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Pacific Ocean

April 22, 2023

Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Pacific Northwest, North Pacific (disambiguation), South Pacific (disambiguation), Pacific (disambiguation) and Pacific/Chocó natural region.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east.

Pacific Ocean
Coordinates0°N 160°W / 0°N 160°W / 0; -160Coordinates: 0°N 160°W / 0°N 160°W / 0; -160
Surface area165,250,000 km2 (63,800,000 sq mi)
Average depth4,280 m (14,040 ft)
Max. depth10,911 m (35,797 ft)
Water volume710,000,000 km3 (170,000,000 cu mi)
IslandsList of islands
SettlementsAcapulco, Anadyr, Anchorage, Apia, Auckland, Brisbane, Busan, Buenaventura, Callao, Christchurch, Concepción, Corinto, Dunedin, Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Honolulu, Hualien City, Keelung, Jayapura, Lima, Los Angeles, Machala, Magadan, Makassar, Manta, Mazatlán, Melbourne, Naha, New Taipei City, Nouméa, Osaka, Panama City, Papeete, Puerto San José, San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Seattle, Sendai, Shizuoka City, Sorsogon City, Suva, Sydney, Tandag City, Tijuana, Tokyo, Valparaíso, Vancouver, Victoria, Vladivostok, Wellington, Whangarei, Yokohama, Yokosuka

At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, larger than Earth's entire land area combined 148,000,000 km2 (57,000,000 sq mi).[1] The centers of both the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere, as well as the oceanic pole of inaccessibility are in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean circulation (caused by the Coriolis effect) subdivides it[2] into two largely independent volumes of water that meet at the equator, the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean (or more loosely the South Seas). The Pacific Ocean can also be informally divided by the International Date Line into the East Pacific and the West Pacific, which allows it to be further divided into four quadrants, namely the Northeast Pacific off the coasts of North America, the Southeast Pacific off South America, Northwest Pacific off Far Eastern Asia, and the Southwest Pacific around Oceania.

The Pacific Ocean's mean depth is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).[3] Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, located in the northwestern Pacific, is the deepest known point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,928 meters (35,853 feet).[4] The Pacific also contains the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere, the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench, at 10,823 meters (35,509 feet).[5] The third deepest point on Earth, the Sirena Deep, is also located in the Mariana Trench.

The western Pacific has many major marginal seas, including the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Mar de Grau, Tasman Sea, and the Coral Sea.

Etymology

In the early 16th century, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and sighted the great "Southern Sea" which he named Mar del Sur (in Spanish). Afterwards, 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. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means 'peaceful sea'.[6]

Largest seas in the Pacific Ocean

 
Picture of the Pacific Ocean, taken from space by the Apollo 11 crew in July 1969

Top large seas:[7]

History

Prehistory

Across the continents of Asia, Australia and the Americas, more than 25,000 islands, large and small, rise above the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Multiple islands were the shells of former active volcanoes that have lain dormant for thousands of years. Close to the equator, through vast areas of blue ocean, are a dot of atolls that have over intervals of time been formed by seamounts as a result of tiny coral islands strung in a ring within surroundings of a central lagoon.

Early migrations

Main articles: Peopling of Southeast Asia and Austronesian peoples
 
Model of a Fijian drua, an example of an Austronesian vessel with a double-canoe (catamaran) hull and a crab claw sail

Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Modern humans first reached the western Pacific in the Paleolithic, at around 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. Originating from a southern coastal human migration out of Africa, they reached East Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, the Philippines, New Guinea, and then Australia by making the sea crossing of at least 80 kilometres (50 mi) between Sundaland and Sahul. It is not known with any certainty what level of maritime technology was used by these groups – the presumption is that they used large bamboo rafts which may have been equipped with some sort of sail. The reduction in favourable winds for a crossing to Sahull after 58,000 B.P. fits with the dating of the settlement of Australia, with no later migrations in the prehistoric period. The seafaring abilities of pre-Austronesian residents of Island South-east Asia are confirmed by the settlement of Buka by 32,000 B.P. and Manus by 25,000 B.P. Journeys of 180 kilometres (110 mi) and 230 kilometres (140 mi) are involved, respectively.[8]

The descendants of these migrations today are the Negritos, Melanesians, and Indigenous Australians. Their populations in maritime Southeast Asia, coastal New Guinea, and Island Melanesia later intermarried with the incoming Austronesian settlers from Taiwan and the northern Philippines, but also earlier groups associated with Austroasiatic-speakers, resulting in the modern peoples of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania.[9][10]

 
Map showing the migration of the Austronesian peoples

A later seaborne migration is the Neolithic Austronesian expansion of the Austronesian peoples. Austronesians originated from the island of Taiwan c. 3000-1500 BCE. They are associated with distinctive maritime sailing technologies (notably outrigger boats, catamarans, lashed-lug boats, and the crab claw sail) – it is likely that the progressive development of these technologies were related to the later steps of settlement into Near and Remote Oceania. Starting at around 2200 BCE, Austronesians sailed southwards to settle the Philippines. From, probably, the Bismarck Archipelago they crossed the western Pacific to reach the Marianas Islands by 1500 BCE,[11] as well as Palau and Yap by 1000 BCE. They were the first humans to reach Remote Oceania, and the first to cross vast distances of open water. They also continued spreading southwards and settling the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia, reaching Indonesia and Malaysia by 1500 BCE, and further west to Madagascar and the Comoros in the Indian Ocean by around 500 CE.[12][13][14] More recently, it is suggested that Austronesians expanded already earlier, arriving in the Philippines already in 7000 BCE. Additional earlier migrations into Insular Southeast Asia, associated with Austroasiatic-speakers from Mainland Southeast Asia, are estimated to have taken place already in 15000 BCE.[15]

At around 1300 to 1200 BCE, a branch of the Austronesian migrations known as the Lapita culture reached the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and New Caledonia. From there, they settled Tonga and Samoa by 900 to 800 BCE. Some also back-migrated northwards in 200 BCE to settle the islands of eastern Micronesia (including the Carolines, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati), mixing with earlier Austronesian migrations in the region. This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion into Polynesia until around 700 CE when there was another surge of island exploration. They reached the Cook Islands, Tahiti, and the Marquesas by 700 CE; Hawaiʻi by 900 CE; Rapa Nui by 1000 CE; and finally New Zealand by 1200 CE.[13][16][17] Austronesians may have also reached as far as the Americas, although evidence for this remains inconclusive.[18][19]

European exploration

Main article: Exploration of the Pacific
 
Universalis Cosmographia, also known as the Waldseemüller map, dated 1507, was the first map to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. South America was generally considered the New World and shows the name "America" for the first time, after Amerigo Vespucci

The first contact of European navigators with the western edge of the Pacific Ocean was made by the Portuguese expeditions of António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão, via the Lesser Sunda Islands, to the Maluku Islands, in 1512,[20][21] and with Jorge Álvares's expedition to southern China in 1513,[22] both ordered by Afonso de Albuquerque from Malacca.

