A marginal sea is a part of ocean partially enclosed by land such as islands, archipelagos, or peninsulas. Unlike mediterranean seas, marginal seas have ocean currents caused by ocean winds. The worlds oceans as seen from the South Pacific Ocean, before the definition of the Southern Ocean in 2000 Oceans (from Okeanos in Greek, the ancient Greeks noticing the strong current that flowed off Gibraltar and assuming it was a great river) cover almost three quarters (71%) of the... The Mergui Archipelago An archipelago is a landform which consists of a chain or cluster of islands. ... Peninsula A peninsula (from Latin paene insula, almost island) is a geographical formation consisting of an extension of land from a larger body, surrounded by water on three sides. ... A mediterranean sea, in oceanography, is a mostly enclosed sea that has limited exchange of deep water with outer oceans and where the water circulation is dominated by salinity and temperature differences rather than winds. ... An ocean current is any more or less permanent or continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earths oceans. ...

Many marginal seas are enclosed by island arcs that were formed from the subduction of one oceanic plate beneath another. An island arc is a type of archipelago formed by plate tectonics as one oceanic tectonic plate subducts under another and produces magma. ...

Marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean:

• The Bering Sea (separated by the Aleutian Islands)
• The Chukchi Sea (separated by Wrangel Island and the Bering Strait)
• The Sea of Japan (by the Japanese Archipelago)
• The Sea of Okhotsk (by the Kurile Islands)
• The South China Sea (by the Philippines)
• The East China Sea (by the Ryūkyū Islands)
• The Yellow Sea (by the Korean Peninsula)
• The Philippine Sea (by the Ogasawara Islands, the Mariana Islands, and Palau)
• The Coral Sea (by the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu)
• The Tasman Sea (by the New Zealand)

Marginal seas of the Atlantic Ocean: Satellite photo of the Bering Sea Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean Bearing Sea with Kamchatka Peninsula and Alaska The Bering (or Imarpik) Sea is a body of water north of, and separated from, the north Pacific Ocean by the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands. ... Looking down the Aleutians from an airplane. ... Chukchi Sea (Russian: Чуко́тское мо́ре) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, between Chukotka and Alaska. ... This article is about the Russian island. ... Satellite photo of the Bering Strait Nautical chart of the Bering Strait The Bering Strait fags is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Russia, the easternmost point (169°43 W) of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point (168°05 W) of the American continent... The Sea of Japan (East Sea) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. ... The Japanese Archipelago which forms the country of Japan extends from north to south along the eastern coast of the Eurasian Continent, the western shore of the Pacific Ocean. ... Map of the Sea of Okhotsk. ... The Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands (Russian: Кури́льские острова́), also known as Kurile Islands, stretch northeast from Hokkaido, Japan, to Kamchatka, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. ... The South China Sea, showing surrounding countries and neighbouring seas and oceans The South China Sea is a marginal sea south of China. ... The East China Sea is a marginal sea and part of the Pacific Ocean. ... Location of Ryukyu Islands. ... ... The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. ... The Philippine Sea is a part of the western Pacific Ocean bordered by the Philippines and Taiwan to the west, Japan to the north, the Marianas to the east and Palau to the south. ... A map of the Ogasawara Islands south of Japan The Ogasawara Islands (小笠原諸島) are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical islands some 1,000 km directly south of central Tokyo, Japan. ... The Mariana Islands (also the Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called Islas de los Ladrones meaning Islands of Thieves) are a group of islands made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the western Pacific Ocean. ... The Coral Sea is a region off the north-east coast of Australia with a namesake chain of islands (uninhabited), including the Willis, Coringa, and Tregosse Islets. ... fuck you Map of the Tasman Sea Satellite photo of the Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, some 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) across. ...

• The North Sea (separated by Great Britain)
• The Irish Sea (by Ireland)
• The Norwegian Sea (by Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Shetland)
• The Scotia Sea (by the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands)

A marginal sea of the Indian Ocean: The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... Relief map of the Irish Sea. ... The Norwegian Sea (Norwegian: Norskehavet) is part of the North Atlantic Ocean northwest of Norway, located between the North Sea (i. ... Shetland (formerly spelled Zetland, from etland) formerly called Hjaltland, is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. ... The Scotia Sea ( 57°30′ S 040°00′ W) is the portion of the Southern Ocean between Tierra Del Fuego, the Antarctic Peninsula, and South Georgia. ... South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, also claimed by Argentina. ... South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, also claimed by Argentina. ...

• The Andaman Sea (separated by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands)
• The Java Sea (separated by the Greater Sunda Islands)

A marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean: The Laptev Sea (separated by the Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands) Seas barely marginal include the Tasman Sea. The Andaman Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Myanmar and west of Thailand; it is part of the Indian Ocean. ... This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ... Map of Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean, and are part of India. ... The Java Sea (Jawa Sea) is a large (310,000 km²), shallow sea in the southern Pacific Ocean. ... The Greater Sunda Islands are a group of islands in the west part of the Malay Archipelago. ... A map showing the location of the Laptev Sea. ... Severnaya Zemlya (Северная Земля, Russian, Northern Land) is an archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean. ... New Siberian Islands (Russian: Новосиби́рские острова), an archipelago, located to the North of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. ... fuck you Map of the Tasman Sea Satellite photo of the Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, some 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) across. ...

Note that although the Caribbean Sea is enclosed by most of the Antilles and the mainland of the Americas, it is not a marginal sea because (together with the Gulf of Mexico) it forms the American mediterranean sea and its currents are mainly caused by salinity and temperature differences rather than by ocean winds. Map of Central America and the Caribbean A Caribbean beach in Isla Margarita, Venezuela. ... The Antilles (the same in French; Antillas in Spanish; Antillen in Dutch) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean. ... Gulf of Mexico in 3D perspective. ...

See also

• Mediterranean sea
• Sea
• Ocean