Reference
Sources
Every figure on this site carries a source and a year. Review them before citing in class or in a boardroom.
A note from the author
This Atlas was written by an ocean enthusiast and investor, not a scientist. I have worked carefully with published sources, but some inaccuracies may remain. If you find an error, an inconsistent figure or a claim that needs correcting, please write us here. Every correction makes the Atlas better for everyone.
141 figures · one list
- 4.4billion years
Age of the oldest known zircon crystals, evidence that liquid water existed very early
Nature Geoscience, Valley et al., 2014 · link
- 1.335billion km³
Volume of water in today's ocean
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2023 · link
- 3.5billion years
Approximate age of the oldest widely accepted microbial fossils, stromatolites from Western Australia
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 2021 · link
- 4.0billion years
Approximate age by which liquid water, and probably oceans, existed on Earth (inferred from zircon crystals)
NASA Astrobiology, 2020 · link
- 2.4billion years ago
Approximate start of the Great Oxidation Event
United States Geological Survey, 2019 · link
- 50 to 80percent
Share of Earth's atmospheric oxygen estimated to come from ocean phytoplankton today
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2023 · link
- 2 to 10cm per year
Typical rate at which tectonic plates move, roughly the speed fingernails grow
United States Geological Survey, 2022 · link
- about 15major plates
Number of major tectonic plates generally recognized in Earth's lithosphere
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, 2022 · link
- about 540million years ago
Approximate start of the Cambrian explosion, when most major animal groups first appear in the fossil record
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 2021 · link
- over 90percent
Estimated share of ocean species still undescribed by science
NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2023 · link
- about 4,000 to 5,000years ago
Approximate start of the spread from Taiwan into island southeast Asia, based on linguistic and archaeological evidence (dates debated)
UNESCO, 2021 · link
- about 700 to 1,000years ago
Approximate period by which Polynesian voyagers had reached Hawaii, Rapa Nui and Aotearoa (radiocarbon estimates vary)
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 2020 · link
- about 6,650km
Length of the Nile River, among the longest rivers on Earth
National Geographic Society, 2022 · link
- 3rd century BCE
Approximate founding period of the Library of Alexandria as a center of scholarship
UNESCO, 2020 · link
- 480BCE
Year of the Battle of Himera, which checked Carthaginian expansion in Sicily
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Battle of Himera, 2024 · link
- about 2,000years
Approximate durability of Roman harbor concrete structures still intact today
Jackson et al., American Mineralogist, 2017 · link
- twiceper year
Number of seasonal wind reversals each year in the monsoon cycle, summer and winter
NOAA National Weather Service, 2022 · link
- about 22.5million barrels a day
Oil passing through the Strait of Malacca in 2024, about 28% of seaborne oil trade
US Energy Information Administration, World Oil Transit Chokepoints, 2026 · link
- 1021CE
Year Norse visitors cut wood at L'Anse aux Meadows, dated from tree rings
Kuitems et al., Nature, 2021 · link
- about 36 to 37meters
Length of Roskilde 6, the longest Viking ship yet found, built after about 1025 CE
Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, 2024 · link
- 1405 to 1433
Period of Zheng He's seven major naval expeditions under the Ming dynasty
UNESCO, 2021 · link
- about 1639 to 1853
Approximate duration of Japan's sakoku policy of restricted foreign contact
Library of Congress, 2020 · link
- 1519 to 1522
Duration of the Magellan-Elcano expedition, the first circumnavigation of the globe
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 2021 · link
- 18 of about 270
Approximate number of crew who returned out of those who set out on the Magellan-Elcano expedition
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 2021 · link
- 13th century
Approximate period when the earliest surviving portolan charts were produced in Italian and Mallorcan workshops
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, 2020 · link
- 594maps
Number of maps contained in Joan Blaeu's Atlas Maior, published in the 17th century
Library of Congress, 2021 · link
- 1602
Founding year of the Dutch East India Company, often described as the first company with freely tradable shares
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020 · link
- 1600
Founding year of the English East India Company by royal charter
The National Archives, UK, 2020 · link
- about 12.5million
Estimated number of Africans forcibly embarked on transatlantic slave voyages
Slave Voyages Database, Emory University, 2023 · link
- about 1.8million
Estimated number who did not survive the Middle Passage crossing
Slave Voyages Database, Emory University, 2023 · link
- about 1650 to 1730
Period commonly described as the Golden Age of Piracy in the Atlantic and Caribbean
Royal Museums Greenwich, 2021 · link
- 1688
Year Lloyd's Coffee House, forerunner of Lloyd's of London marine insurance, is first recorded
Lloyd's of London, 2022 · link
- 1602
Founding year of the Dutch East India Company, often cited as the first modern multinational corporation
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020 · link