The eastern side of the ocean was encountered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached a new ocean.[23] He named it Mar del Sur ("Sea of the South" or "South Sea") because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific.

In 1520, navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first to cross the Pacific in recorded history. They were part of a Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands that would eventually result in the first world circumnavigation. Magellan called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful") because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century.[24] Magellan stopped at one uninhabited Pacific island before stopping at Guam in March 1521.[25] 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.[26] Sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions encountered the Caroline Islands,[27] the Aru Islands,[28] and Papua New Guinea.[29] In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan.[30]

In 1564, five Spanish ships carrying 379 soldiers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi, and colonized the Philippines and Mariana Islands.[31] For the remainder of the 16th century, Spain maintained military and mercantile control, with ships sailing from Mexico and Peru across the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines via Guam, and establishing the Spanish East Indies. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries, linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history. Spanish expeditions also arrived at Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific.[32]

Later, in the quest for Terra Australis ("the [great] Southern Land"), Spanish explorations in the 17th century, such as the expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, arrived at the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos, and sailed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres. Dutch explorers, sailing around southern Africa, also engaged in exploration and trade; Willem Janszoon, made the first completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in Cape York Peninsula,[33] and Abel Janszoon Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and arrived at Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642.[34]

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers. As the only known entrance from the Atlantic, the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent the entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western side of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines.[35]

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. Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest, reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and colonized Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest. In 1768, Pierre-Antoine Véron, a young astronomer accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of exploration, established the width of the Pacific with precision for the first time in history.[36] One of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific.[32]

  •  

    Made in 1529, the Diogo Ribeiro map was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size

  •  

    Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1754.

  •  

    Maris Pacifici by Ortelius (1589). One of the first printed maps to show the Pacific Ocean[37]

  •  

    Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1702–1707

New Imperialism

See also: New Imperialism
 
The bathyscaphe Trieste before her record dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 23 January 1960
 
Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars taking over Tahiti on 9 September 1842

Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by European powers, and later Japan and the United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard;[38] HMS Challenger during the 1870s;[39] the USS Tuscarora (1873–76);[40] and the German Gazelle (1874–76).[41]

In Oceania, France obtained a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853, respectively.[42] After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro negotiated the incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations.[43]: 53  By 1900 nearly all Pacific islands were in control of Britain, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Chile.[42]

Although the United States gained control of Guam and the Philippines from Spain in 1898,[44] 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. The Japanese-ruled Northern Mariana Islands came under the control of the United States.[45] Since the end of World War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states.

Geography

 
Sunset over the Pacific Ocean as seen from the International Space Station. Tops of thunderclouds are also visible.
 
The island geography of the Pacific Ocean Basin
 
The regions, island nations, and territories of Oceania

The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. It may be further subdivided by the equator into northern (North Pacific) and southern (South Pacific) portions. It extends from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north.[1] The Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately one-third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 165,200,000 km2 (63,800,000 sq mi)— larger than Earth's entire landmass combined, 150,000,000 km2 (58,000,000 sq mi).[46]

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.[47] Its geographic center is in eastern Kiribati south of Kiritimati, just west from Starbuck Island at 4°58′S 158°45′W / 4.97°S 158.75°W / -4.97; -158.75.[48] The lowest known point on Earth—the Mariana Trench—lies 10,911 m (35,797 ft; 5,966 fathoms) below sea level. 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).[1]

Due to the effects of plate tectonics, the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2.5 cm (1 in) per year on three sides, roughly averaging 0.52 km2 (0.20 sq mi) a year. By contrast, the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size.[49][50]

Along the Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea (East Sea), Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, South China Sea (South Sea), Sulu Sea, Tasman Sea, and Yellow Sea (West Sea of Korea). The Indonesian Seaway (including the Strait of Malacca and Torres Strait) joins the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the west, and Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean.[51]

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.[52]

The Southern Pacific Ocean harbors the Southeast Indian Ridge crossing from south of Australia turning into the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (north of the South Pole) and merges with another ridge (south of South America) to form the East Pacific Rise which also connects with another ridge (south of North America) which overlooks the Juan de Fuca Ridge.

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. Many tropical storms batter the islands of the Pacific.[53] The lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes.[54] Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed entire towns.[55]

The Martin Waldseemüller map of 1507 was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans.[56] Later, the Diogo Ribeiro map of 1529 was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size.[57]

Bordering countries and territories

Sovereign nations

Territories

Landmasses and islands

Main article: Pacific Islands

The Pacific Ocean has most of the islands in the world. There are about 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean.[58][59][60] The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be divided into three main groups known as Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. 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.[61][62]

Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea, the world's second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.[63]

The largest area, Polynesia, stretching from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Islands, Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center, and the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu, Mangareva Islands, and Easter Island to the east.[64]

Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside the andesite line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands.[65]

The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia.[66][67]

Water characteristics

 
Sunset in Monterey County, California, U.S.

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).[68] Surface water temperatures in the Pacific can vary from −1.4 °C (29.5 °F), the freezing point of seawater, in the poleward areas to about 30 °C (86 °F) near the equator.[69] Salinity also varies latitudinally, reaching a maximum of 37 parts per thousand in the southeastern area. The water near the equator, which can have a salinity as low as 34 parts per thousand, is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. The lowest counts of less than 32 parts per thousand are found in the far north as less evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas.[70] The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific gyre) and counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. 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.[71]

Turning eastward at about 45°N, the Kuroshio forks and some water moves northward as the Aleutian Current, while the rest turns southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current.[72] The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms the base of a counter-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea. Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current.[73] The South Equatorial Current, flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea, turns east at about 50°S, and joins the main westerly circulation of the South Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current. As it approaches the Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current.[74]

Climate

 
Impact of El Niño and La Niña on North America
 
Typhoon Tip at global peak intensity on 12 October 1979

The climate patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres generally mirror each other. 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.[75]

In the tropical and subtropical Pacific, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather conditions. 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 °C (0.9 °F) above or below normal for that period, then an El Niño or La Niña is considered in progress.[76]

In the tropical western Pacific, the monsoon and the related wet season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian landmass.[77] Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer, when the difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest; however, each particular basin has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while September is the most active month. November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active.[78] The Pacific hosts the two most active tropical cyclone basins, which are the northwestern Pacific and the eastern Pacific. 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. Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin, where they occasionally impact island nations.

In the arctic, icing from October to May can present a hazard for shipping while persistent fog occurs from June to December.[79] A climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months. 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,[80] which records the coldest temperature readings on the planet. 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.[81]

Geology

Main articles: Geology of the Pacific Ocean and Pacific Plate
 
A Ring of Fire; the Pacific is ringed by many volcanoes and oceanic trenches.
 
A stratovolcano in Ulawun on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea

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. To Magellan, it seemed much more calm (pacific) than the Atlantic.[82]

The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. A petrologic boundary, it separates the deeper, mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins.[83] 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.[84][85]

The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand lie outside the andesite line.

