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Pasific Ocean |
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean in the world. In fact, the Pacific Ocean is still wider than all the land on earth.
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Gulf of Thailand, Pasific Ocean |
The Pacific Ocean covers 32% or one third of the earth's surface area. The area of the Pacific Ocean is estimated at 165,250,000 km² (without the South China Sea), which means that it is much wider than the entire landmass of the earth. The total land area of the earth is only about 148,000,000 km², which is about 17,250,000 km² less than the area of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean or Pacific Ocean covers about 46% of the surface area of water on planet earth.
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North Pasific Ocean |
There are some experts who think that the South China Sea is part of the Pacific Ocean. With the inclusion of the South China Sea as part of the Pacific Ocean, the area of the Pacific Ocean increases to 168,723,000 km². The Pacific Ocean is separated by the equator (equator), into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. The South Pacific Ocean is often referred to as the South Sea.
The Pacific Ocean stretches from north to south along 15,500 km from the Bering Sea in the north polar region to the northern boundary of the Antarctic Ocean (Southern Ocean). From east to west, the Pacific Ocean stretches for 19,800 km from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia.
The volume of the Pacific Ocean is estimated to be around 669.88 million km³, or about 50.1% of the volume of ocean water on earth. The widest and deepest ocean in the world has a coastline of 135,663 km.
Most of the islands in the world are in the Pacific Ocean, therefore the Pacific Ocean is the ocean that has the largest number of islands in the world. There are about 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean region. The islands can be divided into 3 main groups, namely Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia.
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Oceania |
Papua New Guinea, Honshu, Sulawesi, North Island, South Island, Luzon, Mindanao, Tasmania, Hokkaido, Sakhalin, Formosa, Kyushu, New Britain, Vancouver Island, Shikoku, Grande Terre, Palawan, Hawaii, Viti Levu and Solomon Islands, are some of the islands in the Pacific Ocean.
There are dozens of countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, namely; Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Timor Leste, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, USA, Canada, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Apart from being a sovereign state, there are dozens of territories or autonomous territories directly adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, namely; Hong Kong, Macau, American Samoa, Clipperton Island, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Island, Macquarie Island, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Tokelau, Pitcairn Islands , Wallis and Futuna, Wake Island, Palmyra Atoll, Kingman Reef, and Midway Atoll.
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Underwater of Pasific Ocean |
Apart from being the largest ocean in the world, the Pacific Ocean is also the deepest ocean in the world. The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is around 4,000 m - 4,200 m, while the maximum depth reaches 10,994 m.
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Challenger Deep in Mariana Trench |
The three deepest points in the ocean are all in the Pacific Ocean. The three deepest points are Challenger Deep and Sirena Deep which are located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and Horizon Deep at the bottom of the Tonga Trench.
Sirena Deep has a depth of 10,714 m, is the third deepest point in the world. Horizon Deep is the second deepest point in the world. Horizon Deep is located in the Tonga Trench, with a depth of about 10,823 m. The deepest point in the Pacific Ocean as well as the deepest sea point in the world is the Challenger Deep which is located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, with a depth of about 10,994 m.
Apart from the Mariana Trench and Tonga Trench, there are several other troughs or sea abysses at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, for example; Palau Trench, Philippine Trench, South New Hebrides Trench, Yap Trench, Peru - Chile Trench, Middle America Trench and Nansei Shoto Trench.
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Gulf of Alaska |
As a vast ocean, the Pacific Ocean has many marginal seas and bays. East China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea, Coral Sea, Yellow Sea, Arafuru Sea, Banda Sea, East Sea, Yellow Sea, Gulf of Tonkin, Gulf of Carpentaria, Gulf of Anadyr, Gulf of Papua and Gulf of Thailand, are part of the seas and bays that are part of the Pacific Ocean.
The surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean varies, in areas near the poles the water temperature can reach -1.4°C, while in the equatorial region, the temperature is much warmer, which is around 30°C. The salinity level of the Pacific Ocean also varies, which ranges from 32 to 37 parts per thousand.
Ferdinand Magellan, an explorer from Portugal, is the person who gave the name to the Pacific Ocean. During his journey in 1521, Magellan managed to reach the Pacific Ocean, which he called 'Mar Pacifico', which means 'Sea of Peace', in Spanish and Portuguese.
The first European explorers who managed to discover the Pacific Ocean were the people of Portugal (Portuguese) in 1512. The expedition that Antonio de Abreu and Francisco Serrao from Portugal managed to reach the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. They sailed past the Lesser Sunda islands to the Maluku islands, in Indonesia. The expedition received orders from Afonso de Albuquerque.
In 1513, the Spain (Spain) expedition led by Vasco Nunez de Balboa managed to reach the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean after crossing the Isthmus of Panama (Isthmus of Panama is a narrow land located between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, which connects North America and South), de Balboa called it Mar del Sur (Sea of the South).
Long before European explorers discovered the Pacific Ocean, the inhabitants of Asia and Oceania had explored the Pacific Ocean since 3,000 BC. The peoples of Asia and Oceania are known as skilled sailors since prehistoric times, who were not afraid of the dangers of exploring the vast seas.
The Pacific Ocean is famous for what is called the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is a kind of belt of very active volcanism, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions often occur. The Pacific Ocean Plate has a chain of 40,233.6 km of volcanism, which includes the Hawaiian Seamount Chain, Emperor Seamount Chain, Louisville Ridge, East Mariana Ridge, Lord Howe Seamount Chain, Tonga - Kermadec Ridge, Caroline Seamounts, and others.
The Pacific Ring of Fire is responsible for 90% of the world's earthquakes, and about 75% of volcanic activity. About 80% of tsunamis generated by volcanic and seismic activity also occur in the Pacific Ring of Fire zone.
In the Pacific Ocean region, tropical storms often form. Tropical cyclones usually develop in the Northwest Pacific and Northeast Pacific regions. Both areas are included in the '7 Tropical Cyclone Basins'. The Northwest Pacific region is the most active cyclone basin, while the Northeast Pacific region is in second place.
About a third of tropical cyclone activity occurs in the Pacific Northwest region. Sometimes a tropical cyclone will turn into a much stronger storm. Pacific storms often hit the regions of Mexico, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Guam, Palau, and others.
Hurricane Joan, Hurricane Ava, Hurricane Cesa, Hurricane Linda, Hurricane Guilermo, Hurricane Rick, Hurricane Patricia, Hurricane Pali, Hurricane Hali, Hurricane Agatha, Celia, Fabio, Isis, Ignacio, Isis, Marty, Nora, Olaf, Pauline, and Newton , is part of the hurricanes or tropical cyclones that form in the Pacific region.
The Pacific Ocean continues to experience shrinkage due to the movement of tectonic plates. Every year the Pacific Ocean basin shrinks by about 2.5 cm on three sides, meaning that this largest ocean loses about 0.5 km² of its area. The opposite occurs in the Atlantic Ocean which borders the Pacific Ocean. The second largest ocean in the world is actually expanding by 0.5 km² per year.