The Pacific Ocean (a world map makes it possible to visually understand where it is) is an integral part of the world's waters. It is the largest on planet Earth. In terms of water volume and area, the described object occupies half the volume of the entire water space. In addition, the deepest depressions on Earth are located in the Pacific Ocean. In terms of the number of islands located in the water area, it also ranks first. It washes the shores of all continents of the Earth, except Africa.
As mentioned earlier, the geographical position of the Pacific Ocean is determined in such a way that it occupies most of the planet. Its area is 178 million km 2. By volume of water - 710 million km 2. From north to south, the ocean stretches for 16 thousand km, and from east to west - for 18 thousand km. The entire Earth will have an area smaller than the Pacific Ocean by 30 million km 2.
Allows it to occupy an impressive area in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. However, due to the large amount of land in the latter, the water area narrows noticeably to the north.
The boundaries of the Pacific Ocean are as follows:
The peculiarities of the geographical location of the Pacific Ocean allow us to talk about its unique mark, which characterizes the distance from the bottom to the surface of the water. The maximum depth of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the entire World Ocean as a whole, is almost 11 km. This trench is located in the Mariana Trench, which, in turn, is located in the western part of the water area, not far from the islands of the same name.
The first attempt to measure the depth of the depression was made in 1875 with the help of the English corvette Challenger. For this, a deep-sea lot was used (a special device for measuring the distance to the bottom). The first recorded indicator during the study of the trench was a mark of just over 8,000 m. In 1957, a Soviet expedition began measuring the depth. Based on the results of her work, the data from previous studies were changed. It is worth noting that our scientists have come closer to the real value. The depth of the trench, according to the measurement results, was 11,023 m. This figure was considered correct for a long time, and was indicated in reference books and textbooks as the deepest point on the planet. However, already in the 2000s, thanks to the advent of new, more accurate instruments that help determine various values, the real, most accurate depth of the trench was established - 10,994 m (according to research in 2011). This point in the Mariana Trench was called the Challenger Deep. The geographic location of the Pacific Ocean is so unique.
The trench itself stretches along the islands for almost 1,500 km. It has sharp slopes and a flat bottom stretching for 1.5 km. The pressure at the depth of the Mariana Trench is several tens of times higher than at shallow ocean depths. The depression is located at the junction of two tectonic plates - the Philippine and Pacific.
Near the Mariana Trench there are a number of transitional regions from the continent to the ocean: Aleutian, Japanese, Kuril-Kamchatka, Tonga-Kermadec and others. All of them are located along the fault of tectonic plates. This area is the most seismically active. Together with the eastern transitional regions (within the mountainous regions of the western margins of the American continents), they form the so-called Pacific volcanic ring of fire. Most active and extinct geological formations are located within its boundaries.
A description of the geographical location of the Pacific Ocean must necessarily concern the seas. There are quite a large number of them located on the outskirts of the ocean coast. They are concentrated to a greater extent in the Northern Hemisphere, off the coast of Eurasia. There are more than 20 of them, with a total area (including straits and bays) of 31 million km 2. The largest are Okhotsk, Barents, Zheltoye, South and East China, Philippine and others. There are 5 Pacific reservoirs off the coast of Antarctica (Ross, D'Urville, Somov, etc.). The eastern coast of the ocean is uniform, the coast is slightly indented, difficult to access and has no seas. However, there are 3 bays here - Panama, California and Alaska.
Of course, a detailed description of the geographical location of the Pacific Ocean also includes such a feature as a huge amount of land located directly in the water area. There are more than 10 thousand islands and island archipelagos of different sizes and origins. Most of them are volcanic. They are located within the subtropical and tropical climate zones. Formed due to a volcanic eruption, many of the islands are overgrown with corals. Subsequently, some of them went under water again, and only a coral layer remained on the surface. It usually has the shape of a circle or semicircle. Such an island is called an atoll. The largest is located on the border of the Marshall Islands - Kwajlein.
