sea partly surrounded by land. Larger areas of the ocean reach into the land in the case of a gulf. The oval-shaped Gulf of Mexico covers 1.5 million sq km (579,000 sq mi). This view of part of the gulf, includes the westernmost island in the Florida Keys, a chain of islands off the coast of Florida.
The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago. According to the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, the Gulf of Alaska is bounded on the north by the coast of Alaska and on the south by a line running from the south end of Kodiak Island on the west to Dixon Entrance on the east.
The Lingayen Gulf is large gulf on Northwestern Luzon in the Philippines. It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central.
Region: Ilocos Region Part of: South China Sea Coordinates: 1617N 12012E Length: 55 km (34 mi) Width: 35 km (22 mi)
Albay Gulf is a large gulf in the southern part of Luzon island, Philippines, at 13.2N 123.93E. The place has been one of the tourist spots in the province because of the frequent sightings of whale sharks (known as "butanding" in the local vernacular) in the coastal areas. Their presence led to the town's receiving the moniker "whale shark capital of the world." Davao Gulf is a gulf found in Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of 308,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from Philippine Sea. It is surrounded by all five provinces in the Davao Region.
The Persian Gulf is located in Western Asia between Iran to the northeast and the Arabian Peninsula to the southwest. The Persian Gulf is an extension of the Indian Ocean (Gulf of Oman) through the Strait of Hormuz. The Shatt al- Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline.
Location: Western Asia Primary inflows: Sea of Oman Basin countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Oman Max. length: 989 km (615 mi) Surface area: 251,000 km (97,000 sq mi) Average depth: 50 m (160 ft) Max. depth: 90 m (300 ft)
Gulf of Suez, arm of the Red Sea, northeastern Egypt, between the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian Desert. It has a length of 290 km (180 mi) with a breadth of 25 to 55 km (15 to 35 mi). At its northern end, which is the extreme northern end of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez is connected with the Mediterranean Sea by the Suez Canal.
The Gulf of Saint Lawrence (French: Golfe du Saint-Laurent), the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semienclosed sea, covering an area of about 236,000 square kilometres (91,000 sq mi) and containing about 35,000 cubic kilometres (8,400 cu mi) of water, which results in an average depth of 148 metres (486 ft). A bay is a part of a lake or an ocean which creates a semi- circular indentation along the shore. Its water is quiet and free from strong currents and makes a natural harbor. Towns and cities often develop beside bays.
Location Luzon Island, Philippines River sources Pasig River Pampanga River Max. length 19 km (12 mi) Max. width 48 km (30 mi) Surface area 2,000 km 2 (770 sq mi) Today, Manila Bay still remains important for commerce and industry, including fishing, although rapid urban growth and industrialization are contributing to a decline in water quality and deteriorating marine habitats. It also serves a focus for recreation for Metro Manila and is a popular destination for walks and for viewing the sunset. Much of the land fronting the bay along Metro Manila is reclaimed land which now includes important sites such as the Philippine Senate and the Mall of Asia. The Bay covers somewhere between 400 and 1,600 square miles (1,040 to 4,160 square kilometers), depending on which sub-bays (such as San Pablo Bay), estuaries, wetlands, and so on are included in the measurement. The main part of the Bay measures 3 to 12 miles (5 to 20 km) wide east-to- west and somewhere between 48 miles (77 km) and 60 miles (97 km) north-to-south. It is the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas. San Francisco, Bay San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary that drains water from approximately forty percent of California. Water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and from the Sierra Nevada mountains passes through the Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Specifically, both rivers flow into Suisun Bay, which flows through the Carquinez Strait to meet with the Napa River at the entrance to San Pablo Bay, which connects at its south end to San Francisco Bay.
The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the worlds most famous bridges. It spans the San Francisco Bay in California.
Bay of Bengal, arm of the Indian Ocean, between India on the west and Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and the Malay Peninsula on the east. In the southeast, the Andaman and Nicobar islands, formed by the peaks of a submerged mountain range, separate the Bay of Bengal from the Andaman Sea. . The bay is 2,100 km (1,300 mi) long and 1,600 km (1,000 mi) wide.
