Pacific Ocean Essay, Research Paper

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean, the universe & # 8217 ; s largest H2O organic structure, occupies a 3rd of

the Earth & # 8217 ; s surface. Extending about 15,500 kilometers ( 9,600 myocardial infarction )

from the BERING SEA in the Arctic North to the icy borders of

Antarctica & # 8217 ; s Ross Sea in the South, the Pacific reaches its greatest

breadth at about 5 deg north latitude, where it stretches about

19,800 kilometer ( 12,300 myocardial infarction ) from Indonesia to the seashore of Colombia. The

western bound of the ocean is frequently placed at the Strait of Malacca. The

Pacific contains about 25,000 islands ( more than the entire figure in

the remainder of the universe & # 8217 ; s oceans combined ) , about all of which are found

South of the equator. The Pacific covers an country of 179.7 million sq kilometer

( 69.4 million sq myocardial infarction ) . The lowest known point on Earth, in the

MARIANAS TRENCH, lies within the Pacific.

Along the Pacific Ocean & # 8217 ; s irregular borders lie many seas, the largest

of which are the CELEBES SEA, CORAL SEA, East China Sea, Sea

of Japan, SULU SEA, and YELLOW SEA. The Strait of Malacca articulations

the Pacific and the Indian oceans on the West, and the Strait of

Magellan links the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the E.

OCEAN BOTTOM

The ocean floor of the cardinal Pacific basin is comparatively unvarying, with a average deepness of about 4,270 m ( 14,000 foot ) . The major

abnormalities in the country are the highly steep-sided, flat-topped pigboat extremums known as SEAMOUNTS. The western portion of the

floor consists of mountain discharge that rise above the sea as island groups, such as the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, and deep

trenches, such as the Marianas Trench, the Philippine Trench, and the Tonga Trench. Most of the deep trenches lie next to the

outer borders of the broad western Pacific continental shelf.

Along the eastern border of the Pacific basin is the East Pacific Rise, which is a portion of the world-wide mid-oceanic ridge. About

3,000 kilometer ( 1,800 myocardial infarction ) across, the rise stands about 3 kilometers ( 2 myocardial infarction ) above the next ocean floor. Because a comparatively little land country

drains into the Pacific, and because of the ocean & # 8217 ; s huge size, most deposits are authigenic or oceanic in beginning. Authigenic

deposits include montmorillonite and phillipsite. Oceanic deposits derived from saltwater include oceanic ruddy clays and the skeletal

remains of sea life. Terrigenous deposits are confined to contract fringy sets near to land.

WATER CHARACTERISTICS

Water temperatures in the Pacific vary from stop deading in the poleward countries to about 29 deg C ( 84 deg F ) near the equator. Salt

besides varies latitudinally. Water near the equator is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial

precipitation throughout the twelvemonth. Poleward of the temperate latitudes salt is besides low, because small vaporization of saltwater

takes topographic point in these countries.

The surface circulation of Pacific Waterss is by and large clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern

Hemisphere. The North Equatorial Current, driven westward along latitude 15 deg North by the trade air currents, turns north near the

Philippines to go the warm Kuroshio, or Japan, Current. Turning eastward at approximately 45 deg north, the Kuroshio forks and some

Waterss move northerly as the ALEUTIAN CURRENT, while the remainder bend due south to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The

Aleutian Current subdivisions as it approaches North America and forms the base of a counterclockwise circulation in the Bering Sea.

Its southern arm becomes the slow, south-flowing California Current.

The South Equatorial Current, fluxing west along the equator, swings southward E of New Guinea, turns east at approximately 50 deg

south latitude, and joins the chief western circulation of the Southern Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar

Current. As it approaches the Chilean seashore, the South Equatorial Current divides ; one subdivision flows around Cape Horn and the other

bends north to organize the Peru, or Humboldt, Current.

Climate

Merely the insides of the big land multitudes of Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand escape the permeant climatic influence of the

Pacific. Within the country of the Pacific, five distinctively different climatic parts exist: the mid-latitude westerlies, the trades, the

monsoon part, the typhoon part, and the stagnation. Mid-latitude western air watercourses occur in both northwards and southward

latitudes, conveying marked seasonal differences in temperature. Closer to the equator, where most of the islands lie, steadily blowing

trade air currents allow for comparatively changeless temperatures throughout the twelvemonth of 21-27 deg C ( 70-81 deg F ) .

The monsoon part lies in the far western Pacific between Japan and Australia. Characteristic of this climatic part are winds that

blow from the Continental inside to the ocean in winter and in the opposite way in summer. Consequently, a pronounced seasonality

of cloud cover and rainfall occurs. Typhoons frequently cause extended harm in the West and southwest Pacific. The greatest typhoon

frequence exists within the trigon from southern Japan to the cardinal Philippines to eastern Micronesia. Although more ailing

defined than the other climatic parts, two major doldrum countries lie within the ocean, one located off the western shores of Central

America and the other within the equatorial Waterss of the western Pacific. Both countries are noted for their high humidness, considerable

cloud cover, light fluctuating air currents, and frequent composures.

Geology

The Andesite Line is the most important regional differentiation in the Pacific. It separates the deeper, basic pyrogenic stone of the Central

Pacific Basin from the partly submerged Continental countries of acidic pyrogenic stone on its borders. The Andesite Line follows the

western border of the islands off California and base on ballss south of the Aleutian discharge, along the eastern border of the Kamchatka Peninsula,

the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand. The unsimilarity continues northeastward

along the western border of the Albatross Cordillera alo

ng South America to Mexico, returning so to the islands off California.

Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand & # 8211 ; all eastward extensions of the Continental blocks of Australia and

Asia & # 8211 ; lie outside the Andesite Line.

Within the closed cringle of the Andesite Line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and pelagic volcanic

islands that characterize the Central Pacific Basin. It is here that basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to construct immense dome-shaped

volcanic mountains whose eroded acmes signifier island discharge, ironss, and bunchs. Outside the Andesite Line, volcanism is of the

explosive type, and the alleged Pacific rim of fire is the universe & # 8217 ; s foremost belt of explosive volcanism.

Landmass

The largest land mass in the Pacific is the continent of Australia, which is about equal in size to the 48 immediate U.S.

provinces. About 3,200 kilometers ( 2,000 myocardial infarction ) sou’-east of Australia is the big island group of New Zealand. Almost all of the smaller islands

of the Pacific prevarication between 30 deg North and 30 deg south latitude, widening from Southeast Asia to Easter Island ; the remainder of the

Pacific Basin is about devoid of land. The great trigon of Polynesia linking Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand

encompasses the island discharge and bunchs of the Cook, Marquesas, Samoa, Society, Tokelau, Tonga, and Tuamotu islands. North of

the equator and West of the international day of the month line are the legion little islands of Micronesia, including the Caroline Islands, the

Marshall Islands, and the Mariana Islands. In the southwesterly corner of the Pacific lie the islands of Melanesia, dominated by New

Guinea. Other of import island groups of Melanesia include the Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands,

and Vanuatu. 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. These islands are structurally associated with the nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic beginning, and many

contain active vents. Among these are Bougainville, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands.

The 3rd and 4th types of islands are both the consequence of coralline island edifice. Coral reefs are low-lying constructions that have built

up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean & # 8217 ; s surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great BARRIER REEF off northeasterly

Australia. A 2nd island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is normally somewhat larger than the low coral

islands. Examples include Banaba ( once Ocean Island ) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of Gallic Polynesia.

HISTORY AND ECONOMY

Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times, most notably those of Polynesians from Tahiti to Hawaii and

New Zealand. The ocean was sighted by Europeans early in the sixteenth century, foremost by Vasco Nunez de Balboa ( 1513 ) and so by

Ferdinand Magellan, who crossed the Pacific during his circumnavigation ( 1519-22 ) . For the balance of the sixteenth century Spanish

influence was paramount, with ships sailing from Spain to the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Solomons. During the seventeenth century

the Dutch, sailing around southern Africa, dominated find and trade ; Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered ( 1642 ) Tasmania and

New Zealand. The eighteenth century marked a explosion of geographic expedition by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, the Gallic in

Polynesia, and the British in the three ocean trips of James Cook & # 8211 ; to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American

Pacific Northwest.

Turning imperialism during the nineteenth century resulted in the business of much of the Pacific by the Western powers. Significant

parts to oceanographic cognition were made by the ocean trips of the H.M.S. Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin

on board ; the H.M.S. Challenger during the 1870s ; the U.S.S. Tuscarora ( 1873-76 ) ; and the German Gazelle ( 1874-76 ) . Although the

United States took the Philippines in 1898, Japan controlled the western Pacific by 1914. By the terminal of World War II the U.S. Pacific

Fleet was the practical maestro of the ocean.

Fourteen independent states are located in the Pacific: Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Tuvalu, Western Samoa,

Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. Eight of these states have achieved

full independency since 1960, and the islands once within the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands have redefined their

relationships with the United States. Besides within the Pacific are the U.S. province of Hawaii and several island districts and

ownerships of Australia, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The development of the Pacific & # 8217 ; s mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean & # 8217 ; s great deepnesss. In shallow Waterss off the seashore of Australia,

crude oil and natural gas are extracted, and pearls are harvested along the seashores of Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea,

Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines, although in aggressively worsening volume. The Pacific & # 8217 ; s greatest plus is its fish. The shoreline

Waterss of the continents and the more temperate islands yield herring, salmon, pilchards, center, swordfish, and tuna, every bit good as

shellfish. In 1986, the member states of the South Pacific Forum declared the country a nuclear-free zone in an attempt to hold atomic

proving and forestall the dumping of atomic waste at that place.

Bibliography: Barkley, R.A. , Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean ( 1969 ) ; Cameron, I. , Lost Paradise ( 1987 ) ; Couper, A. ,

Development in the Pacific Islands ( 1988 ) ; Crump, D.J. , ed. , Blue Horizons ( 1980 ) ; Gilbert, John, Charting the Vast Pacific ( 1971 ) ;

Lower, J. Arthur, Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500-1978 ( 1978 ) ; Oliver, D.L. , The Pacific Islands, 3d erectile dysfunction.

( 1989 ) ; Ridgell, R. , Pacific Nations and Territories, 2d erectile dysfunction. ( 1988 ) ; Soule, Gardner, The Greatest Depths ( 1970 ) ; Spate, O.H. ,

Paradise Found and Lost ( 1988 ) ; Terrell, J.E. , Prehistory in the Pacific Islands ( 1986 ) .

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