In this water area, in addition to small islands of volcanic and coral origin, there are also the largest land areas on the planet. This is quite natural, given the geographical location of the Pacific Ocean. New Guinea and Kalimantan are islands in the western part of the water area. They respectively occupy 2nd and 3rd place in terms of area in the world. Also in the Pacific Ocean is the largest archipelago on the planet - the Greater Sunda Islands, consisting of 4 large land areas and more than 1,000 small ones.
Ocean area - 178.7 million sq. km;
Maximum depth – Mariana Trench, 11022 m;
Number of seas – 25;
The largest seas are the Philippine Sea, Coral Sea, Tasman Sea, Bering Sea;
The largest bay is Alaska;
The largest islands are New Zealand, New Guinea;
The strongest currents:
- warm - North Passatnoye, South Passatnoye, Kuroshio, East Australian;
- cold - Western Winds, Peruvian, Californian.
The Pacific Ocean occupies a third of the entire earth's surface and half the area of the World Ocean. The equator crosses it almost in the middle. The Pacific Ocean washes the shores of five continents:
— Eurasia from the northwest;
— Australia from the southwest;
— Antarctica from the south;
— South and North America from the west.
In the north, it connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait. In the southern part, the conventional boundaries between the three oceans - the Pacific and Indian, Pacific and Atlantic - are drawn along meridians, from the southernmost continental or island point to the Antarctic coast.
The Pacific Ocean is the only one that is almost entirely located within the boundaries of one lithospheric plate - the Pacific. Where it interacts with other plates, seismically active zones arise that create the Pacific seismic belt, known as the “Ring of Fire.” Along the edges of the ocean, at the boundaries of lithospheric plates, are its deepest parts - oceanic trenches. One of the main features of the Pacific Ocean is tsunami waves, which arise as a result of underwater eruptions and earthquakes.
The climate of the Pacific Ocean is determined by its location in all climate zones except the polar one. The most precipitation occurs in the equator zone - up to 2000 mm. Due to the fact that the Pacific Ocean is protected by land from the influence of the Arctic Ocean, its northern part is warmer than the southern part.
Trade winds reign in the central part of the ocean. Destructive tropical hurricanes - typhoons, which are characteristic of monsoon air circulation, are characteristic of the western Pacific Ocean. Storms are frequent in the north and south.
There is almost no floating ice in the North Pacific Ocean, since the narrow Bering Strait limits communication with the Arctic Ocean. And only the Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea are covered with ice in winter.
The flora and fauna of the Pacific Ocean is characterized by richness and diversity. The Sea of Japan is one of the richest in species composition of organisms. Coral reefs of tropical and equatorial latitudes are particularly rich in life forms. The largest coral structure is the Great Barrier Reef (Great Coral Reef) off the east coast of Australia, where tropical fish species live, sea urchins, stars, squids, octopuses... Many fish species are of commercial importance: salmon, chum salmon, pink salmon, tuna, herring, anchovies...
In the Pacific Ocean there are also savages: whales, dolphins, fur seals, sea beavers (found only in the Pacific Ocean). One of the features of the Pacific Ocean is the presence of giant animals: blue whale, whale shark, Kamchatka crab, tridacna clam...
The territories of more than 50 countries, home to almost half of the world's population, overlook the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
European exploration of the Pacific Ocean began with Ferdinand Magellan (1519 – 1521), James Cook, A. Tasman, W. Bering. In the 18th-19th centuries, the expeditions of the English ship Challenger and the Russian Vityaz had particularly important results. In the second half of the twentieth century, interesting and versatile studies of the Pacific Ocean were carried out by the Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl and the Frenchman Jacques-Yves Cousteau. At the present stage, specially created international organizations are studying the nature of the Pacific Ocean.
Hello friends! Today I have prepared a new article for you. Now we will look at the characteristics of the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of all oceans (about what an ocean is). It washes the following continents (more about the continents): in the east - North America (more about North America) and South America, in the west - Australia and Eurasia (more about Eurasia), and in the south the coast of Antarctica (more about Antarctica).
