The Blue Planet

Earth and North AmericaYou have come a long way - 13.7 billion years, in fact! According to scientists' theories, your journey began by witnessing an event called the Big Bang, during which all the matter emerged and formed the universe. After the Big Bang, you traveled ahead nine billion years to a remote arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. Here, began the formation of the Solar System. One of these planets is called Earth, although at the time it was nothing more than a molten, rocky mass orbiting the Sun.

Taking a closer look, you saw countless low points called basins on this molten rocky mass. As the Earth cooled, these basins filled with water to become a great ocean covering 71% of the planet.  Oceanographers named the parts of this ocean based on their geography, and you will soon have the chance to explore the landforms and life underneath those waters, and how the oceans are linked to other Earth systems such as climate, geology, and even astronomy.