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The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's great oceans after the Atlantic and Pacific and occupies a huge body of water measuring 68.556 million sq km between Africa, Asia, Australia and the Southern Ocean. This area encompasses the Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Important access waterways include the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca. The surface of the Indian Ocean is comprised largely of a circular system of currents known as a clockwise gyre. The ocean floor consists of the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge, the Southeast and West Indian Ocean Ridges and the Ninetyeast Ridge. The Indian Ocean is home to some of the world's major shipping routes that connect the Middle East, Africa, East Asia, Europe and America. Petroleum and oil are two very valuable commodities that are shipped out from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its thought that 40% of the world's offshore oil resource originates within the Indian Ocean. |
