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What’s in a Name?The Pacific Ocean was named by legendary navigator Ferdinand Magellan. A native of Portugal, Magellan renounced his loyalty to that nation after King Emanuel rejected Magellan’s petition for a post within the royal navy. Magellan then left for Spain, which agreed to support Magellan’s claim of a western route to the Spice Islands through a seaway near the southern tip of South America. On September 20, 1519, Magellan and a crew of 270 men set sail from Spain on their around-the-world voyage in five small vessels including his flagship Trinidad, Concepcion, San Antonio, Victoria, and Santiago. It took the fleet, or at least the three remaining ships in the fleet, 38 days to navigate the strait around South America that was to bear Magellan’s name. During the last week of November, the fleet emerged into what Magellan described as a “beautiful, peaceful ocean.” Thus, it was named the Pacific Ocean (“pacific” meaning “peaceful.”) Upon entering the Pacific Ocean, Magellan mistakenly thought the Spice Islands were only a short voyage away. Nearly four months later, in March 1521, he and his crew finally reached what is known today as the Philippines. A few weeks later, he was fatally wounded after becoming involved in a dispute between warring Philippine tribes. Only one ship, Victoria, and 18 of Magellan’s original crew members returned to Spain, thereby completing the first circumnavigation of the globe. Although Magellan’s route proved impractical for the spice trade, his voyage has been called the greatest single human achievement on the seas.
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Total Area:The Pacific Ocean covers more than a third of the Earth’s surface and containnns more than half of its water. It is the largest of the world’s oceans, followed by the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. It covers an area of about 165 million square kilometers (about 64 million square miles). It is larger than the total land area of the world and slightly less than 18 times the size of the United States. It extends approximately 15,500 kilometers (9,600 mi) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the icy margins of Ross Sea in Antarctica. It reaches its greatest width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches about 19,800 kilometers (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia. The western limit of the ocean is often placed at the Strait of Malacca. |
Depth:Its average depth is 4,270 meters (14,000 ft). It is home to the deepest known point in the ocean — the Mariana Trench off Guam — which plunges to a depth of about 11,000 meters (nearly 7 miles). |
Coastline & Land Masses:The Pacific Ocean is bordered by a coastline 135,663 km (84,300 mi) in length. The largest land mass in this ocean is the continent of Australia, which is about equal in size to the 48 contiguous states of the United States. About 3,200 kilometers (2,000) miles southeast of Australia is the large island group of New Zealand. There are almost 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. Almost all of the smaller islands lie between 30°N and 30°S latitude, extending from Southeast Asia to Easter Island. The rest of the Pacific Basin is almost devoid of land. |
Climate:Only the interiors of the large land masses of Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand escape the pervasive climatic influence of the Pacific. Within the Pacific area, five distinctive climate regions exist: the mid-latitude westerlies, the trades, the monsoon region, the typhoon region, and the doldrums. Mid-latitude westerly air streams occur in both northerly and southerly latitudes, bringing marked seasonal differences in temperature. Closer to the equator, where most of the islands lie, steady-blowing trade winds promote relatively constant temperatures throughout the year of 21–27°C (70–81° F). The monsoon region lies in the far western Pacific between Japan and Australia. Here, winds blow from the interior of the continents to the ocean in winter and in the opposite direction in summer. Consequently, a marked season of cloudiness and rainfall occurs. Typhoons often cause extensive damage in the west and southwest Pacific. The greatest typhoon frequency exists within the triangle from southern Japan to the central Philippines to eastern Micronesia. Although more poorly defined than the other climate regions, two major doldrum areas lie within the ocean — one located off the western shores of Central America and the other within the equatorial waters of the western Pacific. Both areas are noted for their high humidity, considerable cloudiness, light fluctuating winds, and frequent calms. |
Bottom Terrain: The
ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise,
which is a part of the worldwide Mid-Ocean Ridge system. About 3,000 km
(1,800 mi) across, the rise stands about 3 km (2 mi) above the adjacent
ocean floor. The western part of the Pacific Ocean floor consists of mountain
arcs that rise above the sea as island groups, such as the Solomon Islands
and New Zealand, and deep trenches, such as the Mariana Trench, the Philippine
Trench, and the Tonga Trench. Most of the deep trenches lie adjacent to
the outer margins of the wide western Pacific continental shelf. |
Natural resources:One of the Pacific Ocean’s greatest assets is fish, including herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, tuna, and shellfish. In 1996, over half (60%) of the world’s total fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Pearls also are harvested along Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines. Oil and gas, polymetallic nodules, and sand and gravel are currently among its most important mineral resources. |
Environment:This ocean’s endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales. Current major environmental issues include oil pollution in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea. In terms of natural hazards, it is surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity (“The Ring of Fire”). Southeast and east Asia are subject to typhoons from May to December, while hurricanes may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October. The southern shipping lanes are subject to icebergs from Antarctica. When the El Niño phenomenon occurs off the coast of Peru, 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, damaging local fishing economies and starving resident marine birds that rely on the fish for food. |
Ports:Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong, Los Angeles (U.S.), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (U.S.), Seattle (U.S.), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok (Russia), Wellington (New Zealand), Yokohama (Japan). |
Sources:CIA Fact Book: Pacific Ocean, Central Intelligence Agency (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/zn.html) |
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