Atlantic Ocean - Facts for Kids

Physical Features and Basic Information

The Atlantic Ocean is the world’s second-largest ocean, covering about 20% of Earth’s surface — covering a whopping 106 million square kilometers (41,105,000 square miles). It’s like stacking 11 billion kids’ bedrooms all the way up past the moon!”

The Atlantic Ocean stretches between five continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Antarctica, making it like a giant water bridge connecting different parts of our world!

At its deepest point, called the Milwaukee Deep within the Puerto Rico Trench, the Atlantic Ocean plunges down to about 28,232 feet (9 km) – that’s like stacking 282 football fields end-to-end straight down into the ocean!

The Atlantic Ocean’s name comes from Atlas, a Greek god who was believed to hold up the sky – imagine a super-strong giant holding up all that water!

The ocean floor has an underwater mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that’s longer than all the mountains on land combined – it stretches for 10,000 miles (16,093 km), like driving from New York to California almost 4 times!

The Atlantic Ocean stretches wider by about 2 inches (5 cm) every year — growing just as fast as your fingernails!

If you could empty the Atlantic Ocean, it would take about 2.34 quintillion bathtubs to fill it — that’s thousands of times more bathtubs than there are stars in our entire galaxy!

The Atlantic Ocean’s waves can reach heights of over 100 feet (30 meters) during big storms – that’s taller than a 10-story building!

The Atlantic Ocean has underwater waterfalls, with the Denmark Strait cataract being the largest, dropping water three times higher than Angel Falls, Earth’s highest waterfall on land!

The Atlantic Ocean’s surface water moves in a giant circle called the North Atlantic Gyre, like a massive underwater merry-go-round that helps distribute heat and nutrients!

Marine Life and Ecosystems

The Atlantic Ocean is home to nearly 1,100 different kinds of fish species – that’s more types of fish than there are breeds of dogs and cats combined!

The largest animal ever known, the blue whale, swims in the Atlantic Ocean and can grow as long as three school buses placed end to end!

The Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean is the only sea without shores, bounded by ocean currents instead of land, and it’s full of floating seaweed that creates a unique habitat for marine life!

There are coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean that are over 8,000 years old – they were growing while woolly mammoths were still walking the Earth!

The Atlantic Ocean hosts the world’s largest seaweed bloom, the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, which can stretch from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico – it’s visible from space!

Some Atlantic Ocean squid can glow in the dark using special light-producing organs, creating their own underwater light show!

The Atlantic salmon can jump up to 12 feet (3.66 meters) out of water – that’s higher than a basketball hoop!

There are hydrothermal vents on the Atlantic Ocean floor that create environments where creatures can live without sunlight, using chemicals instead of light for energy!

The Atlantic Ocean has underwater forests of kelp that can grow up to 2 feet (61 cm) per day – faster than most land plants!

Climate and Weather Patterns

The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean carries warm water from the Caribbean to Europe, making countries like Ireland warm enough to grow palm trees despite being as far north as Canada!

Hurricane waves in the Atlantic Ocean can be detected by seismometers on the ocean floor, creating a pattern that scientists call “ocean microseisms” – it’s like the ocean doing a tiny dance!

The temperature difference between the surface and deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean can be more than 30°C (86°F) – that’s like the difference between a hot summer day and your freezer!

The Atlantic Ocean sends rain to four continents by turning enough water into clouds each day to fill over 170 million Olympic-sized swimming pools!

The coldest part of the Atlantic Ocean, near Antarctica, can be 28.4°F (−2°C) – slightly below freezing, but the salt keeps it liquid!

Tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean can release as much energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs in just one day!

The Atlantic Ocean creates its own clouds called “marine layer stratus” that can stretch for hundreds of miles – like a giant blanket over the water!

The ocean’s surface can be as warm as 86°F (30°C) near the equator – warmer than most swimming pools!

Human Connection and History

Over 1,000 years ago, Vikings sailed the Atlantic in wooden ships — finding their way without compasses or maps, just stars and guts!

The first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean was laid in 1858, allowing people to send messages between Europe and America in just minutes instead of weeks!

The first person to swim across the Atlantic Ocean took 73 days to complete the journey – longer than a whole summer vacation!

Scientific Information

At the Atlantic Ocean’s bottom, pressure can squeeze nearly 850 times harder than up top — imagine an elephant stomping on your toe!

The Atlantic Ocean moves heat around Earth like a giant radiator, carrying warm water towards the poles and cold water towards the equator!

Scientists have found bacteria in the Atlantic Ocean that can eat oil and help clean up oil spills naturally!

The Atlantic Ocean contains about 82 quintillion gallons of water—a number so huge it’s an 82 followed by 18 zeros! (That’s 82,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons (310,403,766 km³)).

Scientists can measure the Atlantic Ocean’s temperature from space using special satellites that can detect differences as small as 0.1°F!

The Atlantic Ocean has underwater lakes and rivers with their own shores and waves, formed by extra-salty water!

The fastest current in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf Stream, moves faster than you can walk!

The Atlantic Ocean can create giant whirlpools called eddies that can spin for months and be seen from space!