This makes the ocean very difficult for scientists to explore the deep sea and the life it holds because of its depth. The ocean floor is so vast that it covers around 70% of the Earth’s surface. Hi Chris, Seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is below the ocean, yet 95 percent of it remains unexplored to the human eye. In fact, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission estimates that the ocean floor is home to a staggering 3 million wrecked vessels. Not only does a large part of the planet exist beneath the ocean, so does the United States – around 50 per cent, in fact.. 10. Less than 0.05 percent of the ocean floor has been mapped to a level of detail useful for detecting items such as airplane wreckage or the spires of undersea volcanic vents Here are 15 facts about the ocean floor. The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth’s total surface and contains roughly 97% of all its water. I think the statement of 20% of the ocean floor covered by coral reefs is a vast over estimate, by at least one order of magnitude. The continental shelf starts at the shoreline and extends all the way to the shelf break. Interesting Ocean Facts. In fact, the oceans hold about 96.5% of all water on Earth. Measuring about 361.9 million square kilometers, it is a massive continuous body of salt water, so large in fact that oceanographers estimate that less than 20% has been explored. Facts about the Sea Floor in the Atlantic Ocean Earth Science The Atlantic Ocean and its marginal seas cover approximately 20% of Earth’s surface, extending from the eastern shores of North and South America to the western coasts of Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa. Around 70% of the planet’s surface is covered by oceans. Oceanographers use sonar to map the ocean floor. Take a deep breath, gang, as we dive into our ocean facts… Top ten ocean facts. In fact, it is said that we know more about the moon than we know about the deeper ocean. Cables located at shallow depths are buried beneath the ocean floor using high pressure water jets. Interesting Ocean Facts. 9. Sonar has revealed features such as seamounts (submerged volcanic peaks), which rise 1,000 m (3,300 ft) from the sea floor, and guyots (flat-topped seamounts). Average Depth: 12,200 feet (3,720 m). The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest ocean and contains around 25,000 islands. Mountains: The ocean ridges form a great mountain range, almost 40,000 miles (64,000 km) long, that weaves its way through all the major oceans. Area: about 140 million square miles (362 million sq km), or nearly 71% of the Earth's surface. For starters, did you know that 94 percent of life on Earth is aquatic? Cheers, Chris. 1. That makes us land-dwellers a very small minority.-Advertisement-2. Best estimates these days are all less than 1% with some as low as one tenth of 1%. Torben Lonne on September at . Accounting for roughly about 28 percent of the total ocean floor, the continental margin comprises the continental shelf, continental slope, and the continental rise. 2. The ocean floor. The Ocean Floor is Littered with Shipwrecks While it's nice to imagine that there's nothing but placid water below us when we're taking a dip in the ocean, the reality is much more terrifying. The largest ocean on Earth is the Pacific Ocean, covering around 30% of the Earth’s surface. Around 50 per cent of the US lies beneath the ocean. With 25,000 islands lying within it, the Pacific Ocean has more islands than anywhere else on the planet. The research ship directs sound waves at the bottom, and charts the echoes that bounce back to create a detailed map. Deepest point: 36,198 feet (11,033 m) in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. 1.