Sea
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/202.163.208.50|202.163.208.50]] to last version by 70.70.11.202 (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
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:''This article is about the body of water. For other uses, see [[SEA]] and [[seas]]. For the ancient Jewish unit of volume, see [[Seah (unit)]]. For the [[Smirnoff]] advertising campaign, see [[Sea (Smirnoff advert)]]''
A '''sea''' is either a large expanse of [[salinity|saline water]] connected with an [[ocean]], or a large, usually saline, [[lake]] that lacks a natural outlet such as the [[Caspian Sea]] and the [[Dead Sea]]. Colloquially, the term is used synonymous with ocean. Large lakes, such as the [[Great Lakes]], are sometimes referred to as inland seas. [[Marginal sea]]s are those that have [[Ocean current|currents]] caused by ocean winds, and [[mediterranean sea (oceanography)|mediterranean sea]]s are those in which currents are caused by differentials in [[salinity]] and [[temperature]].
== International Hydrographic Organization ==
The [[International Hydrographic Organization]] (IHO) is the international authority that sets forth [[nomenclature]] and definition of bodies of water.<ref>{{cite web | author= | title=IHO Background Information | url=http://www.iho.shom.fr/gen_info/background.htm | publisher=International Hydrographic Organization | date=25 August 2004 | accessdate=2008-05-17}}</ref> The IHO's ''Limits of Oceans and Seas'' was first published in 1928, with its current working document the third edition published in 1953.<ref>{{cite paper | author=International Hydrographic Conference of 1952 | title=Limits of Oceans and Seas: Special publication S-23 | version=Third edition | format=.PDF | publisher=International Hydrographic Organization | url=http://www.iho.shom.fr/publicat/free/files/S23_1953.pdf | date=1953 | accessdate=2008-05-17}}</ref> A fourth draft edition was proposed in 1986 but has yet to be ratified due to outstanding issues such as the [[Sea of Japan naming dispute]].
== List of seas ==
{| cellspacing="0" border="1" bgcolor="white" class="wikitable"
|-
| valign="top" width=25% |
====[[Atlantic Ocean]]====
* [[Adriatic Sea]]
* [[Aegean Sea]]
* [[Alboran Sea]]
* [[Argentine Sea]]
* [[Bay of Biscay]]
* [[Bay of Bothnia]]
* [[Bay of Campeche]]
* [[Bay of Fundy]]
* [[Baltic Sea]]
* [[Black Sea]]
* [[Bothnian Sea]]
* [[Caribbean Sea]]
* [[Celtic Sea]]
* [[Central Baltic Sea]]
* [[Chesapeake Bay]]
* [[English Channel]]
* [[Gulf of Bothnia]]
* [[Gulf of Guinea]]
* [[Gulf of Finland]]
* [[Gulf of Mexico]]
* [[Gulf of Sidra]]
* [[Gulf of St. Lawrence]]
* [[Gulf of Venezuela]]
* [[Ionian Sea]]
* [[Ligurian Sea]]
* [[Irish Sea]]
* [[Marmara Sea]]
* [[Mediterranean Sea]]
* [[Mirtoon Sea]]
* [[North Sea]]
* [[Sea of Azov]]
* [[Sea of Crete]]
* [[Sea of the Hebrides]]
* [[Sargasso Sea]]
* [[Tampa Bay]]
* [[Thracian Sea]]
* [[Tyrrhenian Sea]]
| valign="top" |
====[[Arctic Ocean]]====
* [[Amundsen Gulf]]
* [[Baffin Bay]]
* [[Barents Sea]]
* [[Beaufort Sea]]
* [[Bering Sea]]
* [[Cambridge Bay]]
* [[Chukchi Sea]]
* [[Cold Bay]]
* [[Davis Strait]]
* [[Denmark Strait]]
* [[East Siberian Sea]]
* [[Greenland Sea]]
* [[Hudson Bay]]
* [[James Bay]]
* [[Kara Sea]]
* [[Kara Strait]]
* [[Labrador Sea]]
* [[Laptev Sea]]
* [[Lincoln Sea]]
* [[Norwegian Sea]]
* [[White Sea]]
====[[Indian Ocean]]====
* [[Arafura Sea]]
* [[Andaman Sea]]
* [[Arabian Sea]]
* [[Bay of Bengal]]
* [[Gulf of Aden]]
* [[Gulf of Oman]]
* [[Mozambique Channel]]
* [[Persian Gulf]]
* [[Red Sea]]
* [[Timor Sea]]
| valign="top" width=25% |
====[[Pacific Ocean]]====
* [[Arafura Sea]]
* [[Banda Sea]]
* [[Bering Sea]]
* [[Bismarck Sea]]
* [[Bohai Sea]]
* [[Bohol Sea]] <small>(Mindanao Sea)</small>
* [[Camotes Sea]]
* [[Celebes Sea]]
* [[Ceram Sea]]
* [[Chilean Sea]]
* [[Coral Sea]]
* [[East China Sea]]
* [[Flores Sea]]
* [[Gulf of Alaska]]
* [[Gulf of California]] <small>(Sea of Cortés)</small>
* [[Gulf of Carpentaria]]
* [[Gulf of Thailand]]
* [[Halmahera Sea]]
* [[Java Sea]]
* [[Koro Sea]]
* [[Molucca Sea]]
* [[Philippine Sea]]
* [[Savu Sea]]
* [[Sea of Japan]]
* [[Sea of Okhotsk]]
* [[Seto Inland Sea]]
* [[Solomon Sea]]
* [[South China Sea]]
* [[Sulu Sea]]
* [[Tasman Sea]]
* [[Timor Sea]]
* [[Yellow Sea]]
| valign="top" width=25% |
====[[Southern Ocean]]====
* [[Amundsen Sea]]
* [[Bass Strait]]
* [[Bellingshausen Sea]]
* [[Davis Sea]]
* [[Great Australian Bight]]
* [[Gulf Saint Vincent]]
* [[Ross Sea]]
* [[Scotia Sea]]
* [[Spencer Gulf]]
* [[Weddell Sea]]
====[[Landlocked country|Landlocked seas]]====
* [[Aral Sea]]
* [[Caspian Sea]]
* [[Dead Sea]]
* [[Sea of Galilee]]
* [[Salton Sea]]
* [[Great Salt Lake]]
|}
† Not listed in IHO S-23 4th ed.