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. Here basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the andesite line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and the Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism.[61] The Ring of Fire is named after the several hundred active volcanoes that sit above the various subduction zones.

The Pacific Ocean is the only ocean which is mostly bounded by subduction zones. Only the Antarctic and Australian coasts have no nearby subduction zones.

Geological history

The Pacific Ocean was born 750 million years ago at the breakup of Rodinia, although it is generally called the Panthalassa until the breakup of Pangea, about 200 million years ago.[86] The oldest Pacific Ocean floor is only around 180 Ma old, with older crust subducted by now.[87]

Seamount chains

The Pacific Ocean contains several long seamount chains, formed by hotspot volcanism. These include the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain and the Louisville Ridge.

Economy

The exploitation of the Pacific's mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean's great depths. In shallow waters of the continental shelves off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, petroleum and natural gas are extracted, and pearls are harvested along the coasts of Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines, although in sharply declining volume in some cases.[88]

Fishing

Fish are an important economic asset in the Pacific. The shallower shoreline waters of the continents and the more temperate islands yield herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, and tuna, as well as shellfish.[89] Overfishing has become a serious problem in some areas. 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.[90]

Environment

See also: Great Pacific garbage patch and Environmental impact of shipping
 
Pacific Ocean currents have created three islands of debris.[91]
 
Marine debris on a Hawaiian coast in 2008

The quantity of small plastic fragments floating in the north-east Pacific Ocean increased a hundredfold between 1972 and 2012.[92] The ever-growing Great Pacific garbage patch between California and Japan is three times the size of France.[93] An estimated 80,000 metric tons of plastic inhabit the patch, totaling 1.8 trillion pieces.[94]

Marine pollution is a generic term for the harmful entry into the ocean of chemicals or particles. The main culprits are those using the rivers for disposing of their waste.[95] The rivers then empty into the ocean, often also bringing chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals in the water leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.[96]

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has ended up floating in a lake, sea, ocean, or waterway. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter.[95]

In addition, the Pacific Ocean has served as the crash site of satellites, including Mars 96, Fobos-Grunt, and Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.

Nuclear waste

 
In 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Suga declined to drink the bottle of Fukushima's treated radioactive water that he was holding, which would otherwise be discharged to the Pacific.[97]

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.[98][99] Several nuclear weapons were lost in the Pacific Ocean,[100] including one-megaton bomb lost during the 1965 Philippine Sea A-4 incident.[101]

In 2021, the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean over a course of 30 years was approved by the Japanese Cabinet. The Cabinet concluded the radioactive water would have been diluted to drinkable standard.[102] Apart from dumping, leakage of tritium into the Pacific was estimated to be between 20 and 40 trillion Bqs from 2011 to 2013, according to the Fukushima plant.[103]

Major ports and harbors

Main article: List of ports and harbors of the Pacific Ocean

List of major ports

List of seas, gulfs and bays by surface area

List of islands in the Pacific

Main article: List of islands in the Pacific Ocean

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Barkley, Richard A. (1968). Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
  • prepared by the Special Publications Division, National Geographic Society. (1985). Blue Horizons: Paradise Isles of the Pacific. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society. ISBN 978-0-87044-544-6.
  • Cameron, Ian (1987). Lost Paradise: The Exploration of the Pacific. Topsfield, MA: Salem House. ISBN 978-0-88162-275-1.
  • Couper, A.D., ed. (1989). Development and Social Change in the Pacific Islands. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-00917-1.
  • Gilbert, John (1971). Charting the Vast Pacific. London: Aldus. ISBN 978-0-490-00226-5.
  • Igler, David (2013). The Great Ocean: Pacific Worlds from Captain Cook to the Gold Rush. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-991495-1.
  • Jones, Eric, Lionel Frost, and Colin White. Coming Full Circle: An Economic History of the Pacific Rim (Westview Press, 1993)
  • Lower, J. Arthur (1978). Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500–1978. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-0101-0.
  • Napier, W.; Gilbert, J.; Holland, J. (1973). Pacific Voyages. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-04335-9.
  • Nunn, Patrick D. (1998). Pacific Island Landscapes: Landscape and Geological Development of Southwest Pacific Islands, Especially Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. editorips@usp.ac.fj. ISBN 978-982-02-0129-3.
  • Oliver, Douglas L. (1989). The Pacific Islands (3rd ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1233-1.
  • Paine, Lincoln. The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World (2015).
  • Ridgell, Reilly (1988). Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia (2nd ed.). Honolulu: Bess Press. ISBN 978-0-935848-50-2.
  • Samson, Jane. British imperial strategies in the Pacific, 1750–1900 (Ashgate Publishing, 2003).
  • Soule, Gardner (1970). The Greatest Depths: Probing the Seas to 20,000 feet (6,100 m) and Below. Philadelphia: Macrae Smith. ISBN 978-0-8255-8350-6.
  • Spate, O.H.K. (1988). Paradise Found and Lost. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-1715-9.
  • Terrell, John (1986). Prehistory in the Pacific Islands: A Study of Variation in Language, Customs, and Human Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-30604-1.

Historiography

  • Calder, Alex, et al. eds. Voyages and Beaches: Pacific Encounters, 1769–1840 (U of Hawai‘i Press, 1999)
  • Davidson, James Wightman. "Problems of Pacific history." Journal of Pacific History 1#1 (1966): 5–21.
  • Dickson, Henry Newton (1911). "Pacific Ocean" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). pp. 434–441.
  • Dirlik, Arif. “The Asia-Pacific Idea: Reality and Representation in the Invention of a Regional Structure,” Journal of World History 3#1 (1992): 55–79.
  • Dixon, Chris, and David Drakakis-Smith. “The Pacific Asian Region: Myth or Reality?” Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 77#@ (1995): 75+
  • Dodge, Ernest S. New England and the South Seas (Harvard UP, 1965).
  • Flynn, Dennis O., Arturo Giráldez, and James Sobredo, eds. Studies in Pacific History: Economics, Politics, and Migration (Ashgate, 2002).
  • Gulliver, Katrina. "Finding the Pacific world." Journal of World History 22#1 (2011): 83–100. online
  • Korhonen, Pekka. "The Pacific Age in World History," Journal of World History 7#1 (1996): 41–70.
  • Munro, Doug. The Ivory Tower and Beyond: Participant Historians of the Pacific (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009).
  • "Recent Literature in Discovery History." Terrae Incognitae, annual feature in January issue since 1979; comprehensive listing of new books and articles.
  • Routledge, David. "Pacific history as seen from the Pacific Islands." Pacific Studies 8#2 (1985): 81+
  • Samson, Jane. "Pacific/Oceanic History" in Kelly Boyd, ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing vol 2. Taylor & Francis. pp. 901–02. ISBN 978-1-884964-33-6.
  • Stillman, Amy Ku‘uleialoha. “Pacific-ing Asian Pacific American History,” Journal of Asian American Studies 7#3 (2004): 241–270.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pacific Ocean.
 