Hudson Bay is a massive inland sea in northeastern Canada. The bay is bordered by the provinces of Ontario, Qubec, and Manitoba, and by the Nunavut Territory administrative region. The bay is named for English explorer Henry Hudson, who in 1610 became the first European to explore the region.
Hudson Bay, along with its southern extension, James Bay, is about 1450 km (about 900 mi) long and up to about 965 km (about 600 mi) wide; it has an area of about 1,230,000 sq km (about 475,000 sq mi). The average depth of Hudson Bay is about 101 m (about 330 ft), and its maximum depth is about 867 m (about 2,846 ft).
The Bay of Santorini or Thra is one of the most beautiful bays in the world. It is located in the Aegean Sea and is a part of Greece. It is the remnants of a huge volcanic explosion that destroyed the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island and led to the creation of the current geological caldera.
Nha Trang Bay is a world-class tourist destination located in Vietnam and is regarded as amongst the most beautiful bays in the world. It is where the coastal city of Nha Trang is situated. Nha Trang is famous for its pristine beaches and excellent scuba diving sites.
12 N, 108 E - South China sea
The bay of Nha Trang is located in the province of Khan Hoa, southern maritime area of Central Vietnam. Nha Trang city is the political, economic, cultural center of this province ; it's build in the estuary of Cai river and is surounded by 4 montains ("Long Son" = dragon, "Sinh Trung"= lphant, "Trai Thuy = tortue, "Hoa Son" = chauve souris). With a surface of 507 km2, the bay extends between Cay Cape (north) and Dong Ba Cape (south) ; the coastline (103 km) includes two distinct parts : continental and islander, thus contributing to a great biodiversity but also to the development of the maritime activities: tourism, aquaculture and product processing, transportation, ...the main problem concerns : environmental pollution, illegal exploitation of mineral and forest resources ; fast urbanization.
Ha Long Bay is a fascinating beauty of nature located in Quong Ninh, Vietnam. The name literally means Descending Dragon Bay. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a well- known travel destination. The bay, which features thousands of limestone karsts and isles of different shapes and sizes, is part of Ha Long City.
Ha Long Bay, in the gulf of Tonkin, includes some 1 600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. Because of their precipitous nature, most of the islands are uninhabited and unaffected by a human presence.
Puerto Vallarta Bay in Puerto Vallarta City, Mexico is situated at Baha de Banderas on the Pacific Ocean.
The bay of Banderas - Puerto Vallarta is situated at the foot of Sierra Madre mountains. Bahia de Banderas is the Mexico's biggest bay (80 km) ; the town of Puerto Vallarta, founded in XVI century by spanish, is an important tourist place.
Mindelo Bay is located in Cape. It is part of Mindelo City, a port city in the northern part of the island of Sao Vicente.
Mindelo bay belongs to the volcanic Cape Verde archipelago (3 850 km) located off the coast of Senegal and Gambia.
Phang Nga Bay is a popular and beautiful bay in Thailand. It is part of the Andaman Sea and has an area of 400 km. The rock formation on the above photo is popularly known as James Bond island.
A lake is completely enriched by land. Its coast is called shores. Some lakes are very small but others are so large that they are like inland seas.
WHERE DOES LAKE WATER COME FROM?
Lake water comes from rain or snow. Sometimes the rain or snow falls right into the lake. Sometimes the rain or snow makes rivers or streams. Rivers and streams can flow into lakes. How much water a lake holds changes all the time. A lot of rain or snow can fill a lake up until it overflows. Too little rain or snow can cause a lake to dry up.
The bowls in the ground that lakes fill sometimes formed because of sliding or moving rock and mud. Most lakes formed because of huge fields of ice called glaciers. Glaciers carved out most lakes when the ice moved. The ice ground up rock below. The ground-up rock froze in the ice. The glacier carried the rock away. This left a bowl-like shape in the ground. Rainwater filled up the bowl.
HOW DID LAKES FORM?
In this photograph, melting snow from glaciers in the mountains feed Peyto Lake in Canada. WHAT MAKES A LAKE A LAKE?
Big lakes and small lakes are like bowls in the ground filled with water. Lakes are not part of the ocean. Lakes are called inland bodies of water. Most lakes are filled with fresh water, but a few are filled with salty water.
