asked Jul 4 '16 at 6:27. The Pacific Ocean is shrinking as a result of plate tectonics by roughly 0.5 km2 per year for the last 180 million years as the plates move towards one another. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while September is the most active month. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. In the Pacific Tropical Convergence, which coincides with the Equatorial Countercurrent, water sinks to a depth of about 300 feet (90 metres) before it spreads laterally. The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean in the world. As a result of plate tectonics, the Pacific Ocean is shrinking by roughly 0.5 km 2 per year for the last 180 million years as the plates move towards one another (Alvarez, 1982).. Ring of Fire. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of this trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. Coordinates: 32.925239149423, -119.37738778389. Enjoy the Video! The maximum depth is 10,911 m (35,797 ft). ", Korhonen, Pekka. Though the peoples of Asia and Oceania have traveled the Pacific Ocean since prehistoric times, the eastern Pacific was first sighted by Europeans in the early 16th century when Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and discovered the great "Southern Sea" which he named Mar del Sur (in Spanish). [27], The 18th century marked the beginning of major exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, such as the First Kamchatka expedition and the Great Northern Expedition, led by the Danish Russian navy officer Vitus Bering. Subdivided by the Equator into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean, it covers around one-third of the total surface area of the earth, and approximately 46 percent of the water surface. The depth of the deepest seas can exceed 11,000 meters. When is Father’s Day Celebrated Around the World? Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. By contrast, the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size. The floor of the Pacific in the eastern part rises to form a submarine plateau, called Albatross Plateau. Trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. Although the United States gained control of Guam and the Philippines from Spain in 1898,[35] Japan controlled most of the western Pacific by 1914 and occupied many other islands during the Pacific War; however, by the end of that war, Japan was defeated and the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. [17] Although Magellan himself died in the Philippines in 1521, Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano led the remains of the expedition back to Spain across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope, completing the first world circumnavigation in 1522. "Pacific history as seen from the Pacific Islands. The trade winds in the southern and eastern Pacific are remarkably steady while conditions in the North Pacific are far more varied with, for example, cold winter temperatures on the east coast of Russia contrasting with the milder weather off British Columbia during the winter months due to the preferred flow of ocean currents. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century. [37], Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 mi) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60°S (older definitions extend it to Antarctica's Ross Sea), the Pacific reaches its greatest east–west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia—halfway around the world, and more than five times the diameter of the Moon. Pacific Ocean. The squares mark the geographic position of 189 core tops used in this study. The surface area and average depth of the Pacific Ocean are 1.8 \times 10^{8} \mathrm{~km}^{2} and 3.9 \times 10^{3} \mathrm{~m}, respectively. Nearly 20,000 islands dot this vast ocean. [73] The andesite line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc, along the eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand's North Island.[74][75]. The Pacific Ocean contains several long seamount chains, formed by hotspot volcanism. [22], In 1564, five Spanish ships carrying 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi, and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. It is also estimated that nearly 75 percent of the volcanoes on earth are located in the Pacific Ocean. This gigantic body of water has an average depth of 3800 meters. The North Equatorial Current, driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds, turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current. The average depth of the Pacific is about 3700 metres. Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest, reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. Its mean depth is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). [78], Fish are an important economic asset in the Pacific. [62] The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms the base of a counter-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea. Click for explore the depth map now. The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is $14,040 \mathrm{ft}$, and its depth is $8890 \mathrm{ft}$ less than the sum of the average depths of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. "North Pacific", "Pacific", and "Pacific region" redirect here. Its average depth is about 3,688 meters (12,100 ft), and its maximum depth is 10,994 meters (6.831 mi) at the Mariana Trench. Besides, it is estimated that almost half of the water area of our planet is provided by the Pacific Ocean. For most of Magellan's voyage from the Strait of Magellan to the Philippines, the explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful; however, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the International Date Line, includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the center, the Marshall Islands to the east and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast. About 3000 BC, the Austronesian peoples on the island of Taiwan mastered the art of long-distance canoe travel and spread themselves and their languages south to the Philippines, Indonesia, and maritime Southeast Asia; west towards Madagascar; southeast towards New Guinea and Melanesia (intermarrying with native Papuans); and east to the islands of Micronesia, Oceania and Polynesia.[11]. [51][52], Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea, the world's second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. To Magellan, it seemed much more calm (pacific) than the Atlantic. Its shape is roughly triangular with its apex in the north at the Bering Strait. The bathyal zone ranges from 0.2 km to 3km deep, while the abyssal zone ranges from 3 km to 6 km deep. Thermocline depth is derived from the world ocean atlas of Levztus [1982]. Many marginal seas, bays and gulfs occur along its boundaries. Flynn, Dennis O., Arturo Giráldez, and James Sobredo, eds. The average depth of the Indian Ocean is 272 ft less than four-fifths of the average depth of the Atlantic Ocean. Its maximum depth is estimated to be 10,971 meters (6.8 miles) in the Pacific Ocean, contrasting with the shallow waters of the Arctic Ocean. