Ask Me Everythinge

Why is the Indian Ocean so beautiful?

Of all the worlcTs oceans, the Indian Ocean is the only one that is mainly tropical, with glorious elear water, fabulous coral reefs, and magical islands inhabited by strange creatures. However, the ocean is also a place of drama and danger, for it is regularly pounded by intense storms, swept by tsunamis, and rocked by catastrophic volcanic eruptions.

Grinding

plates

01: The Indian Ocean formed over the last 120 million years as the continents of India and Australia moved away from Africa.

02: It is expanding from a spreading rift in the ocean floor called the Mid-Indian Ridge.

The rift extends into the Red Sea, which is also getting wider.

03: The movement is dragging the eastern Indian Ocean floor northeast beneath Indonesia, creating a long chain of volcanic islands.

04: The same movement is driving India into Asia, piling up the massive crumple zonę of the Himalayas and the Tibet plateau.

05: Past volcanic activity has created many other submerged ocean ridges, some now capped by islands such as the Maldives.

Crystal seas

, In the tropical Indian Ocean, the heat of the Sun creates a layer of warm surface water that floats on the colder water below.

, As the layers generally do not mix, nutrients in the cooler, deeper water do not reach the surface where they would fuel plankton growth.

, It means that few plankton live in the surface water, rmaking it crystal elear. It also means that there is little food for marinę life.

, Most of the fish and animals live in local upwelling zones where nutrient-rich water is dragged up from the depths by ocean currents.

The other hot spots of marinę life are coral reefs. These are built by corals living in partnership with plantlike algae that, acting together, make their own food.

yćg&yAt high tide, the tangled tree roots provide safety for young fish —many of the big oceanie fish start life among the mangroves.

Tell me morę: mangroves

Tidal mudflats on tropical Indian Ocean shores are colonized by evergreen trees called mangroves, forming dense, impenetrable swamps.

trees could not grow in the salty mud, but mangroves have roots that can absorb air and draw in water while excluding salt.

v^V-^Man9^{rove swam}P^s teem with

wildlife, including fiddler crabs and strange fish called mudskippers that can live out of water and even climb trees!

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