Look up Pacific Ocean in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • on-line collection of observational data
  • plot and download ocean observations
  • NOAA TAO El Niño data Realtime Pacific Ocean El Niño buoy data
  • – Realtime (OSCAR) Near-realtime Pacific Ocean Surface Currents derived from satellite altimeter and scatterometer data

April 22, 2023
pacific, ocean, several, terms, redirect, here, other, uses, pacific, northwest, north, pacific, disambiguation, south, pacific, disambiguation, pacific, disambiguation, pacific, chocó, natural, region, largest, deepest, earth, five, oceanic, divisions, extend. Several terms redirect here For other uses see Pacific Northwest North Pacific disambiguation South Pacific disambiguation Pacific disambiguation and Pacific Choco natural region The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth s five oceanic divisions It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean or depending on definition to Antarctica in the south and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east Pacific OceanCoordinates0 N 160 W 0 N 160 W 0 160 Coordinates 0 N 160 W 0 N 160 W 0 160Surface area165 250 000 km2 63 800 000 sq mi Average depth4 280 m 14 040 ft Max depth10 911 m 35 797 ft Water volume710 000 000 km3 170 000 000 cu mi IslandsList of islandsSettlementsAcapulco Anadyr Anchorage Apia Auckland Brisbane Busan Buenaventura Callao Christchurch Concepcion Corinto Dunedin Esmeraldas Guayaquil Honolulu Hualien City Keelung Jayapura Lima Los Angeles Machala Magadan Makassar Manta Mazatlan Melbourne Naha New Taipei City Noumea Osaka Panama City Papeete Puerto San Jose San Francisco Bay Area San Diego Seattle Sendai Shizuoka City Sorsogon City Suva Sydney Tandag City Tijuana Tokyo Valparaiso Vancouver Victoria Vladivostok Wellington Whangarei Yokohama YokosukaAt 165 250 000 square kilometers 63 800 000 square miles in area as defined with a southern Antarctic border this largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere covers about 46 of Earth s water surface and about 32 of its total surface area larger than Earth s entire land area combined 148 000 000 km2 57 000 000 sq mi 1 The centers of both the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere as well as the oceanic pole of inaccessibility are in the Pacific Ocean Ocean circulation caused by the Coriolis effect subdivides it 2 into two largely independent volumes of water that meet at the equator the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean or more loosely the South Seas The Pacific Ocean can also be informally divided by the International Date Line into the East Pacific and the West Pacific which allows it to be further divided into four quadrants namely the Northeast Pacific off the coasts of North America the Southeast Pacific off South America Northwest Pacific off Far Eastern Asia and the Southwest Pacific around Oceania The Pacific Ocean s mean depth is 4 000 meters 13 000 feet 3 Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench located in the northwestern Pacific is the deepest known point in the world reaching a depth of 10 928 meters 35 853 feet 4 The Pacific also contains the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench at 10 823 meters 35 509 feet 5 The third deepest point on Earth the Sirena Deep is also located in the Mariana Trench The western Pacific has many major marginal seas including the Philippine Sea South China Sea East China Sea Sea of Japan Sea of Okhotsk Bering Sea Gulf of Alaska Mar de Grau Tasman Sea and the Coral Sea Contents 1 Etymology 2 Largest seas in the Pacific Ocean 3 History 3 1 Prehistory 3 2 Early migrations 3 3 European exploration 3 4 New Imperialism 4 Geography 4 1 Bordering countries and territories 4 1 1 Sovereign nations 4 1 2 Territories 4 2 Landmasses and islands 5 Water characteristics 6 Climate 7 Geology 7 1 Geological history 7 2 Seamount chains 8 Economy 8 1 Fishing 9 Environment 9 1 Nuclear waste 10 Major ports and harbors 10 1 List of major ports 11 List of seas gulfs and bays by surface area 12 List of islands in the Pacific 13 See also 14 References 15 Further reading 15 1 Historiography 16 External linksEtymology EditIn the early 16th century Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and sighted the great Southern Sea which he named Mar del Sur in Spanish Afterwards 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 He called it Mar Pacifico which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea 6 Largest seas in the Pacific Ocean Edit Picture of the Pacific Ocean taken from space by the Apollo 11 crew in July 1969 Top large seas 7 Australasian Mediterranean Sea 9 080 million km2 Philippine Sea 5 695 million km2 Coral Sea 4 791 million km2 Chilean Sea 3 6 million km2 South China Sea 3 5 million km2 Tasman Sea 2 3 million km2 Bering Sea 2 million km2 Sea of Okhotsk 1 583 million km2 Gulf of Alaska 1 533 million km2 East China Sea 1 249 million km2 Mar de Grau 1 14 million km2 Sea of Japan 978 000 km2 Solomon Sea 720 000 km2 Banda Sea 695 000 km2 Arafura Sea 650 000 km2 Timor Sea 610 000 km2 Yellow Sea 380 000 km2 Java Sea 320 000 km2 Gulf of Thailand 320 000 km2 Gulf of Carpentaria 300 000 km2 Celebes Sea 280 000 km2 Sulu Sea 260 000 km2 Bismarck Sea 250 400 km2 Gulf of Anadyr 200 000 km2 Molucca Sea 200 000 km2 Gulf of California 160 000 km2 Gulf of Tonkin 126 250 km2 Halmahera Sea 95 000 km2 Bohai Sea 78 000 km2 Gulf of Papua 70 400 km2 Koro Sea 58 000 km2 Bali Sea 45 000 km2 Savu Sea 35 000 km2 Seto Inland Sea 23 203 km2 Salish Sea 18 000 km2 Seram Sea 12 000 km2History EditPrehistory Edit Across the continents of Asia Australia and the Americas more than 25 000 islands large and small rise above the surface of the Pacific Ocean Multiple islands were the shells of former active volcanoes that have lain dormant for thousands of years Close to the equator through vast areas of blue ocean are a dot of atolls that have over intervals of time been formed by seamounts as a result of tiny coral islands strung in a ring within surroundings of a central lagoon Early migrations Edit Main articles Peopling of Southeast Asia and Austronesian peoples Model of a Fijian drua an example of an Austronesian vessel with a double canoe catamaran hull and a crab claw sail Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times Modern humans first reached the western Pacific in the Paleolithic at around 60 000 to 70 000 years ago Originating from a southern coastal human migration out of Africa they reached East Asia Mainland Southeast Asia the Philippines New Guinea and then Australia by making the sea crossing of at least 80 kilometres 50 mi between Sundaland and Sahul It is not known with any certainty what level of maritime technology was used by these groups the presumption is that they used large bamboo rafts which may have been equipped with some sort of sail The reduction in favourable winds for a crossing to Sahull after 58 000 B P fits with the dating of the settlement of Australia with no later migrations in the prehistoric period The seafaring abilities of pre Austronesian residents of Island South east Asia are confirmed by the settlement of Buka by 32 000 B P and Manus by 25 000 B P Journeys of 180 kilometres 110 mi and 230 kilometres 140 mi are involved respectively 8 The descendants of these migrations today are the Negritos Melanesians and Indigenous Australians Their populations in maritime Southeast Asia coastal New Guinea and Island Melanesia later intermarried with the incoming Austronesian settlers from Taiwan and the northern Philippines but also earlier groups associated with Austroasiatic speakers resulting in the modern peoples of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania 9 10 Map showing the migration of the Austronesian peoples A later seaborne migration is the Neolithic Austronesian expansion of the Austronesian peoples Austronesians originated from the island of Taiwan c 3000 1500 BCE They are associated with distinctive maritime sailing technologies notably outrigger boats catamarans lashed lug boats and the crab claw sail it is likely that the progressive development of these technologies were related to the later steps of settlement into Near and Remote Oceania Starting at around 2200 BCE Austronesians sailed southwards to settle the Philippines From probably the Bismarck Archipelago they crossed the