WHERE ARE THE GREAT LAKES? The Great Lakes are located in the eastern half of North America along the United States-Canadian border. The lakes are a part of both countries and are shared by both. Only Lake Michigan lies entirely within the United States. Eight American states border the lakes to the south. They are New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The big Canadian province of Ontario is on the north side of the lakes. Four of North Americas largest cities are located on the edge of the Great Lakes. They are Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland. World's Largest Inland Seas and Lakes Approximate Area Caspian Sea, Asia 371,000 sq km/143,000 sq mi Lake Superior, North America 82,100 sq km/31,700 sq mi Lake Victoria, Africa 69,490 sq km/26,830 sq mi Lake Huron, North America 59,600 sq km/23,000 sq mi Lake Michigan, North America 57,800 sq km/22,300 sq mi Lake Tanganyika, Africa 32,900 sq km/12,700 sq mi Great Bear Lake, North America 31,790 sq km/12,270 sq mi Lake Baikal, Asia 31,500 sq km/12,200 sq mi Great Slave Lake, North America 28,570 sq km/11,030 sq mi
Max. length: 1,030 km (640 mi) Max. width: 435 km (270 mi) Surface area: 371,000 km2 (143,200 sq mi) Average depth: 211 m (690 ft) Max. depth: 1,025 m (3,360 ft) Water volume: 78,200 km3 (18,800 cu mi) Residence time: 250 years Shore length: 7,000 km (4,300 mi) Surface elevation: 28 m (92 ft)
The Caspian has characteristics common to both seas and lakes. It is often listed as the world's largest lake, although it is not a freshwater lake. It contains about 3.5 times more water, by volume, than all five of North America's Great Lakes combined. The Caspian was once part of the Tethys Ocean, but became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to plate tectonics. The Volga River (about 80% of the inflow) and the Ural River discharge into the Caspian Sea, but it has no natural outflow other than by evaporation. Thus the Caspian ecosystem is a closed basin, with its own sea level history that is independent of the eustatic level of the world's oceans.
Lake Victoria in Africa is the worlds second-largest freshwater lake. These large rock formations lie on the lakes southern shore in Tanzania.
Great Salt Lake, Utah The Great Salt Lake in Utah is one of the saltiest lakes in the world.
The Great Salt Lake in Utah is filled with water that is much saltier than ocean water. The salt comes from streams flowing into the Great Salt Lake. When water in this lake evaporates (turns into a gas), the salt is left behind.
Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes located entirely within the United States. This view of Lake Michigan shows the city of Chicago, Illinois, in the background.
Lake Baikal, Russia Lake Baikal, in Russia, is the deepest lake in the world.
Lake Erie is the southernmost of the Great Lakes. It is also the shallowest of the lakes.
Lake Superior is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is also the biggest freshwater lake in the world.
Lake Tanganyika, lake in east central Africa, in the Great Rift Valley, bordered on the north by Burundi, on the east by Tanzania, on the south by Zambia, and on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire). Great Bear Lake, large freshwater lake in the Fort Smith and Inuvik regions of the western Northwest Territories, northwestern Canada, lying astride the Arctic Circle. Great Bear Lake is the largest lake entirely within Canada and the seventh largest lake in the world.
Great Slave Lake is the second largest lake in Canada and the deepest lake in North America. As the source of the Mackenzie River, it lies at the head of one of the worlds great waterways.
Aral Sea (Russian Aralskoye More; Uzbek Orol Dengizi), saltwater lake, or inland sea, in Central Asia, in southwestern Kazakhstan and northwestern Uzbekistan, about 450 km (about 280 mi) east of the Caspian Sea. Because the rivers that feed the lake are used to irrigate crops, the Aral Sea is shrinking. Compare the picture from 1989, left, to the one from 2003, right, which shows a much smaller lake.