(There are 113 Seas on Earth.)
==Nomenclature==
Some bodies of water that are called "seas" are not actually seas; there are also some seas that are not called "seas". The following is an incomplete list of such potentially confusing names.
* The [[Sea of Galilee]] is a small freshwater lake with a natural outlet, which is properly called Lake Tiberias or Lake Kinneret on modern Israeli maps, but its original name remains in use.
* The Sea of Cortés is more commonly known as the [[Gulf of California]].
* The [[Persian Gulf]] is a sea.
* The [[Dead Sea]] is actually a lake, as is the [[Caspian Sea]].
==Extraterrestrial seas==
:See also ''[[Extraterrestrial liquid water]]''
[[Lunar mare|Lunar maria]] are vast basaltic plains on the [[Moon]] that were thought to be bodies of water by early astronomers, who referred to them as "seas".
Liquid water may have existed on the surface of [[Mars]] in the distant past, and several basins on Mars have been proposed as dry sea beds. The largest is [[Vastitas Borealis]]; others include [[Hellas Planitia]] and [[Argyre Planitia]].
Liquid water is thought to be present under the surface of several [[natural satellite|moon]]s, most notably [[Europa (moon)|Europa]].
Liquid hydrocarbons are thought to be present on the surface of [[Titan (moon)|Titan]], though it may be more accurate to describe them as "lakes" rather than "seas".
==Science==
The term "sea" has also been used in [[quantum physics]]. [[Dirac sea]] is an interpretation of the negative energy states that comprises the vacuum.
== See also ==
{{Commonscat|Seas}}
{{wiktionarypar|maritime}}
{{wiktionarypar|sea}}
* [[Oceanography]]
* [[Inlet]]
* [[International Maritime Organization]]
* [[List of places on land with elevations below sea level]]
* [[Pole of inaccessibility]]: the locations farthest from any coastline
* [[Marine debris]]
* [[Sea level]]
* [[Sea level rise]]
* [[Sea salt]]
* [[Seven Seas]]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Bodies of water]]
[[Category:Seas| ]]
[[ar:بحر]]
[[an:Mar]]
[[arc:ܝܡܐ]]
[[ay:Lamara]]
[[zh-min-nan:Hái]]
[[map-bms:Segara]]
[[be:Мора]]
[[be-x-old:Мора]]
[[bcl:Dagat]]
[[bar:Meer]]
[[bs:More (voda)]]
[[br:Mor]]
[[bg:Море]]
[[ca:Mar]]
[[cs:Moře]]
[[cy:Môr]]
[[da:Hav]]
[[de:Meer]]
[[et:Meri]]
[[el:Θάλασσα]]
[[es:Mar]]
[[eo:Maro]]
[[eu:Itsaso]]
[[fa:دریا]]
[[fr:Mer]]
[[fur:Mâr]]
[[gl:Mar]]
[[ko:바다]]
[[hi:सागर]]
[[hr:More]]
[[io:Maro]]
[[id:Laut]]
[[os:Денджыз]]
[[is:Sjór]]
[[it:Mare]]
[[he:ים]]
[[jv:Segara]]
[[ka:ზღვა]]
[[kg:Kalunga]]
[[ht:Lamè]]
[[lad:Mar]]
[[lo:ທະເລ]]
[[la:Mare]]
[[lv:Jūra]]
[[lb:Mier]]
[[lt:Jūra]]
[[jbo:xamsi]]
[[hu:Tenger]]
[[mk:Море]]
[[ms:Laut]]
[[mn:Тэнгис]]
[[nl:Zee]]
[[nds-nl:Zee]]
[[ja:海]]
[[no:Hav]]
[[nn:Hav]]
[[nrm:Mé]]
[[oc:Mar]]
[[uz:Dengiz]]
[[nds:Meer]]
[[pl:Morze]]
[[pt:Mar]]
[[ro:Mare]]
[[qu:Hatun qucha]]
[[ru:Море]]
[[sq:Deti]]
[[scn:Mari]]
[[simple:Sea]]
[[sk:More]]
[[sl:Morje]]
[[sr:Море]]
[[sh:More]]
[[su:Sagara]]
[[fi:Meri]]
[[sv:Hav]]
[[tl:Dagat]]
[[ta:கடல்]]
[[th:ทะเล]]
[[vi:Biển]]
[[tg:Баҳр]]
[[tr:Deniz]]
[[uk:Море]]
[[vec:Mar]]
[[wa:Mer]]
[[wo:Géej]]
[[yi:ים]]
[[zh-yue:海]]
[[zea:Zeê]]
[[bat-smg:Jūra]]
[[zh:海]]