Southern Ocean
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The Southern Ocean surrounds Antarctica extending to the latitude 60° South (Figure 5). This ocean region occupies about 4% of the Earth's surface or about 20,327,000 square kilometers (7,846,000 square miles). Relative to the other ocean regions, the floor of the Southern Ocean is quite deep ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 meters (13,100 to 16,400 feet) below sea level over most of the area it occupies. Continental shelf areas are very limited and are mainly found around Antarctica. But even these areas are quite deep with an elevation between 400 to 800 meters (1,300 to 2,600 feet) below sea level. For comparison, the average depth of the continental shelf for the entire planet is about 130 meters (425 feet). The Southern Ocean's deepest point is in the South Sandwich Trench at 7,235 meters (23,3737 feet) sea level. Seas adjacent to this ocean region include the Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, Ross Sea, Scotia Sea, and the Weddell Sea. By about September of each year, a mobile icepack situated around Antarctic reaches its greatest seasonal extent covering about 19 million square kilometers (7 million square miles). This icepack shrinks by around 85% six months later in March.