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals in the water leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone. The depth estimate of 2.3 miles is about 69 to 167 feet (21 to 51 meters) less than previous estimates. [84], Marine pollution is a generic term for the harmful entry into the ocean of chemicals or particles. The most recent estimate of the average ocean depth, calculated in 2010, is 3.6km (12,080 feet), … November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active. The Pacific is the oldest of the existing ocean basins, its oldest rocks having been dated at 200 million years. Its average depth is 4,280 m (14,040 ft; 2,340 fathoms), putting the total water volume at roughly 710,000,000 km3 (170,000,000 cu mi). Among these are Bougainville, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. At Mow Answers, we do maps and stories for a living. It occupies 46.6% of total ocean area. You might also like Top 5 Tallest Mountains in the World! 35,837 ft. The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).. There are four divisions of the deep sea ocean: the littoral, bathyal, abyssal, and hadal zones. (Without the seas, the figures are 165,246,200 sq km, 4,282 m, and 707,555,000 cu km, respectively.) The western Pacific has many major marginal seas, including the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Philippine Sea, the Coral Sea, and the Tasman Sea. The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. There is a large number of trenches in the Pacific ocean. "Pacific/Oceanic History" in, Stillman, Amy Ku‘uleialoha. "Finding the Pacific world. It separates Oceania and Asia with the Americas. The Japanese-ruled Northern Mariana Islands came under the control of the United States. [36] Since the end of World War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states. The Pacific Ocean extends for about 15,800 km from north to south and for about 19,500 km from east to west. The Pacific Ocean’s average depth is the greatest of any ocean, and it also contains the deepest known oceanic trenches. [72], The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. On the western side of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines. Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. The Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately one-third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 165,200,000 km (63,800,000 sq mi)— larger than Earth's entire landmass combined, 150,000,000 km (58,000,000 sq mi). Which US State has Produced The Most Presidents? See also: Types of Ocean Trout; Unique Characteristics of Atlantic Ocean; 1. The floor of the Pacific Ocean, which has an average depth of around 14,000 feet (4,300 m), is largely a deep-sea plain. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest. Pacific’s coastal shelf extends around 180-200 m of depth. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches. [83] An estimated 80,000 metric tons of plastic inhabit the patch, totaling 1.8 trillion pieces. The Pacific Ocean is home to around 25,000 islands, which are divided into three main groups; Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. It extends from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north. To determine the phase of ENSO, the most recent three-month sea surface temperature average for the area approximately 3,000 km (1,900 mi) to the southeast of Hawaii is computed, and if the region is more than 0.5 Â°C (0.9 Â°F) above or below normal for that period, then an El Niño or La Niña is considered in progress.[66]. [71], The ocean was first mapped by Abraham Ortelius; he called it Maris Pacifici following Ferdinand Magellan's description of it as "a pacific sea" during his circumnavigation from 1519 to 1522. The exploitation of the Pacific's mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean's great depths. You may commission us to create customized maps, infographics and stories as well. Your personal data will be governed by Mapsofworld. Average depth is generally around 7,300 metres. You're signed out. The mean depth of the Pacific (excluding adjacent seas) is 14,040 feet (4,280 metres), and its greatest known depth is 36,201 feet (11,034 metres)—in the Mariana Trench—also the greatest depth found in any ocean. [55], The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. November 4, 2020 World 5 / 5 (6 votes) Average Depth of Pacific Ocean The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 14,042 feet (4,280 meters) and … The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. It is called the Pacific Antarctic Submarine Ridge. Which Country Has The Longest Border in The World. For the region in Colombia, see, Gerlach: Marine Pollution, Springer, Berlin (1975), List of ports and harbors of the Pacific Ocean, "Deepest Submarine Dive in History, Five Deeps Expedition Conquers Challenger Deep", "CONFIRMED: Horizon Deep Second Deepest Point on the Planet", "Catholic Encyclopedia : Ferdinand Magellan", https://www.livescience.com/29533-the-worlds-biggest-oceans-and-seas.html, "Library Acquires Copy of 1507 Waldseemüller World Map – News Releases (Library of Congress)", https://www.guampedia.com/ferdinand-magellan/, "Charles Darwin's Travels on the HMS Beagle", "A Physical, Historical, Political, & Descriptive Geography", "This ocean has most of the islands in the world", National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, "PWLF.org – The Pacific WildLife Foundation – The Pacific Ocean", "Wind Driven Surface Currents: Equatorial Currents Background", "ENSO: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions", Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory – Hurricane Research Division, "Frequently Asked Questions: When is hurricane season? [45], The Martin Waldseemüller map of 1507 was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. [34](p53) By 1900 nearly all Pacific islands were in control of Britain, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Chile.[33]. The Pacific Ocean is Shrinking. An (almost certainly incomplete) census of broken arrows over water", "U.S. discloses accidents involving nuclear weapons", EPIC Pacific Ocean Data Collection Viewable, NOAA PMEL Argo profiling floats Realtime Pacific Ocean data, List of countries where Arabic is an official language, Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests, Northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_Ocean&oldid=1011451252, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles using infobox body of water without pushpin map, Articles using infobox body of water without image bathymetry, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2021, Articles to be expanded from December 2020, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎, Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The Pacific Ocean is the only ocean which is mostly bounded by subduction zones. Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin, where they occasionally impact island nations. * Southern Ocean area and volume calculated from ETOPO1 Bedrock version (includes Weddell and Ross seas without ice cover). Calculate the v… Depths beyond 6 km are referred to as the hadal zone. Don't get fooled though. [86], Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has ended up floating in a lake, sea, ocean, or waterway. In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy and cloudy conditions associated with extratropical cyclones riding the jet stream, it is usual to refer to the Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of latitude. The name Pacific, which means peaceful, was given to it by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. 3790 meters or 12430 feet. What are the Key Facts of The United Kingdom? [69] A climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months. [44] Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed entire towns. Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents. Figure 1. Ocean Depth. [41], As the Pacific straddles the 180th meridian, the West Pacific (or western Pacific, near Asia) is in the Eastern Hemisphere, while the East Pacific (or eastern Pacific, near the Americas) is in the Western Hemisphere.[42]. It has maximum recorded depth of 10,924 meters i.e. The Pacific Ocean is not only the largest ocean in the world, but is also the deepest. ", Routledge, David. [28] One of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. "The Pacific Age in World History,", "Recent Literature in Discovery History. Davidson, James Wightman. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia. ", Dirlik, Arif. Pacific hurricanes form south of Mexico, sometimes striking the western Mexican coast and occasionally the southwestern United States between June and October, while typhoons forming in the northwestern Pacific moving into southeast and east Asia from May to December. It is quite narrow throughout the South and North America. [21] In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan. Magellan called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful") because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. What was the Confederate States of America? In addition, the Pacific Ocean has served as the crash site of satellites, including Mars 96, Fobos-Grunt, and Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. The ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favorable winds on reaching the ocean. The Mariana Trench, which is located in western Pacific is the deepest point in the world at 35,797 feet (10,911 meters). Remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer surveys an interesting geological feature during the final dive of the Windows to the Deep 2018 expedition. [85], From 1946 to 1958, Marshall Islands served as the Pacific Proving Grounds for the United States and was the site of 67 nuclear tests on various atolls. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. ", Samson, Jane. The Pacific Ocean extends for about 15,800 km from north to south and for about 19,500 km from east to west. Improve this question. Its area is about 161.8 million km². Calculate the volume of water in the ocean in liters. The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 14,042 feet (4,280 meters) and the maximum depth is 35,797 feet (10,911 meters). He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means "peaceful sea". In the south, there is a submarine ridge running from north to south. This ocean is also the largest ocean in the world. Share. [79] Overfishing has become a serious problem in some areas. Including its seas, the Pacific has an area of 179,679,000 sq km, an average depth of 3,984 m, and a water volume of 723,699,000 cu km. Within the closed loop of the andesite line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Pacific basin. (Some areas of the ocean, such as the Mariana Trench (at nearly 7 … [1] The centers of both the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean. The average depth of the ocean is 3,682 meters, or 12,080 feet. It occupies an area of 168,723,000 square kilometers. The shallower shoreline waters of the continents and the more temperate islands yield herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, and tuna, as well as shellfish. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard;[29] HMS Challenger during the 1870s;[30] the USS Tuscarora (1873–76);[31] and the German Gazelle (1874–76). The Challenger Deep is part of the Mariana Trench, a deep groove in the sea floor where one tectonic plate is being subducted under another tectonic plate. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations. The total area of the Pacific Ocean is 155 million sq. [56][57], Ladrilleros Beach in Colombia on the coast of Chocó natural region, Point Reyes headlands, Point Reyes National Seashore, California, Los Molinos on the coast of Southern Chile, The volume of the Pacific Ocean, representing about 50.1 percent of the world's oceanic water, has been estimated at some 714 million cubic kilometers (171 million cubic miles). For example, catches in the rich fishing grounds of the Okhotsk Sea off the Russian coast have been reduced by at least half since the 1990s as a result of overfishing. km which is greater than the total land area on earth. The Westerlies and associated jet stream within the Mid-Latitudes can be particularly strong, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the temperature difference between the tropics and Antarctica,[70] which records the coldest temperature readings on the planet. [58] Surface water temperatures in the Pacific can vary from −1.4 Â°C (29.5 Â°F), the freezing point of sea water, in the poleward areas to about 30 Â°C (86 Â°F) near the equator. Besides being the largest ocean, Pacific Ocean also become the deepest ocean with the mean depth until 4,280 m. Dutch explorers, sailing around southern Africa, also engaged in discovery and trade; Willem Janszoon, made the first completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in Cape York Peninsula,[25] and Abel Janszoon Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and discovered Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642. At its greatest width, the ocean extends some 12,000 miles (19,300 kilometers). The largest ocean. These include the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain and the Louisville Ridge. The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. The Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific.[2].