The Continental Shelf Boundary (CSB) defines where U.S. drilling and mining rights end offshore.

Individual states manage waters close to their shores – typically three nautical miles (5.6 km). Texas, Gulf Coast Florida, and Puerto Rico are exceptions – historical claims give them nine nautical miles (17 km). Past state waters, you hit the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Federal land underwater. About 5 million square miles (13 million sq km) of it.

The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coast and covers around 4 million square miles (10.4 million sq km. The U.S. controls commercial fishing and seabed mining within this zone. Closer to shore, the territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles (22 km), where the U.S. has complete authority.

Most places, the CSB stops at 200 nautical miles. But sometimes the shelf keeps going past that. Geologists did surveys and found places where it extends way further. They call those Extended Continental Shelf zones (ECS). The CSB goes out to 350 nautical miles (648 km) in ECS areas.

Last December, the State Department made the ECS boundaries official. They designated seven regions: the Arctic, Atlantic, Bering Sea, Pacific, areas around the Mariana Islands, and the Gulf of Mexico divided into eastern and western sections. These regions total about 381,000 square miles (987,700 sq km). The Arctic accounts for most of it – roughly 201,000 square miles (521,000 sq km).

The map displays CSB areas surrounding U.S. territories that came under American control between 1776 and 1986.

Seven of those Pacific islands (Navassa, Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Johnston, Palmyra, Kingman) were claimed under the Guano Islands Act in the same way. In the 1850s, bird droppings were valuable because synthetic fertilizer did not exist yet. Seabirds had been nesting on remote islands for thousands of years, leaving behind large guano deposits. Any American could claim an uninhabited island if it had guano.

Alaska has the largest CSB zone. When the U.S. bought it from Russia in 1867, that included massive Arctic and Bering Sea areas. Hawaii controls a big zone in the central Pacific. Tiny islands create surprisingly large CSB zones – hundreds of miles out from specks of land. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands extend U.S. jurisdiction into the Caribbean. Guam and the Northern Marianas are located in the western Pacific, geographically closer to Manila and Tokyo than to California.

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What are you closer to right now—the nearest ocean or the edge of space? Reddit user @Many-Excitement3246 created a map that answers this question in a way I haven’t seen before.

Red areas on the map are closer to the sea. Violet regions are closer to outer space. The dividing line is the Kármán line at roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the surface . Why that height? The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale chose it because aircraft wings can’t generate lift anymore when the air gets that thin.

Look at that narrow red band following the coasts. Earth is 12,742 kilometers (7,918 miles) across. Space? Just 100 kilometers up. That’s less than 1% of the planet’s diameter.

You’ve got the Kármán line at 100 kilometers. But the air we actually breathe? That comes from way closer to the ground. The troposphere contains 85-90% of all atmospheric mass. It only extends 8 to 20 kilometers up depending on where you are. Almost all the atmosphere (99% of it) is packed into the first 30 kilometers (19 miles) above the surface.

What actually keeps us alive is thinner than this map shows. Make a version marking where 90% of the air sits, and that coastal band would practically vanish. We’re living under a film of breathable air so thin it wouldn’t even show up on most globes.

Mountain climbers know this firsthand. Summit of Everest? That’s 8.8 kilometers. Get up there and only one-third of the atmosphere is below you. Jets cruise between 9 and 12 kilometers, and they have to pump pressurized air into cabins because your lungs can’t pull in enough oxygen at that height.

It should be noted, the atmosphere doesn’t just stop at 100 kilometers. It thins out over hundreds and thousands of kilometers until it becomes vacuum. The outermost traces stretch up to about 10,000 kilometers.

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Canal gateways are at every end to lift vessels to Gatun Lake, a man-made lake constructed to decrease the quantity of mining work needed for the Canal, 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the vessels at another end. The first constructed gateways were 32.5 meters (110 ft) wide. In 2016 canal was expanded for bigger ships.

Yearly traffic had increased from nearly one thousand ships in 1914 when the Panama Canal was opened to more than 815 thousand ships in 2012.

It can take a big ship up to 11.38 hours to pass through the 82 kilometes-long Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal remains one of the most fantastic engineering structures and wonders of the contemporary world that boggles the mind. The Panama Canal remains one of the most fantastic engineering structures and wonders of the contemporary world that boggles the mind.

Movies and even board games were dedicated to this amazing structure.

15 interesting facts about the Panama Chanel

1. The concept of a canal was first imagined up in the 16th century. Charles V (King of Spain) sent out engineers to examine the feasibility of creating a canal, helping voyage from Spain to Peru.
2. The United States constructed the Panama Canal, but the French started the work.
3. Initially, the United States was engaged in excavating a canal in Nicaragua, not Panama (Nicaragua Canal plan is still in play).
4. More than 25 thousand people died during the building of the Panama Canal.
5. The first vessel to pass the Panama Canal was SS Ancon.
6. The United States assigned the administration of the Canal to Panama in 1999.
7. The Canal is a short cut connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans – 77 kilometres (50miles).
8. The Panama Canal has decreased the sailing length from Atlantic to Pacific by an enormous 8 thousand nautical miles. If we cruise with an average speed of roughly 15 knots, then it will be 22 long days.
9. At every end of the Panama Canal, a locks system elevates ships 26 meters (85 feet) above sea level to an artificial lake.
10. Approximately 1.4 million kilograms (30 million pounds) of explosives were used to remove the rocks during the Panama Canal construction.
11. About 14 thousand vessels use the Panama Canal each year.
12. More than one million ships have passed through the Panama Canal since it opened.
13. The Panama Canal brings around two billion U.S. dollars in profits every year.
14. A swimmer Richard Halliburton paid the lowest price ever for passing the Canal. He swam the entire distance of the Panama Canal in 1928. Due to his weight of 68 kilograms, he was paid 36 cents.
15. The Panama Canal is continually being extended. The last time Panama Canal was enlarged for larger vessels in 2016.

Related posts:
– Great Lakes Profile

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The user 7LeagueBoots made an atlas of maps that vividly illustrate what will happen to cities located on the shores of the oceans when the world’s oceans rise by 70 meters (230 feet).

North America

Eastern and Southern United States with a 70 meters sea-level rise

North American West Coast

California Coast

Central America

South America

Europe

North Sea Countries with a 70 meters sea-level rise

The Mediterranean and Black Seas

Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas

Asia

Northern Russia with a 70 meters sea-level rise

The Middle East and India

East Asia and the East China Sea

Mainland Southeast Asia

Island Southeast Asia

Africa

Australia

If the sea level rises 100 meters, the consequences will be even more frightening.

The post The world with a 70 meters sea-level rise appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Planetary scientist James O’Donaghue made the animation that shows what the planet would look like if the water level of the oceans fell from 0 meters below sea level to 10,190 meters below sea level.

The animation was remade from a NASA animation with the use of new satellite data. And as you can see from the video, when the water drops to around 150 meters below sea level, the continental shelves, the seabed surrounding large landmasses, are the first to appear.

The mid-oceanic ridges start to appear at a depth of two kilometers to three kilometers.

The mid-oceanic ridge system formed by plate tectonics is the most long chain of mountains on the Earth, covering nearly sixty-five thousand kilometers (40 thousand miles). Most of it (90%) is underwater. Watch for this pattern to begin appearing at around two thousand kilometers:

When the world ocean is dropped to around 6 kilometers below sea level, most of our planet’s surface can be observed, except some of Earth’s deepest ocean trenches, such as the Mariana Trench, which is around 11 kilometers in depth.

And at the end, one more image of the Earth without water, made by Anton Balazh.

The post What Earth Would Look Like If All The Oceans Were Drained appeared first on Vivid Maps.

The Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean, is the deepest known oceanic trench on Earth. It reaches a maximum depth of approximately 36,070 feet (10,994 meters) at the Challenger Deep, which is the lowest point in the trench. To put this into perspective, if Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, were placed at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, its peak would still be over a mile underwater.

The Tonga Trench is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is the second-deepest trench in the world. It has a maximum depth of about 35,702 feet (10,882 meters) and is located to the east of the Tonga Islands.

The illustration below created by xkcd shows the typical topography of lakes and oceans.

While the Marianas Trench is the deepest place of the planet’s oceans, Lake Baikal is the deepest of all the lakes in the world. Its depth is 1 642 meters (5 387 feet).

Compared to Lake Baikal, the depth of the Great Lakes is more modest. For example, the deepest point in Lake Superior is 400 meters (1,300 feet) below the surface, while Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the U.S. – 594 meters (1,949 feet).

You can learn more about oceans from:

• Dive Atlas of the World
• Maps of the World’s Oceans

The post Lakes and ocean depth comparison appeared first on Vivid Maps.

The Spilhaus Projection: Centering the Oceans

In 1942, the oceanographer and geophysicist Athelstan Frederick Spilhaus developed a fascinating world map. Unlike traditional maps that prioritize landmasses, the Spilhaus projection centers the world’s oceans. This approach shifts our focus to the interconnectedness of marine regions, emphasizing their central role in Earth’s ecosystem.

Here is another map in the Spilhaus projection created by le-cartographe.net.

By centering Antarctica and the surrounding oceans, the Spilhaus projection allows us to visualize the vast expanses of the World Ocean as a cohesive whole. This perspective is particularly useful for understanding global ocean currents and surface water temperatures.

For instance, the Spilhaus projection can vividly illustrate ocean currents. These currents are the lifeblood of our planet’s climate system, transporting heat and nutrients across the globe. By presenting the oceans as a continuous entity, the Spilhaus map makes it easier to track the dynamic movement of these currents and understand their global impact.

Similarly, the Spilhaus projection is ideal for displaying the temperature of the surface water layer throughout the year. This visualization helps us grasp the seasonal variations in ocean temperatures, which influence weather patterns, marine ecosystems, and the global climate.

The Dymaxion Projection: A Land-Centric View

In contrast to the Spilhaus projection, R. Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map projection shows all the landmasses nearly continuously. This map minimizes distortion of the continents, providing a contiguous view of Earth’s land areas. The Dymaxion map is particularly useful for understanding human geography and geopolitical relationships, presenting an alternative perspective on our world.

Exploring the World with Different Perspectives

Both the Spilhaus and Dymaxion projections offer unique insights into our planet’s geography. The Spilhaus projection emphasizes the interconnectedness of the world’s oceans and their central role in Earth’s systems, while the Dymaxion map provides a comprehensive view of the continents. Together, these maps encourage us to appreciate the complexity and interconnectedness of our world.

Popular World Maps on Amazon

For those interested in exploring different map projections, here are some popular world maps available on Amazon:

• National Geographic World Map
• Gall Orthographic World Map
• Peters Projection World Map
• Scratch Off World Map Poster

The post Discovering the World Ocean with the Spilhaus Projection appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Brideau made an animation showing 158,180 years of ocean drainage through a 10-meter plug in the Mariana Trench. He used the ETOPO1 Global Relief Model—basically bathymetric data at 1.8-kilometer resolution covering Earth’s entire surface, land and sea.

The idea? Straight from Randall Munroe’s “What If?” book (Amazon link). Munroe takes ridiculous questions and answers them with actual science.

The Mariana Trench is in the western Pacific, around 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of the Mariana Islands. Length: 2,550 kilometers (1,580 miles). Width: about 69 kilometers (43 miles). The Challenger Deep, its lowest point, reaches 10,994 meters (36,070 feet) down.

Drop Mount Everest in there? Its peak would still be 1.6 kilometers underwater.

Pressure at the bottom reaches 1,086 bars. That’s a thousand times surface pressure. Water gets 5 percent denser down there. Temperature stays between 1 and 4°C, but life exists around hydrothermal vents anyway.

On the animated map above, each frame lowers the water level by 10 meters (33 feet).

During those first 200,000 years, the coastlines transform completely. Land bridges appear. Islands turn into mountain peaks. Seabeds become new landmasses.

At the end, the Pacific drains almost completely. The Atlantic and Indian Oceans are cut off early when seafloor ridges emerge, blocking their connection to the Pacific.

Interesting fact: even though the Mariana Trench is the deepest, it’s not the closest to Earth’s core. The planet bulges at the equator, so parts of the Arctic Ocean floor are 13 kilometers (8 miles) closer to the center.

NASA made a similar animated map showing what Earth would look like if all the oceans were drained.

Want to see water changes on Earth? I’ve created maps showing ice melt flooding and water loss—the first shows what happens when all ice melts, the second shows oceans disappearing like they did on Mars.

The post What happens when you pull the plug on the Marianas Trench appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Major drainage basins:

• Atlantic Ocean (about 48.7 percent of all world’s land drains to this ocean)
• Arctic Ocean (drainage basin about 17 percent of the world’s land)
• The Pacific and Indian Oceanes drainage basins comprises about 13 percent of Earth’s land.
• The Southern Ocean drainage basin comprises approximately 8 percent of the world’s land.

The post Global drainage areas appeared first on Vivid Maps.

If all the ice covering Antarctica, Greenland, and mountain glaciers worldwide were to melt, the sea level would rise about 70 meters (230 feet). The ocean would cover all the coastal cities. The number of people affected by this is about 40% of the world population because they’re within 250 feet of high tide.

The main ice-covered landmass is Antarctica, with about 90% of the globe’s ice (and 70 % of its fresh water). Antarctica has surfaced with ice an average of 2,133 m (7,000 ft) thick. Fortunately, the average temperature in Antarctica is about -37°C, and it is unlikely that this mass of ice will melt anytime soon.

Nevertheless, National Geographic decided to demonstrate what our planet would look like if all the ice on the Earth suddenly melted.

• Venice would be reclaimed by the Adriatic Sea. 1000 years from now, in this catastrophic scenario, the Netherlands will have long since surrendered to the sea, and most of Denmark will be gone too. Mediterranean sea will have swelled the Black and Caspian Seas.

• In North America, Florida and the Gulf Coast would vanish. San Francisco would become a cluster of islands.

• In South America Amazon and Paraguay Rivers would become Atlantic inlets, wiping out Buenos Aires, and most of Paraguay and coastal Uruguay. Africa would lose less of its land to the ultimate sea-level catastrophe

• In Asia land inhabited by 0,6 billion Chinese would flood, as would all of Bangladesh, population 160 million, and much of coastal India.

A simplified map of the effects of rising ocean levels would look as follows.

One other exciting impact is if melt the ice melt, that will change the Earth’s rotation. It may increase how long a day is. The polar ice caps are close to the planet’s axis of rotation. If this ice would melt, water will go around the Earth, further away from the axis of rotation. So our planet is going to rotate at a slower speed. It isn’t easy to calculate, but presumably about 20 seconds longer for a day.

According to NASA, if the only Greenland ice sheet would completely melt, the meltwater would to ultimately flow into the oceans, and the global sea level would rise by about 7 m (23 f). The length of the day becomes longer than it is today, by about two milliseconds.

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