section_path: Oceanography
section_name: Oceanography
paragraph_text: Oceanography
  
  Being nearly landlocked affects conditions in the Mediterranean Sea: for instance, tides are very limited as a result of the narrow connection with the Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean is characterised and immediately recognised by its deep blue colour.
  
  Evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation and river runoff in the Mediterranean, a fact that is central to the water circulation within the basin. Evaporation is especially high in its eastern half, causing the water level to decrease and salinity to increase eastward. The average salinity in the basin is 38 PSU at 5 m (16 ft) depth. The temperature of the water in the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea is 13.2 °C (55.8 °F).
  
  The net water influx from the Atlantic Ocean is ca. 70,000 m /s (2.5 million cu ft/s) or 2.2 × 10 m /a (7.8 × 10 cu ft/a). Without this Atlantic water, the sea level of the Mediterranean Sea would fall at a rate of about 1 m (3 ft) per year.
  
  In oceanography, it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea, the European Mediterranean Sea or the African Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere.