Magellan discovered the Pacific Ocean in the fall of 1520 and named the ocean the Pacific Ocean, “because,” as one of the participants reports, during the passage from Tierra del Fuego to the Philippine Islands, more than three months, “we never experienced the slightest storm.” In terms of the number (about 10 thousand) and total area of islands (about 3.6 million km²), the Pacific Ocean ranks first among the oceans. In the northern part - Aleutian; in the west - Kuril, Sakhalin, Japanese, Philippine, Greater and Lesser Sunda, New Guinea, New Zealand, Tasmania; in the central and southern regions there are numerous small islands. The bottom topography is varied. In the east - the East Pacific Rise, in the central part there are many basins (North-Eastern, North-Western, Central, Eastern, Southern, etc.), deep-sea trenches: in the north - Aleutian, Kuril-Kamchatka, Izu-Boninsky; in the west - Mariana (with the maximum depth of the World Ocean - 11,022 m), Philippine, etc.; in the east - Central American, Peruvian, etc.
The main surface currents: in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean - warm Kuroshio, North Pacific and Alaskan and cold Californian and Kuril; in the southern part - the warm South Trade Wind and East Australian Wind and the cold Western Wind and Peruvian Wind. The water temperature on the surface at the equator is from 26 to 29 °C, in the polar regions up to −0.5 °C. Salinity 30-36.5 ‰. The Pacific Ocean accounts for about half of the world's fish catch (pollock, herring, salmon, cod, sea bass, etc.). Extraction of crabs, shrimps, oysters.
Important sea and air communications between the countries of the Pacific basin and transit routes between the countries of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans lie across the Pacific Ocean. Major ports: Vladivostok, Nakhodka (Russia), Shanghai (China), Singapore (Singapore), Sydney (Australia), Vancouver (Canada), Los Angeles, Long Beach (USA), Huasco (Chile). The International Date Line runs across the Pacific Ocean along the 180th meridian.
Plant life (except bacteria and lower fungi) is concentrated in the upper 200th layer, in the so-called euphotic zone. Animals and bacteria inhabit the entire water column and the ocean floor. Life develops most abundantly in the shelf zone and especially near the coast at shallow depths, where the temperate zones of the ocean contain a diverse flora of brown algae and a rich fauna of mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms and other organisms. In tropical latitudes, the shallow water zone is characterized by widespread and strong development of coral reefs, and mangroves near the shore. As we move from cold zones to tropical zones, the number of species increases sharply, and the density of their distribution decreases. About 50 species of coastal algae - macrophytes - are known in the Bering Strait, Japanese Islands- over 200, in the waters of the Malay Archipelago - over 800. In the Soviet Far Eastern seas known species animals - about 4000, and in the waters of the Malay Archipelago - at least 40-50 thousand. In the cold and temperate zones of the ocean, with a relatively small number of plant and animal species, due to the massive development of some species, the total biomass increases greatly; in the tropical zones, individual forms do not receive such a sharp predominance, although the number of species is very large.
As we move away from the coasts to the central parts of the ocean and with increasing depth, life becomes less diverse and less abundant. In general, the fauna of T. o. includes about 100 thousand species, but only 4-5% of them are found deeper than 2000 m. At depths of more than 5000 m, about 800 species of animals are known, more than 6000 m - about 500, deeper than 7000 m - slightly more than 200, and deeper than 10 thousand m - only about 20 species.
Among coastal algae - macrophytes - in temperate zones, fucus and kelp are especially notable for their abundance. In tropical latitudes they are replaced by brown algae - sargassum, green algae - caulerpa and halimeda and a number of red algae. The surface zone of the pelagic zone is characterized by the massive development of unicellular algae (phytoplankton), mainly diatoms, peridinians and coccolithophores. In zooplankton highest value have various crustaceans and their larvae, mainly copepods (at least 1000 species) and euphausids; there is a significant admixture of radiolarians (several hundred species), coelenterates (siphonophores, jellyfish, ctenophores), eggs and larvae of fish and benthic invertebrates. In T. o. It is possible to distinguish, in addition to the littoral and sublittoral zones, a transition zone (up to 500-1000 m), bathyal, abyssal and ultra-abyssal, or a zone of deep-sea trenches (from 6-7 to 11 thousand m).
Planktonic and bottom animals provide abundant food for fish and marine mammals (nekton). The fish fauna is exceptionally rich, including at least 2000 species in tropical latitudes and about 800 in the Soviet Far Eastern seas, where there are, in addition, 35 species of marine mammals. The most commercially important fish are: anchovies, Far Eastern salmon, herring, mackerel, sardine, saury, sea bass, tuna, flounder, cod and pollock; among mammals - sperm whale, several species of minke whales, fur seal, sea otter, walrus, sea lion; from invertebrates - crabs (including Kamchatka crab), shrimp, oysters, scallops, cephalopods and much more; from plants - kelp (sea kale), agarone-anfeltia, sea grass zoster and phyllospadix. Many representatives of the fauna of the Pacific Ocean are endemic (the pelagic cephalopod nautilus, most Pacific salmon, saury, greenling fish, northern fur seal, sea lion, sea otter, and many others).
The large extent of the Pacific Ocean from North to South determines the diversity of its climates - from equatorial to subarctic in the North and Antarctic in the South. Most of the ocean surface, approximately between 40° north latitude and 42° south latitude, is located in the equatorial, tropical and subtropical climate zones. Atmospheric circulation over the Pacific Ocean is determined by the main areas of atmospheric pressure: the Aleutian low, the North Pacific, the South Pacific and the Antarctic highs. These centers of atmospheric action in their interaction determine the great constancy of northeastern winds in the North and southeastern winds of moderate strength in the South - trade winds - in the tropical and subtropical parts of the Pacific Ocean and strong westerly winds in temperate latitudes. Particularly strong winds are observed in the southern temperate latitudes, where the frequency of storms is 25-35%, in the northern temperate latitudes in winter - 30%, in summer - 5%. In the West of the tropical zone, tropical hurricanes - typhoons - are frequent from June to November. The northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean is characterized by monsoon atmospheric circulation. The average air temperature in February decreases from 26-27 °C at the equator to –20 °C in the Bering Strait and –10 °C off the coast of Antarctica. In August, the average temperature varies from 26-28 °C at the equator to 6-8 °C in the Bering Strait and to –25 °C off the coast of Antarctica. Throughout the entire Pacific Ocean, located north of 40° south latitude, there are significant differences in air temperature between the eastern and western parts of the ocean, caused by the corresponding dominance of warm or cold currents and the nature of the winds. In tropical and subtropical latitudes, the air temperature in the East is 4-8 °C lower than in the West. In the northern temperate latitudes, the opposite is true: in the East the temperature is 8-12 °C higher than in the West. The average annual cloudiness in areas of low atmospheric pressure is 60-90%. high pressure - 10-30%. The average annual precipitation at the equator is more than 3000 mm, in temperate latitudes - 1000 mm in the West. and 2000-3000 mm in the East. The least amount of precipitation (100-200 mm) falls on the eastern outskirts of subtropical areas of high atmospheric pressure; in the western parts the amount of precipitation increases to 1500-2000 mm. Fogs are typical for temperate latitudes, they are especially frequent in the Kuril Islands area.
Under the influence of atmospheric circulation developing over the Pacific Ocean, surface currents form anticyclonic gyres in subtropical and tropical latitudes and cyclonic gyres in northern temperate and southern high latitudes. In the northern part of the ocean, the circulation is formed by warm currents: the North Trade Wind - Kuroshio and the North Pacific and cold California Current. In the northern temperate latitudes, the cold Kuril Current dominates in the West, and the warm Alaska Current dominates in the East. In the southern part of the ocean, the anticyclonic circulation is formed by warm currents: the South Trade Wind, East Australian, zonal South Pacific and cold Peruvian. North of the equator, between 2-4° and 8-12° northern latitude, northern and southern circulations are separated throughout the year by the Intertrade Wind (Equatorial) Countercurrent.