- over 200years
Approximate span of operation of major European chartered trading companies
The National Archives, UK, 2021 · link
- 1838
Year the SS Great Western made one of the first regular transatlantic steam crossings
Royal Museums Greenwich, 2021 · link
- 1912
Year the RMS Titanic sank, a landmark event prompting new international maritime safety standards
International Maritime Organization, 2020 · link
- 1956
Year of the first successful commercial container shipment, aboard the Ideal X
Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 2021 · link
- over 80percent
Approximate share of world trade by volume carried by sea today
UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport, 2023 · link
- 19meters
Highest significant wave height recorded by a buoy, North Atlantic between Iceland and the UK, 4 February 2013
World Meteorological Organization, 2016 · link
- 17seconds
Typical wave period of long distance Pacific swell reaching distant shores
NOAA National Weather Service, 2021 · link
- 16meters
Largest spring tidal range in the Bay of Fundy (Minas Basin), among the largest in the world; typical ranges are lower
NOAA Ocean Service, 2022 · link
- 2
Number of high tides and low tides most coasts experience in a day, a semidiurnal cycle
NOAA Ocean Service, 2023 · link
- 30Sverdrups
Average transport of the Florida Current, measured by submarine cable since 1982; the flow grows downstream (1 Sverdrup = 1 million m³ per second)
NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, 2021 · link
- 5
Number of major subtropical ocean gyres on Earth
NOAA Ocean Service, 2023 · link
- about 40%
Share of the world's population living within about 100 km of a coastline
United Nations Atlas of the Oceans, 2022 · link
- about 24%
Share of the world's sandy beaches estimated to be eroding
European Commission Joint Research Centre, Nature, 2020 · link
- about 50%
Share of Earth's surface estimated to be covered by abyssal plains and related deep seafloor
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2022 · link
- 4,000 to 6,000meters
Typical depth range of abyssal plains
NOAA Ocean Service, 2021 · link
- about 100,000
Estimated number of seamounts worldwide taller than 1,000 meters
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2017 · link
- less than 10%
Estimated share of the world's seamounts that have been mapped or surveyed in detail
NOAA Ocean Service, 2021 · link
- about 65,000km
Total length of the global mid ocean ridge system
NOAA Ocean Service, 2021 · link
- about 2 to 15cm per year
Typical seafloor spreading rate along mid ocean ridges
United States Geological Survey, 2020 · link
- 10,935meters
Depth of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point in the ocean
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2021 · link
- about 1,100atmospheres
Pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench
NOAA Ocean Service, 2020 · link
- about 90%
Share of excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by the ocean since the 1970s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, AR6, 2021 · link
- about 0.9degrees C
Rise in global mean sea surface temperature from 1850-1900 to 2011-2020
IPCC AR6 WGI, Summary for Policymakers, 2021 · link
- about 17Sverdrups
Average AMOC transport at 26.5°N measured by the RAPID array since 2004
RAPID-MOCHA array, National Oceanography Centre, 2023 · link
- about 1,000years
Approximate time for water to complete one circuit of the global deep ocean conveyor belt
NOAA Ocean Service, 2020 · link
- 26.5degrees C
Minimum sea surface temperature generally needed for hurricane formation
NOAA National Hurricane Center, 2023 · link
- about 14
Average number of named tropical storms per year in the Atlantic basin, 1991 to 2020
NOAA National Hurricane Center, 2023 · link
- 2 to 7years
Typical recurrence interval between ENSO events
NOAA Climate Prediction Center, 2023 · link
- 0.5degrees C
Sea surface temperature anomaly threshold used to declare an El Nino or La Nina event
NOAA Climate Prediction Center, 2023 · link
- about 10.6billion tonnes CO2 per year
Estimated annual ocean carbon sink, combining physical and biological uptake
Global Carbon Project, 2022 · link
- about 25%
Share of annual human carbon dioxide emissions absorbed by the ocean
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2021 · link
- about 50%
Share of Earth's oxygen production estimated to come from ocean phytoplankton
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2020 · link
- about 11billion tonnes carbon per year
Estimated global export of organic carbon from the surface ocean to deeper water
NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group, 2019 · link
- about 30%
Increase in ocean surface acidity since the start of the industrial revolution
NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 2023 · link
- about 0.1pH units
Drop in average ocean surface pH since preindustrial times
NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 2023 · link
- about 2%
Estimated decline in the global ocean's dissolved oxygen inventory since the 1960s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere, 2019 · link
- about 500
Number of coastal dead zones identified worldwide
UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Global Ocean Oxygen Network, 2019 · link
- 200meters
Approximate maximum depth of the photic zone in the clearest open ocean; often much shallower
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2023 · link
