Page 450 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

448 THE INDIAN OCEAN A B C

40˚E
The Red Sea 30˚N ISRAEL Tigris
Suez
Canal
and Arabian Sea 1 Suez JORDAN IRA Q
EGYPT
Elat
CIRCULATION IN THE NORTHEAST Indian Ocean uniquely Gulf of Suez Al ‘Aqabah Euphrates
reverses twice a year due to the monsoon winds. For thousands of Gulf of Aqaba
years, navigators used this to run trade routes in the region. Today, Sharm el Sheikh
oil and the Suez Canal make the area strategically important. KUWAIT
Bûr
Safâga
INDIAN OCEAN B4 INDIAN OCEAN D2
2
Red Sea Persian Gulf
AREA 175,000 square miles (450,000 square km) AREA 93,000 square miles (241,000 square km) 1,929m
(6,329ft)
MAXIMUM DEPTH 9,975 ft (3,040 m) MAXIMUM DEPTH 360 ft (110 m)
Râs
Banâs
INFLOWS Arabian Sea INFLOWS Tigris, Euphrates, Karun rivers Tropic of Cancer
The Red Sea is an embryonic ocean, The Persian Gulf (also known as the MOVING OIL
and it has been opening over the Gulf) is a warm, semi-enclosed sea, Much of the ship traffic in the Persian Gulf
last 25 million years, ever since the mostly less than 330 ft (100 m) deep. and Red Sea today carries oil from the
Arabian Plate began its gradual rift It is connected to the Arabian Sea via Basin Discovery region’s production fields.
away from Africa. A central trough is the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of 3
flanked by relatively shallow shelves, Oman. The shallow waters are well
and its warm waters contain many mixed and more productive than the Jedda
fringing coral reefs. Since 1869 the Red Sea owing to the nutrient runoff
20˚N
Red Sea has been linked with the from the land to the north and east.
Mediterranean Sea via the 100-mile- Corals have adapted to the very warm
(160-km-) long Suez Canal. water temperature, which can reach Suakin Trough S A UDI
91°F (33°C). Port Sudan 3,039m
(9,970ft) R ARABIA
The Arabian Plate, spreading from SUDAN
the Red Sea rift, is moving northeast e
and sliding under the Eurasian Plate, 4 Ras d
so the northeastern side of the Persian Shakal

Gulf is deeper. This tectonic activity
has folded and uplifted sediments up S
to 280 million years old and produced e
structural traps for oil, which has a
accumulated in large reservoirs beneath ERITREA Jaza’ir
the Gulf and surrounding land. Oil Farasan
THE SUEZ CANAL now dominates the region’s economy. Massawa Dahlak
Archipelago
5 YEMEN
and to the south by the Carlsberg Hodeida
INDIAN OCEAN G5
Ridge, where India and Africa
Arabian Sea are diverging. Al Mukalla
To the west lies the Gulf of Aden, Bab el
AREA 1.5 million square miles (3.9 million square km) a precursor to the Red Sea rift, with Mandeb
MAXIMUM DEPTH 19,038 ft (4,481 m) a well-established spreading ridge. Aden 854m
On the northern shore, earthquakes (2,802ft)
INFLOWS Indus, Namada rivers
within the Makran subduction zone DJIBOUTI West Sheba Ridge
The Arabian Sea lies between the sometimes trigger the eruption of
Tadjoura Trench
Arabian Peninsula and India. It is mud volcanoes. One of these appeared 6 Djibouti Gulf of Aden
underlain by the abyssal plain of the suddenly as a new island off the KEY
Arabian Basin. This oceanic part of Pakistani town of Gwadar in 2013. sea level Boosaaso
10˚N
the Indian Plate is bounded to the Such features usually subside within
800 ft
west by the Owen Fracture Zone a few months. Berbera
(250 m)
1,600 ft
(500 m)
a warm climate, shallow lagoons, and
INDIAN OCEAN I8 3,300 ft
refreshing sea breezes, the Maldives 7 (1,000 m) ETHIOPIA SOMALIA
are an idyllic vacation destination.
Maldives
6,500 ft
ATLAS OF THE OCEANS NUMBER OF ISLANDS 1,192 occupation of the islanders. 8 land (5,000 m)
(2,000 m)
Although tourism plays an increasingly
9,800 ft
important role in the economy of the
TYPE Coral atoll islands
(3,000 m)
islands, fishing remains the main
AREA: 115 square miles (298 square km)
16,400 ft
The Maldives lie midway along the
MALDIVE ISLAND
Chagos–Laccadive Plateau. The
Laccadive Islands and a number of
seamount
submerged banks mark the northern
sea depth
end of the ridge. There are
maximum depth
more than 1,000 Maldive
on map
islands, grouped into
tectonic plate
27 atolls, composed of
boundary
coral and sandbars. The
highest island is less
40˚E
than 10 ft (3 m)
above sea level. With
A B C 50˚E