The average temperature of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean (19.37 °C) is 2 °C higher than the temperature of the waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, which is a result of the relatively large size of that part of the Pacific Ocean area that is located in well-warmed latitudes (over 20 kcal/cm2 per year ), and limited communication with the Arctic Ocean. The average water temperature in February varies from 26-28 °C at the equator to -0.5, -1 °C north of 58° north latitude, near the Kuril Islands and south of 67° south latitude. In August, the temperature is 25-29 °C at the equator, 5-8 °C in the Bering Strait and -0.5, -1 °C south of 60-62° south latitude. Between 40° south latitude and 40° north latitude, the temperature in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean is 3-5 °C lower than in the western part. North of 40° north latitude, the opposite is true: in the East the temperature is 4-7 °C higher than in the West. South of 40° south latitude, where zonal transport of surface water predominates, there is no difference between water temperatures in the East and West. In the Pacific Ocean there is more precipitation than evaporating water. Taking into account river flow, over 30 thousand km3 of fresh water enters here annually. Therefore, the salinity of surface waters is T. o. lower than in other oceans (average salinity is 34.58‰). The lowest salinity (30.0-31.0‰ and less) is observed in the West and East of the northern temperate latitudes and in the coastal areas of the eastern part of the ocean, the highest (35.5‰ and 36.5‰) - in the northern and southern subtropical latitudes, respectively. latitudes At the equator, water salinity decreases from 34.5‰ or less, in high latitudes - to 32.0‰ or less in the North, to 33.5‰ or less in the South.
The density of water on the surface of the Pacific Ocean increases fairly uniformly from the equator to high latitudes in accordance with general character distribution of temperature and salinity: at the equator 1.0215-1.0225 g/cm3, in the North - 1.0265 g/cm3 and more, in the South - 1.0275 g/cm3 and more. The color of the water in subtropical and tropical latitudes is blue, transparency in some places is more than 50 m. In the northern temperate latitudes, the color of the water is dark blue, along the coast it is greenish, transparency is 15-25 m. In Antarctic latitudes the color of the water is greenish, transparency is up to 25 m .
Tides in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean are dominated by irregular semidiurnal (height up to 5.4 m in the Gulf of Alaska) and semidiurnal (up to 12.9 m in Penzhinskaya Bay Sea of Okhotsk). The Solomon Islands and part of the coast of New Guinea have daily tides of up to 2.5 m. The strongest wind waves are observed between 40 and 60° south latitude, in latitudes where westerly storm winds dominate (the “roaring forties”), in the Northern Hemisphere - to the north 40° north latitude. The maximum height of wind waves in the Pacific Ocean is 15 m or more, length over 300 m. Tsunami waves are typical, especially often observed in the northern, southwestern and southeastern parts of the Pacific Ocean.
Ice in the North Pacific Ocean forms in seas with harsh winter conditions. climatic conditions(Bering, Okhotsk, Japanese, Yellow) and in the bays off the coast of Hokkaido, the Kamchatka and Alaska peninsulas. In winter and spring, ice is carried by the Kuril Current to the extreme northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Small icebergs are found in the Gulf of Alaska. In the South Pacific, ice and icebergs form off the coast of Antarctica and are carried into the open ocean by currents and winds. Northern border floating ice in winter it passes at 61-64° south latitude, in summer it shifts to 70° south latitude, icebergs at the end of summer are carried to 46-48° south latitude. Icebergs are formed mainly in the Ross Sea.
Pacific Ocean- the largest ocean on Earth.
The area with seas is 178.7 million km².
Volume 710 million km³.
Average depth 3980 m.
Maximum depth 11022 m
(Mariana Trench).
The Pacific Ocean occupies half of the Earth's total water surface, and more than thirty percent of the planet's surface area.
The International Date Line runs across the Pacific Ocean along the 180th meridian.
Relief
The bottom topography is varied. In the east - the East Pacific Rise, in the central part there are many basins (North-Eastern, North-Western, Central, Eastern, Southern, etc.), deep-sea trenches: in the north - Aleutian, Kuril-Kamchatka, Izu-Boninsky; in the west - Mariana (with the maximum depth of the World Ocean - 11,022 m), Philippine, etc.; in the east - Central American, Peruvian and others
In the Pacific Ocean, one can distinguish between littoral and subtidal zones, a transition zone (up to 500-1000 m), bathyal, abyssal and ultra-abyssal, or a zone of deep-sea trenches (from 6-7 to 11 thousand m).
Currents
The main surface currents: in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean - warm Kuroshio, North Pacific and Alaskan and cold Californian and Kuril; in the southern part - warm South Trade Winds, Japanese and East Australian and cold Western Winds and Peruvian. The water temperature on the surface at the equator is from 26 to 29 °C, in the polar regions up to −0.5 °C. Salinity 30-36.5 ‰.