- 1percent
Approximate share of ocean volume that is sunlit, a rough estimate
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2023 · link
- 50percent, about
Share of global oxygen production attributed to marine phytoplankton
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2020 · link
- about half
Share of global net primary production carried out by ocean phytoplankton
Field et al., Science, 1998 · link
- 1,000meters, about
Lower boundary commonly used for the twilight or mesopelagic zone
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2023 · link
- about 1gigatonne carbon per year
Model estimate of carbon carried down by migrating zooplankton, roughly a sixth of the biological pump's export; uncertainty is large
Archibald et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2019 · link
- 20,000kilometers, about
Approximate round trip distance some bluefin tuna can travel across the Atlantic in a year
NOAA Fisheries, 2021 · link
- 70years, about
Estimated maximum lifespan of some sea turtle species that return repeatedly to natal beaches
NOAA Fisheries, 2022 · link
- 66percent, about
Estimated decline in some great whale populations caused by twentieth century commercial whaling
IUCN, 2021 · link
- 50years, about
Approximate time a whale fall community can persist on the deep seafloor
NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2019 · link
- 4,000meters, about
Approximate average depth of the global ocean, placing much of it within the midnight and abyssal zones
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2022 · link
- about 73percent
Share of the seafloor not yet mapped to modern standards (27.3 percent mapped as of June 2025)
Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, 2025 · link
- about 35percent
Estimated share of global mangrove area lost between about 1980 and 2000, mostly to aquaculture and coastal development
Valiela et al., BioScience, 2001 · link
- up to about 4times
How much more carbon per hectare mangroves can hold than most tropical forests, mainly in their soils
Donato et al., Nature Geoscience, 2011 · link
- about 10percent
Share of the ocean's yearly organic carbon burial attributed to seagrasses, which cover about 0.1 percent of the seafloor
UNEP, Out of the Blue, 2020 · link
- 7percent per year, about
Estimated rate of seagrass area loss globally in recent decades
UNEP, 2020 · link
- 50percent, about
Estimated share of the world's salt marshes lost or degraded since industrialization began
UNEP, 2020 · link
- about 1 to 25cm per km of marsh
Reduction in storm surge height per kilometre of marsh crossed; results vary widely with storm and site
Wamsley et al., Ocean Engineering, 2010 · link
- 0.5meters per day, about
Fast growth rate recorded for some kelp species under favorable conditions
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2021 · link
- over 90percent
Bull kelp canopy lost along about 350 km of Northern California after a sea star die-off, an urchin boom and the 2014 to 2016 marine heatwave
Rogers-Bennett and Catton, Scientific Reports, 2019 · link
- 10,900meters, about
Approximate depth of the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the ocean
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2021 · link
- 1,100atmospheres, about
Approximate pressure at the deepest point of the Mariana Trench
NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2020 · link
- about 400degrees Celsius
Approximate maximum temperature of fluid venting from black smokers; extremes above 460 have been measured
NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2019 · link
- 1977year
Year hydrothermal vent ecosystems were first discovered, near the Galapagos Islands
NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2018 · link
- 1984year
Year cold seep ecosystems were first described in detail, in the Gulf of Mexico
NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2019 · link
- hundreds to thousandsyears
Persistence of some cold seep communities, far longer than many hydrothermal vent sites; seep tubeworms can live over 250 years
NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2019 · link
- 25percent, about
Estimated share of known marine species that rely on coral reefs at some stage of life
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2021 · link
- 0.2percent, about
Estimated share of the ocean floor covered by coral reefs
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2021 · link
- 50percent, about
Estimated share of the world's coral reefs lost or severely degraded since the 1950s
IUCN, 2021 · link
- 4mass bleaching events
Mass bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef between 2016 and 2022 (2016, 2017, 2020, 2022)
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 2022 · link
- up to about 50gallons per day
Water a single adult oyster can filter in a day, about 190 litres
NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, 2020 · link
- 85percent, about
Estimated global decline in oyster reef area compared with historical baselines
IUCN, 2011 · link
- 90percent, about
Share of excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by the ocean, driving ecosystem wide stress
IPCC, 2021 · link
- 1million species, about
Estimated number of plant and animal species worldwide threatened with extinction, including many marine species
IPBES, 2019 · link
- 37.7percent
Share of assessed marine fish stocks overfished in 2021
FAO, SOFIA, 2024 · link
- 8million tonnes per year, about
Estimated amount of plastic entering the ocean annually
