In oceanography, a mediterranean sea ( ) is a mostly enclosed sea that has limited exchange of water with outer oceans and whose water circulation is dominated by salinity and temperature differences rather than by winds or tides. The eponymous Mediterranean Sea, for example, is almost completely enclosed by Africa, Asia, and Europe.
List of mediterranean seas by ocean
Atlantic Ocean
- The Arctic Ocean (a.k.a. the Arctic Mediterranean Sea)
- The American Mediterranean Sea (the combination of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico)
- Baffin Bay
- The Baltic Sea
- The namesake Mediterranean Sea (including the Adriatic Sea, the Aegean Sea (including the Sea of Crete and the Thracian Sea), the Alboran Sea, the Balearic Sea, the Sardinian Sea, the Black Sea, the Ionian Sea, the Ligurian Sea, the Sea of Azov, the Sea of Marmara, and the Tyrrhenian Sea)
Indian Ocean
- The Persian Gulf
- The Red Sea
Dilution basin
A dilution basin has a lower salinity due to freshwater gains such as rainfall and rivers, and its water exchange consists of outflow of the fresher mediterranean water in the upper layer and inflow of the saltier oceanic water in the lower layer of the channel. Renewal of deep water may not be sufficient to supply oxygen to the bottom.
- The Adriatic Sea
- The American Mediterranean Sea
- The Arctic Ocean (a.k.a. the Arctic Mediterranean Sea)
- The Australasian Mediterranean Sea
- Baffin Bay
- The Baltic Sea
- The Black Sea
Exceptions
- Hudson Bay is so shallow it functions like a huge estuary.
- Having shallow channels and deep basins, the Sea of Japan could form a mediterranean sea, but the strong currents from the Pacific prevent it from having an independent water circulation.
See also
- Inland sea
- Marginal sea