and that it is believed to hold huge oil and gas reserves beneath its seabed. Average monthly air temperatures in winter vary from +23 in the north to +27 C on the southern coast of the sea. [9] It is assumed the proto-caribbean basin existed in the Devonian period. Arid climates are found along the extreme southern coast of Venezuela out to the islands including Aruba and Curaao, as well as the northern tip of Yucatn[25]. Deepest Point: Sunda Trench (23,920 feet). For example, guaiac wood (Guaiacum officinale), the flower of which is the national flower of Jamaica and the Bayahibe rose (Pereskia quisqueyana) which is the national flower of the Dominican Republic and the ceiba which is the national tree of both Puerto Rico and Guatemala. The Caribbean hurricane season as a whole lasts from June through November, with the majority of hurricanes occurring during August and September. The shallowest sea is the Sea of Azov, located in Eastern Europe. Forces producing the Panamanian isthmus and the Antillean arc were vertical, resulting in no ultimate horizontal movement. The coral reef in Caribbean Sea is threatened due to the increased temperature of the sea because of global warming effect. It covers about 1/3 of the Earth. It is broadest in the west and at the head of Kerch Strait but elsewhere forms a rim about 6 to 7 miles (10 to 11 km) wide, and the depth of the edge is usually less than 360 feet (110 metres). 200 3, 330 10, 920. In the tropical waters of the Caribbean Sea the average temperature is 27C (81F) and it varies no more than 3C. 100 354. 150m. Connections were established with the Pacific Ocean during the Cretaceous Period (from about 145 to 66 million years ago) but were broken when the land bridges that permitted mammals to cross between North and South America were formed in the Miocene and Pliocene epochs (about 23 to 2.6 million years ago). Official websites use .gov The northeast trade winds dominate the region with an average velocity of 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km) per hour. Elder, Danny and Pernetta, John. It runs along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. It has an average depth (with its seas) of 11,962 feet (3,646 metres) and a maximum depth of 27,493 feet (8,380 metres) in the Puerto Rico Trench, north of the island of Puerto Rico. For each season (three month averages January - March, April - June, July - September, and October - December) there are six depths available: surface, 100m, 500m, 1,000m, 2,000m, and 5,000m. The Mediterranean sea covers 0.7% of the planets ocean surface, making it one of the largest seas globally. Leeward side of lagoons provide areas of growth for sea grasses. As the planets 4th largest ocean, the Southern Ocean has an average depth of 3,270 m. Its deepest point is the Factorian Deep which stretches to 7,434 m below sea level. Representatives of three species belonging to the genus Halophila, (Halophila baillonii, Halophila engelmannii and Halophila decipiens) are found at depths of up to 30m (98ft) except for Halophila engelmani which does not grow below 5m (16ft) and is confined to the Bahamas, Florida, the Greater Antilles and the western part of the Caribbean. Near the end of the second phase, gentle warping and faulting occurred, forming the Aves and Beata ridges. Tourism is also a big industry of the areas around the Caribbean Sea. Herman Molls' 1732 Map of the Caribbean. Tropical cyclones that impact the Caribbean often develop off the West coast of Africa and make their way west across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Caribbean, while other storms develop in the Caribbean itself. According to Birdlife International in 2006 in Cuba 29 species of bird are in danger of extinction and two species officially extinct. Panel Chairman in Marine Biology, Gulf University Research Corporation. Corrections? Many James Bond adventures were set there. The major ocean current greatly influences the areas climate is the North Equatorial Current, which enters the Caribbean Sea region from the tropical Atlantic Ocean. From the 16th century, Europeans visiting the Caribbean region distinguished the "South Sea" (the Pacific Ocean south of the isthmus of Panama) from the "North Sea" (the Caribbean Sea north of the same isthmus).[4]. The basins are connected by the submerged Aruba Gap at depths greater than 13,000 feet (4,000 metres). The Caribbean Sea is connected with the Gulf of Mexico in the north via the Yucatan Channel. Sea surface temperature monitoring tells us how the ocean and atmosphere interact, as well as providing fundamental data on the global climate system . The salinity of the seawater is about 3.6%, and its density is 1,023.51,024.0kg/m3 (63.9063.93lb/cuft). The sea is one of the largest oil production areas in the world, producing approximately 170million tons[clarification needed] per year. In the early Paleogene due to marine regression the Caribbean became separated from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean by the land of Cuba and Haiti. The Caribbean Sea mostly occupies the Caribbean Plate and features many island arcs which separate it from the ocean. Coral reefs support some of the most diverse marine habitats in the world, but they are fragile ecosystems. The very deepest depth of the ocean is roughly 2,000 meters deeper than Mount Everest is tall36,070 feet deep (10,994 m)! The name Caribbean derives from the Caribs, one of the regions dominant Native American groups at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. Because of these characteristics, the area was identified by members of the ocean science community as important to explore, and data from the expedition will likely have long-lasting implications for scientists and resource managers in the Caribbean. He also traveled to the deepest point in the world, Marianas trench. Continents and islands cover the remaining 29%. Did you know that an explorer once traveled to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench in a private mission? But how deep is the Caribbean Sea, and what mysterious creatures lurk there? More than 90 mammalian species are found in the Caribbean including dolphins, humpback whales, sperm whales, manatees, Solenodons, hutias, etc. Ocean is home to over 9,000 species, most are near extinction. The Atlantic Ocean basin is the 2nd biggest ocean in the world, covering about 20% of the Earths surface. Plunge has significant ecological consequences, Conservation International Caribbean Islands, An Overview of Land Based Sources of Marine Pollution, Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean: Economic Valuation Methodology, Guide to Marine Life: Caribbean-Bahamas-Florida, Defying Ocean's End: An Agenda For Action, Center For Advanced Study on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caribbean_Sea&oldid=1148478553, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Articles using infobox body of water without alt, Articles using infobox body of water without pushpin map alt, Articles using infobox body of water without alt bathymetry, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Articles containing Haitian Creole-language text, Articles containing Jamaican Patois-language text, Articles containing Papiamento-language text, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2015, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from June 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 April 2023, at 12:01. URL accessed on 28/07/2007. The majority of our planet's surface is covered in water! It is a unique sea with lots of wildlife, over 7,000 islands, and thousands of miles of coral reefs. The seas deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 meters (25,220 feet) below sea level. It is also well known as the location of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. But how deep is the Caribbean Sea, and what mysterious creatures lurk there? Enter your email in the box below to get the most mind-blowing animal stories and videos delivered directly to your inbox every day. https://www.britannica.com/place/Caribbean-Sea, Florida Museum - Indigenous communities used the Caribbean Sea as an aquatic highway, Caribbean Sea - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Caribbean Sea - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), A 5,000-mile seaweed belt is headed toward Florida. Research Vehicles. Pernetta, John. [31] The black-fronted piping guan is endangered. The name Coral came from the numerous coral reefs, including the worlds largest known as the Great Barrier Reef. Right now, there is a debate over how many oceans exist. Did you discover a fact in this list about the largest oceans and seas that surprised you? The Yucatn Channel between Mexico and Cuba links the Gulf of Mexico with the Caribbean. Christopher Columbus was the first European to enter the Caribbean Sea and land on the Island of Bahamas in 1492. The northernmost of these, the Yucatn Basin, is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by the Yucatn Channel, which runs between Cuba and the Yucatn Peninsula and has a sill depth (i.e., the depth of the submarine ridge between basins) of about 5,250 feet (1,600 metres). Where there are porous limestone terraced islands these are generally poor in nutrients. The green iguana is invasive to Grand Cayman. It was formed about 34 million years ago when South America and Antarctica separated. 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