western Pacific to reach the Marianas Islands by 1500 BCE 11 as well as Palau and Yap by 1000 BCE They were the first humans to reach Remote Oceania and the first to cross vast distances of open water They also continued spreading southwards and settling the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia reaching Indonesia and Malaysia by 1500 BCE and further west to Madagascar and the Comoros in the Indian Ocean by around 500 CE 12 13 14 More recently it is suggested that Austronesians expanded already earlier arriving in the Philippines already in 7000 BCE Additional earlier migrations into Insular Southeast Asia associated with Austroasiatic speakers from Mainland Southeast Asia are estimated to have taken place already in 15000 BCE 15 At around 1300 to 1200 BCE a branch of the Austronesian migrations known as the Lapita culture reached the Bismarck Archipelago the Solomon Islands Vanuatu Fiji and New Caledonia From there they settled Tonga and Samoa by 900 to 800 BCE Some also back migrated northwards in 200 BCE to settle the islands of eastern Micronesia including the Carolines the Marshall Islands and Kiribati mixing with earlier Austronesian migrations in the region This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion into Polynesia until around 700 CE when there was another surge of island exploration They reached the Cook Islands Tahiti and the Marquesas by 700 CE Hawaiʻi by 900 CE Rapa Nui by 1000 CE and finally New Zealand by 1200 CE 13 16 17 Austronesians may have also reached as far as the Americas although evidence for this remains inconclusive 18 19 European exploration Edit Main article Exploration of the Pacific Universalis Cosmographia also known as the Waldseemuller map dated 1507 was the first map to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans South America was generally considered the New World and shows the name America for the first time after Amerigo Vespucci The first contact of European navigators with the western edge of the Pacific Ocean was made by the Portuguese expeditions of Antonio de Abreu and Francisco Serrao via the Lesser Sunda Islands to the Maluku Islands in 1512 20 21 and with Jorge Alvares s expedition to southern China in 1513 22 both ordered by Afonso de Albuquerque from Malacca The eastern side of the ocean was encountered by Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached a new ocean 23 He named it Mar del Sur Sea of the South or South Sea because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific In 1520 navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first to cross the Pacific in recorded history They were part of a Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands that would eventually result in the first world circumnavigation Magellan called the ocean Pacifico or Pacific meaning peaceful because after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn the expedition found calm waters The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century 24 Magellan stopped at one uninhabited Pacific island before stopping at Guam in March 1521 25 Although Magellan himself died in the Philippines in 1521 Spanish navigator Juan Sebastian 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 26 Sailing around and east of the Moluccas between 1525 and 1527 Portuguese expeditions encountered the Caroline Islands 27 the Aru Islands 28 and Papua New Guinea 29 In 1542 43 the Portuguese also reached Japan 30 In 1564 five Spanish ships carrying 379 soldiers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and colonized the Philippines and Mariana Islands 31 For the remainder of the 16th century Spain maintained military and mercantile control with ships sailing from Mexico and Peru across the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines via Guam and establishing the Spanish East Indies The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco in one of the longest trade routes in history Spanish expeditions also arrived at Tuvalu the Marquesas the Cook Islands the Solomon Islands and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific 32 Later in the quest for Terra Australis the great Southern Land Spanish explorations in the 17th century such as the expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queiros arrived at the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos and sailed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea named after navigator Luis Vaz de Torres Dutch explorers sailing around southern Africa also engaged in exploration and trade Willem Janszoon made the first completely documented European landing in Australia 1606 in Cape York Peninsula 33 and Abel Janszoon Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and arrived at Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642 34 In the 16th and 17th centuries Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a mare clausum a sea closed to other naval powers As the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent the entrance of non Spanish ships On the western side of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines 35 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 Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada and Alaska The French explored and colonized Polynesia and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia Hawaii and the North American Pacific Northwest In 1768 Pierre Antoine Veron a young astronomer accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of exploration established the width of the Pacific with precision for the first time in history 36 One of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789 1794 It sailed vast areas of the Pacific from Cape Horn to Alaska Guam and the Philippines New Zealand Australia and the South Pacific 32 Made in 1529 the Diogo Ribeiro map was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration circa 1754 Maris Pacifici by Ortelius 1589 One of the first printed maps to show the Pacific Ocean 37 Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration circa 1702 1707New Imperialism Edit See also New Imperialism The bathyscaphe Trieste before her record dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench 23 January 1960 Abel Aubert du Petit Thouars taking over Tahiti on 9 September 1842 Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by European powers and later Japan and the United States Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s with Charles Darwin aboard 38 HMS Challenger during the 1870s 39 the USS Tuscarora 1873 76 40 and the German Gazelle 1874 76 41 In Oceania France obtained a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively 42 After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887 Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro negotiated the incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888 By occupying Easter Island Chile joined the imperial nations 43 53 By 1900 nearly all Pacific islands were in control of Britain France United States Germany Japan and Chile 42 Although the United States gained control of Guam and the Philippines from Spain in 1898 44 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 The Japanese ruled Northern Mariana Islands came under the control of the United States 45 Since the end of World War II many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states Geography Edit Sunset over the Pacific Ocean as seen from the International Space Station Tops of thunderclouds are also visible The island geography of the Pacific Ocean Basin The regions island nations and territories of Oceania The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas It may be further subdivided by the equator into northern North Pacific and southern South Pacific portions It extends from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north 1 The Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately one third of the Earth s surface having an area of 165 200 000 km2 63 800 000 sq mi larger than Earth s entire landmass combined 150 000 000 km2 58 000 000 sq mi 46 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 47 Its geographic center is in eastern Kiribati south of Kiritimati just west from Starbuck Island at 4 58 S 158 45 W 4 97 S 158 75 W 4 97 158 75 48 The lowest known point on Earth the Mariana Trench lies 10 911 m 35 797 ft 5 966 fathoms below sea level 