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Pacific Ocean Geography 1996
body of water between Antarctica, Asia, Australia, and the Western
Hemisphere
about 18 times the size of the US; the largest ocean (followed by the
Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean); covers about
one-third of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the
world
includes Bali Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea,
East China Sea, Flores Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Java Sea,
Philippine Sea, Ross Sea, Savu Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South
China Sea, Tasman Sea, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies
some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer
months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a
dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian land
mass back to the ocean
surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise,
warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern
Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific sea
ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern
Pacific sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October;
the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific
Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the
world's deepest, the 10,924 meter Marianas Trench
oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer
deposits, fish
endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals,
turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea
surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes
referred to as the Pacific Ring of Fire; subject to tropical cyclones
(typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent
from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of
Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most
common in August and September); southern shipping lanes subject to icebergs
from Antarctica; occasional El Nino phenomenon occurs off the coast of Peru
when the trade winds slacken and the warm Equatorial Countercurrent moves
south, killing the plankton that is the primary food source for anchovies;
consequently, the anchovies move to better feeding grounds, causing resident
marine birds to starve by the thousands because of their lost food source;
ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May
and in extreme south from May to October; persistent fog in the northern
Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December
international agreements:
the major choke points are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait,
and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the
North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral
islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean
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