Page 188 - NS-2 Textbook

Maritime Geography of the Western Seas

The sea-lanes of the Atlantic are the most traveled in level along the ridge, most of which crest one to two
the world ocean. The main shipping lanes go between the miles beneath the smface. These islands are Iceland and
East Coast of the United States and Western Europe, the the Azores in the North Atlantic, and Ascension Island
two most industrialized regions of the world. The heavi- and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic.
est bulk cargo traffic is carried in huge tankers between Minerals. Few mineral deposits in the Atlantic
the Persian Gulf-area oil fields and Western Europe, Ocean's floor can be worked profitably at this time.
traveling the long route around the Cape of Good Hope Those that are mined are located in the shallow waters of
in South Africa. (The jumbo tankers are too large to go the continental shelves (the extension of the continents
through the Suez Canal, the route taken by smaller out to a water depth of 600 feet). The largest mining op-
tankers and general cargo ships on their way to both U.S. erations in the Atlantic are for sands and gravels along
and European ports from Asia.) The United States im- the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.
ports a large percentage of its total oil needs, and much The largest single offshore mining operation in the
of that comes across Atlantic sea-lanes-from the Per- world is based on Ocean Cay in the Bahamas. Aragol1ite
sian Gulf, Venezuela, and Nigeria. sands, composed mostly of calcium carbonate, are
The Atlantic also provides the water routes between dredged up. They are used in the manufactme of cement,
Emope and South America and the Caribbean, and be- glass, and animal feed supplements. A cement industry
tween Gulf of Mexico and East Coast ports and Latin also is operated in Iceland, based on shell-sands. Phos-
America. phates for fertilizers are mined in a number of spots
The most important military sea-lanes are those along the shores of all continents facing the Atlantic.
between the United States and its Western European The most important mining operations in the At-
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies, and lantic are the oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts
those to the oil countries of the Middle East. The North
of Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico. Also, there is much oil
Atlantic sea-lanes are the only way aid could be deliv-
production in the North Sea between Great Britain and
ered from North America to Western Europe in time
Norway.
of war. The United States, on the other hand, is greatly
Fishing. The North Atlantic has been the scene of
dependent on oil from the Middle East and strategic major commercial fishing for more than a thousand
minerals from Africa and South America. We also need years. On both sides of the ocean there are major fish-
Emopean, South American, and African markets for
eries. Cod, haddock, floundel; and ocean perch are found
U.s.-manufactured products and agricultural produce.
in the Grand Banks off the Canadian province of New-
foundland and the northeast coast of the United States.
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Lobsters are a high-value harvest from the New England
The Atlantic Ocean consists of two basins roughly sepa- coast, the Caribbean, Brazil, and South Africa. Herring,
rated by an underwater mountain range called the Mid- sardines, and anchovies are caught in the North Sea's
Atlantic Ridge. The western basin lies between North Dogger Bank and in the Norwegian Sea in the far north.
and South America, and the eastern basin is between Tuna is caught along the African coast and in the
Emope and Africa. The total ocean has an area of about Caribbean. The Atlantic has some of the most heavily
31,660,000 square miles. Its average depth is about 10,930 fished areas in the world.
feet. The deepest spot in the North Atlantic is in the Paris alld Naval Bases. The major U.S. Atlantic ports
Puerto Rico Trench, 28,374 feet deep. In the South At- are Boston, New York, Baltimore, Norfolk, and Charles-
lantic it is the South Sandwich Trench, 27,113 feet deep, ton. There are many other ports of lesser importance
about 400 miles east of South Georgia Island, off Ar- from the standpoint of annual volume. These ports, how-
gentina. The mid-ocean floor is dominated by the Mid- ever, are also very important to coastal shipping and the
Atlantic Ridge. Only a few islands emerge above sea general prosperity of the nation.

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