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 1 Due to the effects of plate tectonics the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2 5 cm 1 in per year on three sides roughly averaging 0 52 km2 0 20 sq mi a year By contrast the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size 49 50 Along the Pacific Ocean s irregular western margins lie many seas the largest of which are the Celebes Sea Coral Sea East China Sea East Sea Philippine Sea Sea of Japan South China Sea South Sea Sulu Sea Tasman Sea and Yellow Sea West Sea of Korea The Indonesian Seaway including the Strait of Malacca and Torres Strait joins the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the west and Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east To the north the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean 51 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 52 The Southern Pacific Ocean harbors the Southeast Indian Ridge crossing from south of Australia turning into the Pacific Antarctic Ridge north of the South Pole and merges with another ridge south of South America to form the East Pacific Rise which also connects with another ridge south of North America which overlooks the Juan de Fuca Ridge 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 Many tropical storms batter the islands of the Pacific 53 The lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes 54 Tsunamis caused by underwater earthquakes have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed entire towns 55 The Martin Waldseemuller map of 1507 was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans 56 Later the Diogo Ribeiro map of 1529 was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size 57 Bordering countries and territories Edit Sovereign nations Edit Australia Brunei Cambodia Canada Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Ecuador El Salvador Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Guatemala Honduras Indonesia Japan Kiribati Malaysia Marshall Islands Mexico Nauru New Zealand Nicaragua North Korea Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Peru Philippines Russia Samoa Singapore Solomon Islands South Korea Taiwan Thailand Timor Leste Tonga Tuvalu United States Vanuatu Vietnam Territories Edit American Samoa US Baker Island US Clipperton Island France Cook Islands New Zealand Coral Sea Islands Australia French Polynesia France Guam US Hong Kong China Howland Island US Jarvis Island US Johnston Island US Kingman Reef US Macau China Macquarie Island Australia Midway Atoll US New Caledonia France Norfolk Island Australia Northern Mariana Islands US Niue New Zealand Palmyra Atoll US Pitcairn Islands UK Tokelau New Zealand Wallis and Futuna France Wake Island US Landmasses and islands Edit Main article Pacific Islands Tarawa Atoll in Kiribati The Pacific Ocean has most of the islands in the world There are about 25 000 islands in the Pacific Ocean 58 59 60 The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be divided into three main groups known as Micronesia Melanesia and Polynesia 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 61 62 Melanesia to the southwest includes New Guinea the world s second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago the Solomon Islands Santa Cruz Vanuatu Fiji and New Caledonia 63 The largest area Polynesia stretching from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south also encompasses Tuvalu Tokelau Samoa Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west the Cook Islands Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center and the Marquesas Islands Tuamotu Mangareva Islands and Easter Island to the east 64 Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types continental islands high islands coral reefs and uplifted coral platforms Continental islands lie outside the andesite line and include New Guinea the islands of New Zealand and the Philippines Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents High islands are of volcanic origin and many contain active volcanoes Among these are Bougainville Hawaii and the Solomon Islands 65 The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean s surface One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands Examples include Banaba formerly Ocean Island and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia 66 67 Ladrilleros Beach in Colombia on the coast of Choco natural region Tahuna maru islet French Polynesia Los Molinos on the coast of Southern ChileWater characteristics Edit Sunset in Monterey County California U S 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 68 Surface water temperatures in the Pacific can vary from 1 4 C 29 5 F the freezing point of seawater in the poleward areas to about 30 C 86 F near the equator 69 Salinity also varies latitudinally reaching a maximum of 37 parts per thousand in the southeastern area The water near the equator which can have a salinity as low as 34 parts per thousand is less salty than that found in the mid latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year The lowest counts of less than 32 parts per thousand are found in the far north as less evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas 70 The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere the North Pacific gyre and counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere 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 71 Turning eastward at about 45 N the Kuroshio forks and some water moves northward as the Aleutian Current while the rest turns southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current 72 The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms the base of a counter clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow south flowing California Current 73 The South Equatorial Current flowing west along the equator swings southward east of New Guinea turns east at about 50 S and joins the main westerly circulation of the South Pacific which includes the Earth circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current As it approaches the Chilean coast the South Equatorial Current divides one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current 74 Climate Edit Impact of El Nino and La Nina on North America Typhoon Tip at global peak intensity on 12 October 1979 The climate patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres generally mirror each other 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 75 In the tropical and subtropical Pacific the El Nino Southern Oscillation ENSO affects weather conditions 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 C 0 9 F above or below normal for that period then an El Nino or La Nina is considered in progress 76 In the tropical western Pacific the monsoon and the related wet season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian landmass 77 Worldwide tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer when the difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest however each particular basin has its own seasonal patterns On a worldwide scale May is the least active month while September is the most active month November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active 78 The Pacific hosts the two most active tropical cyclone basins which are the northwestern Pacific and the eastern Pacific 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 Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin where they occasionally impact island nations In the arctic icing from October to May can present a hazard for shipping while persistent fog occurs from June to December 79 A climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months 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 80 which records the coldest temperature readings on the planet 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 81 Geology EditMain articles Geology of the Pacific Ocean and Pacific Plate A Ring of Fire the Pacific is ringed by many volcanoes and oceanic trenches A stratovolcano in Ulawun on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea Mount St Helens in Skamania County Washington U S in 2020 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 To Magellan it seemed much more calm pacific than the Atlantic 82 The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific A petrologic boundary it separates the deeper mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins 83 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 84 85 The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico returning then to the islands off California Indonesia the Philippines Japan New Guinea and New Zealand lie outside the andesite line 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 Here basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs chains and clusters Outside the andesite line volcanism is of the explosive type and the Pacific Ring of Fire is the world s foremost belt of explosive volcanism 61 The Ring of Fire is named after the several hundred active volcanoes that sit above the various subduction zones The Pacific Ocean is the only ocean which is mostly bounded by subduction zones Only the Antarctic and Australian coasts have no nearby subduction zones Geological history Edit The Pacific Ocean was born 750 million years ago at the breakup of Rodinia although it is generally called the Panthalassa until the breakup of Pangea about 200 million years ago 86 The oldest Pacific Ocean floor is only around 180 Ma old with older crust subducted by now 87 Seamount chains Edit The Pacific Ocean contains several long seamount chains formed by hotspot volcanism These include the Hawaiian Emperor seamount chain and the Louisville Ridge Economy EditThe exploitation of the Pacific s mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean s great depths In shallow waters of the continental shelves off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand petroleum and natural gas are extracted and pearls are harvested along the coasts of Australia Japan Papua New Guinea Nicaragua Panama and the Philippines although in sharply declining volume in some cases 88 Fishing Edit Fish are an important economic asset in the Pacific The shallower shoreline waters of the continents and the more temperate islands yield herring salmon sardines snapper swordfish and tuna as well as shellfish 89 Overfishing has become a serious problem in some areas 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 90 Environment EditSee also Great Pacific garbage patch and Environmental impact of shipping Pacific Ocean currents have created three islands of debris 91 Marine debris on a Hawaiian coast in 2008 The quantity of small plastic fragments floating in the north east Pacific Ocean increased a hundredfold between 1972 and 2012 92 The ever growing Great Pacific garbage patch between California and Japan is three times the size of France 93 An estimated 80 000 metric tons of plastic inhabit the patch totaling 1 8 trillion pieces 94 Marine pollution is a generic term for the harmful entry into the ocean of chemicals or particles The main culprits are those using the rivers for disposing of their waste 95 The rivers then empty into the ocean often also bringing chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture The excess of oxygen depleting chemicals in the water leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone 96 Marine debris also known as marine litter is human created waste that has ended up floating in a lake sea ocean or waterway Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and coastlines frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter 95 In addition the Pacific Ocean has served as the crash site of satellites including Mars 96 Fobos Grunt and Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite Nuclear waste Edit In 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Suga declined to drink the bottle of Fukushima s treated radioactive water that he was holding which would otherwise be discharged to the Pacific 97 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 98 99 Several nuclear weapons were lost in the Pacific Ocean 100 including one megaton bomb lost during the 1965 Philippine Sea A 4 incident 101 In 2021 the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean over a course of 30 years was approved by the Japanese Cabinet The Cabinet concluded the radioactive water would have been diluted to drinkable standard 102 Apart from dumping leakage of tritium into the Pacific was estimated to be between 20 and 40 trillion Bqs from 2011 to 2013 according to the Fukushima plant 103 Major ports and harbors EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it December 2020 Main article List of ports and harbors of the Pacific Ocean List of major ports Edit Acapulco Auckland Bangkok Busan Callao Cebu City Dalian Guangzhou Haiphong Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Honolulu Johor Bahru Kaohsiung Keelung Long Beach Los Angeles Manila Melbourne Nagoya Nakhodka Oakland Osaka Panama City Portland San Diego San Francisco Seattle Shanghai Singapore Sydney Tianjin Tokyo Vancouver Vladivostok YokohamaList of seas gulfs and bays by surface area EditPhilippine Sea 5 695 000 km2 2 199 000 sq mi Coral Sea 4 791 000 km2 1 850 000 sq mi South China Sea 3 500 000 km2 1 400 000 sq mi Tasman Sea 2 300 000 km2 890 000 sq mi Bering Sea 2 000 000 km2 770 000 sq mi Sea of Okhotsk 1 583 000 km2 611 000 sq mi Gulf of Alaska 1 533 000 km2 592 000 sq mi East China Sea 1 249 000 km2 482 000 sq mi Sea of Japan 978 000 km2 378 000 sq mi Solomon Sea 720 000 km2 280 000 sq mi Arafura Sea 650 000 km2 250 000 sq mi Banda Sea 470 000 km2 180 000 sq mi Yellow Sea 380 000 km2 150 000 sq mi Gulf of Thailand 320 000 km2 120 000 sq mi Java Sea 320 000 km2 120 000 sq mi Gulf of Carpentaria 300 000 km2 120 000 sq mi Celebes Sea 280 000 km2 110 000 sq mi Sulu Sea 260 000 km2 100 000 sq mi Bismarck Sea 250 400 km2 96 700 sq mi Flores Sea 240 000 km2 93 000 sq mi Molucca Sea 200 000 km2 77 000 sq mi Gulf of Anadyr 200 000 km2 77 000 sq mi Gulf of California 160 000 km2 62 000 sq mi Gulf of Tonkin 126 250 km2 48 750 sq mi Halmahera Sea 95 000 km2 37 000 sq mi Bohai Sea 78 000 km2 30 000 sq mi Gulf of Papua 70 400 km2 27 200 sq mi Koro Sea 58 000 km2 22 000 sq mi Bali Sea 45 000 km2 17 000 sq mi Savu Sea 35 000 km2 14 000 sq mi Bohol Sea 29 000 km2 11 000 sq mi Seto Inland Sea 23 203 km2 8 959 sq mi Sibuyan Sea 22 400 km2 8 600 sq mi Seram Sea 12 000 km 7 500 mi Visayan Sea 11 850 km2 4 580 sq mi Gulf of Panama 2 400 km2 930 sq mi Manila Bay 2 000 km2 770 sq mi Tokyo Bay 1 500 km2 580 sq mi List of islands in the Pacific EditMain article List of islands in the Pacific OceanSee also EditAsia Pacific Economic Cooperation List of rivers of the Americas by coastline Pacific Ocean coast Pacific Alliance Pacific coast Pacific Time Zone Seven Seas Trans Pacific Partnership War of the Pacific Natural delimitation between the Pacific and South Atlantic oceans by the Scotia Arc Portals Oceans Environment Ecology Geography WeatherReferences Edit a b c Pacific Ocean Britannica Concise 2008 Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc The Coriolis Effect National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved 8 April 2022 Administration US Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric How big is the 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Approach for the Western Pacific Region from Species based Fishery Management Plans to Place based Fishery Ecosystem Plans Environmental Impact Statement Evanston IL Northwestern University p 60 a b Academic American encyclopedia Grolier Incorporated 1997 p 8 ISBN 978 0 7172 2068 7 Lal Brij Vilash Fortune Kate 2000 The Pacific Islands An Encyclopedia University of Hawaii Press p 63 ISBN 978 0 8248 2265 1 West Barbara A 2009 Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania Infobase Publishing p 521 ISBN 978 1 4381 1913 7 Dunford Betty Ridgell Reilly 1996 Pacific Neighbors The Islands of Micronesia Melanesia and Polynesia Bess Press p 125 ISBN 978 1 57306 022 6 Gillespie Rosemary G Clague David A 2009 Encyclopedia of Islands University of California Press p 706 ISBN 978 0 520 25649 1 Coral island Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 22 June 2013 Nauru Charting the Pacific Retrieved 22 June 2013 PWLF org The Pacific WildLife Foundation The Pacific Ocean Archived from the original on 21 April 2012 Retrieved 23 August 2013 Mongillo John F 2000 Encyclopedia of Environmental Science University Rochester Press p 255 ISBN 978 1 57356 147 1 Pacific Ocean Salinity Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 9 June 2013 Wind Driven Surface Currents Equatorial Currents Background Ocean Motion Retrieved 