The volume of the Pacific Ocean is 710 million km 3, the area including the seas (about what a sea is) is 178.6 million km 2. It is not only the largest, but also the deepest ocean, its maximum depth is 11022 m (Mariana Trench), average depth is 3980 m.
In the Pacific Ocean, the seas are mainly located on the western and northern outskirts: Okhotsk, South China, East China, Bering, Yellow, Philippine, Japanese, Inner Japanese. The Tasman and Coral seas are classified as interisland or Australasian Mediterranean. Seas off the coast of Antarctica: Ross, Bellingshausen and Amundsen.
The ocean is also rich in islands: in its northern part there are the Aleutian Islands, in the western part - the island of Sakhalin, the island of New Guinea, the Kuril Islands, the Philippine Islands, the Japanese Islands, the island of New Zealand, the Greater and Lesser Sunda Islands, the island of Tasmania and others. In the central part of the Pacific Ocean there are numerous islands, which are united under the name Oceania.
In the eastern part of the ocean, the bottom topography is relatively flat; in the central and western parts there are many underwater hills and basins (the depth of which is more than 5000 m) separated by underwater ridges, on which the depths decrease to 2000-3000 m (South Pacific Ridge, East Pacific ridge, etc.).
Deep-sea trenches (depth 8000-10000 m), active volcanism and seismic activity are characteristic of peripheral areas.
The water surface temperature in the polar regions is up to -0.5 °C, and near the equator - from 26 to 29 °C.
The fish fauna is about 800 species in the Far Eastern seas and at least 2,000 species of fish and 6,000 species of mollusks in tropical latitudes. There are many coral reefs in the ocean.
The flora consists of flowering plants (29 species), about 4,000 species of algae live on the ocean floor, as well as about 1,300 species of unicellular algae (peridinea, diatoms).
More than 1/2 of the world's seafood and fish production comes from the Pacific Ocean. The most important are: herring, pollock, cod, Pacific salmon, sea bass, saury, mackerel, greenling, etc. Oysters, shrimp and crabs are also harvested.
The Pacific Ocean also provides vital air and sea routes that connect four continents.
Main ports: Los Angeles (USA, more about the country), San Francisco (USA), Valparaiso (Chile), Vancouver (Canada), Vladivostok (Russia, more about the country), Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Russia), Nakhodka (Russia), Shanghai (China), Hong Kong (China), Tianjin (China), Guangzhouts (China), Busan (South Korea), Sydney (Australia), Yokohama (Japan), Tokyo (Japan), Singapore (Singapore).
That's all for today, I think you liked my description of the Pacific Ocean😉Until next time, visit the blog, read new articles, subscribe to updates, like and comment🙂Bye bye!
| Parameter name | Meaning |
| Article topic: | PACIFIC OCEAN |
| Rubric (thematic category) | Geography |
Typical ocean characterization plan
1. Geographical location (position of the ocean relative to the equator, prime meridian, continents and other oceans; features of the coastline: seas, bays, straits, islands).
2. Geological structure and topography of the ocean floor (features of the geological structure of the ocean basin; lithospheric plates and main forms of topography of the ocean floor; average and maximum depths).
3. Climatic zones and main types of ocean climate
4. Features of ocean waters (temperature regime of surface waters; salinity of water and features of its distribution; currents in the ocean)
5. The organic world of the ocean
6. Ocean resources and their use.
Ocean area – 178.7 million km 2
Maximum depth – 11022 (Mariana Trench)
Number of seas – 25
The largest seas are the Philippine, Coral, Tasman, South China, Bering Seas
The largest bay is Alaska
The largest island and groups of islands - Sunda, New Guinea, New Zealand, Japan
The most powerful currents are the North and South Trade Winds, Kuroshio, and East Australian (warm); Western Winds, Peruvian, Californian (cold).
PACIFIC OCEAN - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "PACIFIC OCEAN" 2017, 2018.