Taal Lake is a freshwater lake in the province of Batangas, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The lake fills Taal Caldera, a large volcanic caldera formed by very large eruptions between 500,000 and 100,000 years ago
Laguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines located east of Metro Manila between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the north. Area: 911.7 km Surface elevation: 2.00 m Length: 41 km Islands: Talim Island, Wonder Island
Lake Lanao is a large lake in the Philippines, located in Lanao del Sur province in the country's southern island of Mindanao. Area: 340 km Surface elevation: 700 m Length: 33 km Cities: Marawi Lake Buluan is a lake located in the island of Mindanao, Philippines. With an estimated surface area of 61.34 square kilometers, it is the third largest lake in Mindanao. It has an average elevation of 4.5 meters. Area: 61.34 km Mean depth: 4.50 m Lake Mainit is the fourth largest lake in the Philippines, having a surface area of 173.40 square kilometers. The lake is also the deepest lake in the country with maximum depth reaching 223 meters. Area: 173.4 km Surface elevation: 27 m Length: 29.1 km Cities: Surigao City, Jabonga, Butuan, Kitcharao
Naujan Lake is the fifth largest lake in the Philippines, in the northeastern corner of the province of Oriental Mindoro on Mindoro Island. The lake itself is approximately 8,125 ha of open water in Naujan Lake National Park. Area: 81.25 km Length: 14 km Width: 7 km Titicaca or Titiqaqa is a lake in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. By volume of water, it is the largest lake in South America. Surface elevation: 3,812 m Area: 8,372 km Catchment area: 56,270 km Length: 190 km Islands: Taquile Island, Amantan, Isla del Sol, Isla de la Luna, Uros, Suriqui Cities: Puno, Copacabana Fish: Titicaca Orestias
The narrow body of water that connects two large bodies of water. It may be formed by a fracture in an isthmus, a narrow body of land that connects two bodies of water. Tectonic shifts can lead to straits like this. One strait that was formed by tectonic activity is the Strait of Gibraltar, the only link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The middle of the Atlantic is a vast expanse of water. Around its edges, it opens to a number of seas. In the east, you can sail from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea through a tiny opening called the Strait of Gibraltar. In the west, you can sail into the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
The stormy waters south of Tierra del Fuego (close to Antarctica) made the Strait of Magellan, to the north, more attractive to mariners. Although the landmasses protect the strait from harsh Antarctic weather, the Strait of Magellan is still difficult to navigate. It is narrow and the islands of Tierra del Fuego can lead to confusion in stormy weather. The temperatures can reach freezing. Strong wind and waves make visibility and steering complex.
The Strait of Malacca or Straits of Malacca is a narrow, 805 km stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the Malacca sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1400 and 1511. Area: 65,000 km Bridges: Pulau Bunting Bridge The Bering Strait is a strait 82 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, between Cape Dezhnev, Chukchi Peninsula, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, Islands: Little Diomede Island, Big Diomede The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait or Straat van Dover is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and North Sea, separating Great Britain from continental Europe. The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about 95 miles long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the center of the Strait. The Strait of Messina (Stretto di Messina in Italian language, Strittu di Missina in Sicilian) is the narrow passage between the eastern tip of Sicily(Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria (Punta Pezzo) in the south ofItaly. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north with the Ionian Sea to the south, within the central Mediterranean. At its narrowest point, it measures 3.1 km (1.9 mi) in width, though near the town of Messina the width is some 5.1 km (3.2 mi) and maximum depth is 250 m (830 ft). The Straits of Tiran, are the narrow sea passages, about 13 km wide, between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas which separate the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea. Cook Strait is the strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. It connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast, and runs next to the capital city, Wellington. It is 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide at its narrowest point, and is considered one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world. The strait is named after James Cook, the first European commander to sail through it, in 1770. In Mori it has the name Raukawa or Raukawa Moana.Raukawa may mean "bitter leaves". The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180 kilometres wide strait separating the island of Taiwan from the Asian mainland.
The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys and Cuba. Islands: Big Pine Key Bridges: Overseas Highway
The Dardanelles , formerly known as Hellespont (/hlspnt/;Greek: Hellespontos, literally "Sea of Helle"), is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart, the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately 4013N 2626E. The strait is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long but only 1.2 to 6 kilometres (0.75 to 3.73 mi) wide, averaging 55 metres (180 ft) deep with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft). Water flows in both directions along the strait, from the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean via a surface current and in the opposite direction via an undercurrent. Historically, straits have had great strategic importance. Whoever controls a strait is likely to control the sea and shipping routes of the entire region. A strait can also be formed by a body of water overflowing land that has subsided or has been eroded. The Bosporus, which links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea, was formed this way. Land at the southwestern edge of the Black Sea eroded and crumbled, creating a strait.
