The Atlantic Ocean is bordered by North and South America on the west and by Europe and Africa on the east. Some scientists consider the Antarctic waters to be a separate ocean, while others view the region as parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The Atlantic Ocean is separated into the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic by the equator. The North Atlantic has a number of seas, called marginal seas, opening into it. These include the Baltic, Black, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Labrador, and North seas, and Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Some scientists regard the Arctic Ocean as a marginal sea of the North Atlantic.
The South Atlantic has no marginal seas. The continental margin is the part of the Atlantic seafloor that borders the continents. This region is called the continental slope. At the base of this slope is the continental rise, a region of sediments that have washed from the continents. At some places along the continental shelf, continental slope, and continental rise, erosion has formed submarine canyons and channels.