List of ancient words from Visnovka The word “Ocean” came to us in the name of the ancient Greek god Oheanoz, the lord of the water element. This is what the ancient Greeks called the endless watery layer of the Earth, so that the incredibly majestic river flowed around the world from its sides. Star... .
1. Using the plan for describing the geographical position of the ocean in the textbook appendix, characterize the Pacific Ocean.
1. Located between: Eurasia, Australia, North and South America, Antarctica. Connected to all oceans.
2. Located on both sides of the equator, relative to the prime meridian - in the Western Hemisphere. They cross the Northern and Southern Tropics and the Northern and Southern Circles.
3. Located in all climatic zones, except the North Polar.
2. On the nature of which continent does the Pacific Ocean have the greatest influence? Why?
On the nature of Australia, whose climate is significantly influenced by ocean currents.
3. What is the reason for the differences between the natural aquatic complexes of the northern Indian Ocean?
The northern part of the Indian Ocean lies in the tropical zone. Under the influence of the surrounding land and monsoon circulation, several aquatic complexes are formed in this belt, differing in the properties of water masses.
4. Why do currents in the northern part of the Indian Ocean change their direction according to the seasons?
This is due to the monsoon type of atmospheric circulation (monsoon climate).
5. The Atlantic Ocean is the most studied ocean on the planet. Using the text and pictures of the textbook, systematize your knowledge about the stages of its study.
6. Why is the average salinity of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean higher than the average salinity of the waters of the World Ocean?
In the Atlantic Ocean, salinity is more evenly distributed, which generally translates into greater salinity in the ocean as a whole.
7. Explain the relative poverty of the species composition of the organic world of the Atlantic Ocean compared to the Pacific.
High salinity, relative youth of the ocean, no coral reefs.
8. What are the reasons for the great pollution of the Atlantic Ocean?
Extraction of oil and other minerals on the shelf, development of shipping, a large number of cities on the coasts.
9. What territories are part of the Arctic?
The outskirts of the continents of Eurasia and Northern. America and almost the entire Arctic Ocean with all its islands (except for the coastal islands of Norway), as well as adjacent parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
10. Name the most characteristic features of the nature of the Arctic Ocean.
1. Polar position;
2. Arctic air masses predominate;
3. Presence of ice;
4. The Arctic Ocean does not cool, but warms the territories of the Northern Hemisphere.
11. What names of researchers of the Arctic Ocean do you know?
G. Sedov, F. Nansen, O. Yu. Schmidt, I. D. Papanin, R. Amundsen.
12. Which continent supplies the Arctic Ocean with more fresh water? Why?
Eurasia: the largest rivers carry their waters into the ocean, for example, the Yenisei, Ob, Lena, etc.
13. In what direction does ice move in the Arctic Ocean? Who proved this?
In the direction of the currents. F. Nansen.
14. Explain the statement: “The Arctic Ocean, oddly enough, does not cool, but significantly warms the vast land areas of the Northern Hemisphere.”
This is due to the heat reserve in the waters of the Arctic Ocean, which is constantly replenished by the heat of the Atlantic waters (warm currents).
15. Which parts of the Arctic Ocean are rich in organic life? Why?
In that part of the Arctic Ocean, on the surface or at some depth of which the influence of relatively warm Atlantic waters is felt (for example, the Barents Sea, Kara Sea).
16. Name the types of human economic activity in the Arctic Ocean.
Fishing, offshore oil and natural gas production, maritime transport.
17. What will happen to the nature of the Arctic Ocean if the flow of water from the Atlantic and the influx of river water are reduced?
The salinity of the ocean will increase and the seas will freeze.
18. Fill in the blanks.
Most deep-sea trenches in Quiet ocean. They are located rings, because Here there is a junction of lithospheric plates. This area is called the "Ring of Fire".
19. Identify the largest ocean ports:
a) Quiet - Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Singapore, Sydney.
b) Indian - Dubai, Mumbai, Chennai, Karachi.
c) Atlantic - Rotterdam, New York, Marseille, Hamburg.
20. Display on the map using symbols the types of economic activities of the population on the ocean shelf.
