Southern Ocean

Earth's oceans (World Ocean)
Atlantic Ocean Arctic Ocean Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean

Ice (white) in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica (light purple at bottom) grows and shrinks during the year

The Southern Ocean, also called the Antarctic Ocean, is the ocean around the continent of Antarctica. The fourth-largest sea by area, at 20,327,000 km², it has a coastline 17,968 km long and is surrounded by the waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Since the 1770s, geographers have discussed its limits, but the latitude sixty degrees south is now often accepted. It includes several seas like Cosmonauts, Somov, Commonwealth, and Mowson.

Other websites

• Oceanography Image of the Day, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• The CIA World Factbook's Archived 2017-02-13 at the Wayback Machine entry on the Southern Ocean
• The Fifth Ocean Archived 2008-09-06 at the Wayback Machine from Geography.About.com
• NOAA In-situ Ocean Data Viewer Archived 2006-02-11 at the Wayback Machine Plot and download ocean observations
• NOAA FAQ about the number of oceans Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine