Mediterranean seas
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
- The American Mediterranean Sea
- Baffin Bay
- The Baltic Sea
- The namesake Mediterranean Sea
Indian Ocean
- The Persian Gulf
- The Red Sea
Pacific Ocean
- The Australasian Mediterranean Sea
List of mediterranean seas by type
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
- The Persian Gulf
- The Red Sea
Dilution basin
- The Adriatic Sea
- The American Mediterranean Sea
- The Arctic Ocean
- 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.