Semienclosed Sea

a sea that is partially bounded by continents and cut off from the ocean or an adjacent sea either by islands or by a chain of islands linked by shoals that limit the sea’s water exchange with adjacent bodies of water. Currents in semienclosed seas form an independent system of circulation. Temperature, salinity, and other hydrological and hydrochemi-cal characteristics have their own regimes, which are, nonetheless, more or less influenced by the adjacent body of water. Examples of semienclosed seas include the Coral Sea, the South China Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, and the Caribbean.