A man-made strait is called a canal. Some canals are famous as man-made passages. Not all canals are used for ocean going ships. Inland canals, like those found in Western Europe, are used to ship farm and factory goods to nearby towns or seaports. Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal: 1. Aqueducts: water supply canals that are used for the conveyance and delivery of potable water for human consumption, municipal uses, and agriculture irrigation. Rills and Acesquias are small versions. 2. Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people.
Some ship canals, such as the Suez and Panama canals, provide navigational shortcuts by connecting large bodies of water. Other ship canals, such as the Houston Ship Channel and Baltic-White Sea canals, connect an inland harbor to the ocean. Railroads and motor vehicles have taken over much of the commercial traffic of canals in the United States, but canals remain an important means of transporting goods in Europe and Russia.
Baltic Sea, enclosed sea, northern Europe, bounded by Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland, and Germany.
From the peninsula of Denmark, considered the Baltics limit, the sea extends east to longitude 30 east and north to about latitude 66 north.
The greatest length of the Baltic, from Lbeck, Germany, to Haparanda, Sweden, is 1,500 km (930 mi); the breadth varies from 690 km (430 mi), between Stockholm and Saint Petersburg, to less than 80 km (50 mi) at the southern extremity. The Baltic covers an area of 422,000 sq km (163,000 sq mi). The Suez Canal runs across northeastern Egypt and connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. The Suez canal is 121 miles (195 kilometers) long and first opened in 1869. It provides a shortcut for ships traveling between European ports and ports in the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
The Suez Canal cuts across northeastern Egypt. The canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea. It is among the world's busiest and most important canals.
The Suez Canal is the world's most important international water lane, in respect to its length, depth, and the amount of cargo shipped through it.
The Suez Canal separates the Sinai Peninsula from the rest of Egypt. The canal runs from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. It allows ships to sail from Europe to Asia without going all the way around Africa. It is one of the worlds most important waterways. The canal was built by Europeans and opened in 1869. The Europeans controlled the canal until Nasser came to power. In 1956, Nasser claimed the canal for his country. A war broke out, but Egypt ended up keeping the canal.
The Panama Canal cuts across Central America and links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The canal is 40 miles (64 kilometers) long and was completed in 1914. Today, the Panama Canal is one of the worlds busiest canals. The United States built the canal from 1904 to 1914.
The Grand Canal is a canal in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city. Public transport is provided by water buses and private water taxis, and many tourists explore the canal by gondola.
The Grand Canal (Italian: Canal Grande, Venetian: Canaasso) is a canal in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city. Public transport is provided by water buses (Italian: vaporetti) and private water taxis, and many tourists explore the canal by gondola. At one end, the canal leads into the lagoon near the Santa Lucia railway station and the other end leads into Saint Mark Basin; in between, it makes a large reverse-S shape through the central districts (sestieri) of Venice. It is 3,800 m long, 3090 m wide, with an average depth of five meters (16.5 ft).
Grand Canal, China China has more than 100,000 km (60,000 mi) of navigable inland waterways. The busiest is the Grand Canal, which extends from Beijing to Hangzhou. Construction of the canal largely took place in the 7th and 13th centuries. It is now used primarily for industrial purposes.
Grand Canal of China in Suzhou Specifications Length 1,115 miles (1,794 km) History Construction began Spring and Autuma period to Qing dynasty Geography Start point Beijing End point Hangzhou Connects to Hai River, Yellow River, Huai River, Yangtze River, Qiantang River The Grand Canal is currently being upgraded to serve as the Eastern Route of the South-North Water Transfer Project. Additional amounts of water from the Yangtze will be drawn into the canal in Jiangdu City, where a giant 400 m 3 /s (14,000 cu ft/s) pumping station was already built in the 1980s, and is then fed uphill by pumping stations along the route and through a tunnel under the Yellow River, from where it can flow downhill to reservoirs near Tianjin. Construction on the Eastern Route officially began on December 27, 2002 AD, and water is supposed to reach Tianjin by 2012. However, water pollution has affected the viability of this project.