UNEP, 2021 · link
- 1.5trillion USD
Ocean-based industries' value added in 2010, about 2.5 percent of world gross value added
OECD, The Ocean Economy in 2030, 2016 · link
- 24trillion USD
Estimated value of key ocean assets; the same study estimates about USD 2.5 trillion a year in goods and services
WWF and Boston Consulting Group, Reviving the Ocean Economy, 2015 · link
- 37.7percent
Share of assessed marine fish stocks overfished in 2021, meaning below the level that gives maximum sustainable yield (35.4 percent in 2019)
FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), 2024 · link
- about 50percent
Share of the world's coral reefs lost or severely degraded since the 1950s
World Resources Institute, 2021 · link
- about 1.4billion USD
Cumulative value of the voluntary blue carbon credit market to date
UNCTAD, Blue carbon market review, 2023 · link
- 89countries
Countries that had begun implementing natural capital or ecosystem accounts under the UN SEEA framework
United Nations Statistics Division, 2021 · link
- over 80percent
Share of world trade by volume carried by sea
UNCTAD, Review of Maritime Transport, 2023 · link
- about 3percent
Share of global greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping
International Maritime Organization, Fourth GHG Study, 2020 · link
- about 27percent
Share of global crude oil production that came from offshore fields
International Energy Agency, 2022 · link
- about 4percent
Annual decline projected in offshore oil and gas capital expenditure growth relative to renewables investment growth
International Energy Agency, World Energy Investment, 2023 · link
- about 9.1percent
Share of global GDP attributable to travel and tourism in 2023, with coastal and marine destinations a major component
WTTC, Economic Impact Research, 2024 · link
- about 3billion
Approximate number of annual visits to coastal and marine destinations worldwide
OECD, The Ocean Economy in 2030, 2016 · link
- over 3billion people
People for whom fish provides about 20 percent of average per capita animal protein intake
FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), 2022 · link
- about 600million
People whose livelihoods depend directly or indirectly on fisheries and aquaculture
FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), 2022 · link
- over 95percent
Share of international data traffic carried by submarine cables
International Cable Protection Committee, 2023 · link
- about 75gigawatts
Cumulative global offshore wind capacity installed
IRENA, Renewable Capacity Statistics, 2023 · link
- about 64percent
Share of the ocean's surface classified as high seas, outside any national jurisdiction
IUCN, Marine protected areas and the high seas, 2022 · link
- 2023year adopted
Year the UN High Seas Treaty was formally adopted after nearly two decades of negotiation
United Nations, 2023 · link
- 27.3percent
Share of the global seafloor mapped to modern standards, June 2025 release
Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, 2025 · link
- about 240,000known marine species
Marine species formally described, estimated at a small fraction of those believed to exist
World Register of Marine Species / UNESCO IOC, 2022 · link
- over 500dead zones
Coastal dead zones identified worldwide, up from under 50 in the 1960s
UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, 2022 · link
- about 14percent
Share of the world's coral reefs lost between 2009 and 2018 alone
Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, 2021 · link
- over 30countries
States that have called for a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep sea mining
Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, 2024 · link
- about 1.6trillion USD
Fossil fuel assets under some form of divestment commitment globally
Global Fossil Fuel Divestment Commitments Database, 2023 · link
- about 75gigawatts
Total installed offshore wind capacity worldwide, mostly fixed bottom
IRENA, Renewable Capacity Statistics, 2023 · link
- under 1gigawatt
Global installed floating offshore wind capacity, still an early stage technology
IEA, Offshore Wind Outlook, 2023 · link
- up to about 4times
How much more carbon per hectare mangroves can hold than most tropical forests, mainly in soils
Donato et al., Nature Geoscience, 2011 · link
- about 1.4billion USD
Cumulative value of the voluntary blue carbon credit market
UNCTAD, Blue carbon market review, 2023 · link
- about 8percent
Share of the global ocean currently under some form of protection
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Protected Planet, 2023 · link
- 30percent
Global target share of ocean area to be protected by 2030 under the Kunming Montreal framework
Convention on Biological Diversity, 2022 · link
- about 35million tonnes
Global seaweed and other algae production from aquaculture
FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), 2022 · link
- over 900locally managed marine areas
LMMAs recorded across the Pacific region alone
Locally Managed Marine Area Network, 2021 · link
- 100USD per visitor
Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee paid by international visitors to Palau, funding conservation
Republic of Palau, Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee Act, 2018 · link
- about 165million square kilometers
Approximate surface area of the Pacific Ocean, the largest of any ocean basin
NOAA National Ocean Service, 2023 · link
- about 90percent
Share of global aquaculture production that comes from Asia
FAO, SOFIA, 2024 · link