Sea 26831 225187169 2008-07-12T10:21:51Z Tedmund 6887330 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]]) {{cleanup|date=May 2008}} :''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]]