9 June 2013 Kuroshio Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 9 June 2013 Aleutian Current Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 9 June 2013 South Equatorial Current Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 9 June 2013 Pacific Ocean Islands Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 13 June 2013 Climate Prediction Center 30 June 2014 ENSO Recent Evolution Current Status and Predictions PDF National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pp 5 19 20 Retrieved 30 June 2014 Glossary of Meteorology 2009 Monsoon Archived 22 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine American Meteorological Society Retrieved on 16 January 2009 Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory Hurricane Research Division Frequently Asked Questions When is hurricane season National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved 25 July 2006 Pacific Ocean World Factbook CIA Retrieved 13 June 2013 John P Stimac Air pressure and wind Retrieved on 8 May 2008 Walker Stuart 1998 The sailor s wind W W Norton amp Company p 91 ISBN 978 0 393 04555 0 Turnbull Alexander 2006 Map New Zealand 100 Magnificent Maps from the Collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library Godwit p 8 ISBN 978 1 86962 126 1 Trent D D Hazlett Richard Bierman Paul 2010 Geology and the Environment Cengage Learning p 133 ISBN 978 0 538 73755 5 Lal Brij Vilash Fortune Kate 2000 The Pacific Islands An Encyclopedia University of Hawaii Press p 4 ISBN 978 0 8248 2265 1 Mueller Dombois Dieter 1998 Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands Springer p 13 ISBN 978 0 387 98313 4 GEOL 102 The Proterozoic Eon II Rodinia and Pannotia Geol umd edu 5 January 2010 Retrieved 31 October 2010 Mussett Alan E Khan M Aftab 2000 Looking into the Earth An Introduction to Geological Geophysics Cambridge University Press p 332 ISBN 978 0 521 78574 7 Pacific Ocean Fisheries Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 12 June 2013 Pacific Ocean Commerce and Shipping The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th edition Retrieved 14 June 2013 Pacific Ocean Threats amp Impacts Overfishing and Exploitation Archived May 12 2013 at the Wayback Machine Center for Ocean Solutions Retrieved 14 June 2013 Great Pacific Garbage Patch Marine Debris Division Office of Response and Restoration NOAA 11 July 2013 Archived from the original on 17 April 2014 Plastic waste in the North Pacific is an ongoing concern BBC 9 May 2012 Great Pacific Garbage Patch is massive floating island of plastic now 3 times the size of France ABC News 23 March 2018 Great Pacific garbage patch 16 times bigger than previously thought say scientists The Independent 23 March 2018 Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 a b Handwerk Brian 4 September 2009 Photos Giant Ocean Trash Vortex Documented A First National Geographic Archived from the original on 19 November 2010 Gerlach Marine Pollution Springer Berlin 1975 大月規義 3 November 2020 原発の処理水 菅首相 飲んでもいい 東電の説明は Prime Minister Suga asks if the treated radioactive water is drinkable Here is TEPCO s response Asahi Shimbun Marshall Islands marks 71 years since start of US nuclear tests on Bikini Radio New Zealand 1 March 2017 Lewis Renee 28 July 2015 Bikinians evacuated for good of mankind endure lengthy nuclear fallout Al Jazeera Thaler Andrew David 26 July 2018 How many nuclear weapons are at the bottom of the sea An almost certainly incomplete census of broken arrows over water Southern Fried Science Richard Halloran 26 May 1981 U S discloses accidents involving nuclear weapons The New York Times Fukushima Japan approves releasing wastewater into ocean BBC 13 April 2021 Hsu Jeremy 13 August 2013 Radioactive Water Leaks from Fukushima What We Know Scientific American Further reading EditBarkley Richard A 1968 Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean Honolulu University of Hawaii Press prepared by the Special Publications Division National Geographic Society 1985 Blue Horizons Paradise Isles of the Pacific Washington DC National Geographic Society ISBN 978 0 87044 544 6 Cameron Ian 1987 Lost Paradise The Exploration of the Pacific Topsfield MA Salem House ISBN 978 0 88162 275 1 Couper A D ed 1989 Development and Social Change in the Pacific Islands London Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 00917 1 Gilbert John 1971 Charting the Vast Pacific London Aldus ISBN 978 0 490 00226 5 Igler David 2013 The Great Ocean Pacific Worlds from Captain Cook to the Gold Rush New York Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 991495 1 Jones Eric Lionel Frost and Colin White Coming Full Circle An Economic History of the Pacific Rim Westview Press 1993 Lower J Arthur 1978 Ocean of Destiny A Concise History of the North Pacific 1500 1978 Vancouver University of British Columbia Press ISBN 978 0 7748 0101 0 Napier W Gilbert J Holland J 1973 Pacific Voyages Garden City NY Doubleday ISBN 978 0 385 04335 9 Nunn Patrick D 1998 Pacific Island Landscapes Landscape and Geological Development of Southwest Pacific Islands Especially Fiji Samoa and Tonga editorips usp ac fj ISBN 978 982 02 0129 3 Oliver Douglas L 1989 The Pacific Islands 3rd ed Honolulu University of Hawaii Press ISBN 978 0 8248 1233 1 Paine Lincoln The Sea and Civilization A Maritime History of the World 2015 Ridgell Reilly 1988 Pacific Nations and Territories The Islands of Micronesia Melanesia and Polynesia 2nd ed Honolulu Bess Press ISBN 978 0 935848 50 2 Samson Jane British imperial strategies in the Pacific 1750 1900 Ashgate Publishing 2003 Soule Gardner 1970 The Greatest Depths Probing the Seas to 20 000 feet 6 100 m and Below Philadelphia Macrae Smith ISBN 978 0 8255 8350 6 Spate O H K 1988 Paradise Found and Lost Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press ISBN 978 0 8166 1715 9 Terrell John 1986 Prehistory in the Pacific Islands A Study of Variation in Language Customs and Human Biology Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 30604 1 Historiography Edit Calder Alex et al eds Voyages and Beaches Pacific Encounters 1769 1840 U of Hawai i Press 1999 Davidson James Wightman Problems of Pacific history Journal of Pacific History 1 1 1966 5 21 Dickson Henry Newton 1911 Pacific Ocean Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 20 11th ed pp 434 441 Dirlik Arif The Asia Pacific Idea Reality and Representation in the Invention of a Regional Structure Journal of World History 3 1 1992 55 79 Dixon Chris and David Drakakis Smith The Pacific Asian Region Myth or Reality Geografiska Annaler Series B Human Geography 77 1995 75 Dodge Ernest S New England and the South Seas Harvard UP 1965 Flynn Dennis O Arturo Giraldez and James Sobredo eds Studies in Pacific History Economics Politics and Migration Ashgate 2002 Gulliver Katrina Finding the Pacific world Journal of World History 22 1 2011 83 100 online Korhonen Pekka The Pacific Age in World History Journal of World History 7 1 1996 41 70 Munro Doug The Ivory Tower and Beyond Participant Historians of the Pacific Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2009 Recent Literature in Discovery History Terrae Incognitae annual feature in January issue since 1979 comprehensive listing of new books and articles Routledge David Pacific history as seen from the Pacific Islands Pacific Studies 8 2 1985 81 online Samson Jane Pacific Oceanic History in Kelly Boyd ed 1999 Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing vol 2 Taylor amp Francis pp 901 02 ISBN 978 1 884964 33 6 Stillman Amy Ku uleialoha Pacific ing Asian Pacific American History Journal of Asian American Studies 7 3 2004 241 270 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pacific Ocean Look up Pacific Ocean in Wiktionary the free dictionary EPIC Pacific Ocean Data Collection Viewable on line collection of observational data NOAA In situ Ocean Data Viewer plot and download ocean observations NOAA PMEL Argo profiling floats Realtime Pacific Ocean data NOAA TAO El Nino data Realtime Pacific Ocean El Nino buoy data NOAA Ocean Surface Current Analyses Realtime OSCAR Near realtime Pacific Ocean Surface Currents derived from satellite altimeter and scatterometer data Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pacific Ocean amp oldid 1149334106, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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