earth science

Mediterranean seas

Mediterranean seas is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mediterranean seas rather than just read about it. In short: In oceanography, a mediterranean sea ( MED-ih-tə-RAY-nee-ən) 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.

Key takeaways

Mediterranean seas belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mediterranean seas to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mediterranean seas from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In oceanography, a mediterranean sea ( MED-ih-tə-RAY-nee-ən) 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

Pacific Ocean The Australasian Mediterranean Sea (including the Banda Sea, the Java Sea, the Sulawesi Sea, and the Sulu Sea)

List of mediterranean seas by type There are two types of mediterranean sea.

Concentration basin A concentration basin has a higher salinity than the outer ocean due to evaporation, and its water exchange consists of inflow of the fresher oceanic water in the upper layer and outflow of the saltier mediterranean water in the lower layer of the connecting channel.

The Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea (a concentration basin as a whole, but the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea are dilution basins (see below) owing to the Po River, and the Danube, Dnieper, and Don rivers respectively) 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.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mediterranean seas

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mediterranean seas claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mediterranean seas before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mediterranean seas ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mediterranean seas

In research: Mediterranean seas appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mediterranean seas in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mediterranean seas is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Arctic Ocean, Mediterranean, Oceanographical terminology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mediterranean seas outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mediterranean seas in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mediterranean seas means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mediterranean seas out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mediterranean seas in simple terms?

Why does Mediterranean seas matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mediterranean seas?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mediterranean seas.