:''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
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. The term is used colloquially as synonymous with ocean, as in "the tropical sea" or "down to the sea shore", or even "
sea water" to refer to water of the ocean. Large lakes, such as the
Great Lakes, are sometimes referred to as inland seas. Many seas are
marginal seas, in which
currents are caused by ocean winds; others are
mediterranean seas, in which currents are caused by differences in
salinity and
temperature.
The
International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is the world authority when it comes to defining seas. The current defining document is the Special publication S-23, ''
Limits of Oceans and Seas'', 3rd edition,
1953. The second edition dated back to
1937, and the first to
1928. A fourth edition draft was published in
1986 but so far several naming disputes (such as the one over the
Sea of Japan) have prevented its ratification.
List of seas (by ocean)
† Not listed in IHO S-23 4th ed.
Ambiguous terminology
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 archaic 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 ''
Oceans Beyond Earth''
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
moons, most notably
Europa.
Liquid hydrocarbons are thought to be present on the surface of
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
★
Oceanography
★
Inlet
★
International Hydrographic Organization
★
International Maritime Organization
★
Ocean
★
Mediterranean sea (oceanography)
★
Marginal sea
★
seaQuest DSV
★
Sea level
★
Sea level rise
★
Sea salt
★
Seven Seas
★
Water
★
World Ocean Day
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