Climate
In the Pacific Ocean, all climatic zones characteristic of the globe can be distinguished. Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn is the widest climatic zone - the equatorial belt. Throughout the year, the temperature here does not drop below 20 °C. Annual fluctuations in air temperature are small, and the annual precipitation exceeds 2000 mm. This region is characterized by frequent tropical cyclones. To the north and south of this zone are tropical climatic zones, then subtropical and temperate, adjacent to the polar zones. Antarctica has a significant influence on the temperature characteristics of ocean waters.
Flora and fauna
The Pacific Ocean is distinguished by its richest fauna, in the tropical and subtropical zones between the coasts of Asia and Australia (here vast areas are occupied by coral reefs and mangroves) common with the Indian Ocean. Endemics include nautilus mollusks, poisonous sea snakes and the only species of marine insects - the water strider of the genus Halobates. Of the 100 thousand animal species, 3 thousand are represented by fish, of which about 75% are endemic. The waters off the Fiji Islands are inhabited by numerous populations of sea anemones. Fish of the Pomacentridae family feel great among the burning tentacles of these animals. Mammals that live here include walruses, seals and sea otters, among others. The sea lion inhabits the coasts of the California Peninsula, the Galapagos Islands and Japan. Its body length reaches 2.5 m. These animals are easy to train, so they can often be seen in circuses and aquariums.
Economic significance
Pacific Ocean
Fishing
The North Pacific Ocean is rich in commercial fish (salmon, sardines, pollock, sea bass, herring, tuna and cod). The Pacific Ocean accounts for about 60% of the world's fish catch (mainly Japan, China, Russia, Peru, the USA and Thailand). Crab, shrimp, and oysters are harvested.
Transport routes
Important sea and air communications between the countries of the Pacific basin and transit routes between the countries of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans lie across the Pacific Ocean. The most important ocean routes lead from Canada and the United States to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China and the Philippines. Major ports: Vladivostok, Nakhodka (Russia), Shanghai (China), Singapore (Singapore), Sydney (Australia), Vancouver (Canada), Los Angeles, Long Beach (USA), Huasco (Chile).
Pacific Coast States
Minerals
The bottom of the Pacific Ocean hides rich deposits of various minerals. Titanium, zirconium, rare earth elements (scandium and lanthanides) are mined here, and the sands of the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Russia are rich precious stones. Oil and gas are produced on the shelves of China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. There are tin ores in the bottom sediments of the shelves of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand; In addition, the bottom of the Pacific Ocean is rich in polymetallic nodules. The UN International Maritime Organization is involved in the experimental exploitation of polymetallic nodules. In the Southeast Pacific Ocean, a site for future extraction of polymetallic ores has been identified (the Clarion-Clipperton zone between the Hawaiian Islands and North America with an area of 2 million km²). About 2 tons of nodules have already been extracted for experimental purposes.
Atlantic Ocean- the second largest ocean after the Pacific Ocean.
Area 91.4 million km²
The volume of water is 329.7 million km³
(25% of the volume of the World Ocean)
Average depth 3600 m
Greatest depth 8742 m
(Puerto Rico Trench)
Average annual salinity ≈35 ‰.
The name comes from the name of the Titan Atlas (Atlas) in Greek mythology or from the legendary island of Atlantis.
Seas and Gulfs
Seas -
Baltic, Northern, Mediterranean, Black, Sargasso, Caribbean, Adriatic, Azov, Balearic, Ionian, Irish, Marble, Tyrrhenian, Aegean.
Large bays -
Biscay, Guinean, Mexican, Hudsonian
Islands
Main islands: British, Iceland, Newfoundland, Greater and Lesser Antilles, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Falklands (Malvinas).
Currents
The main surface currents: warm North Trade Wind, Gulf Stream and North Atlantic, cold Labrador and Canary in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean; warm South Trade Winds and Brazil, cold Western Winds and Benguela in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean.
Atlantic coast states
Atlantic Ocean and its constituent seas wash the shores of 96 countries:
Abkhazia, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Great Britain, Venezuela, Gabon, Haiti, Guyana, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Germany, Honduras, Grenada, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic¹, Israel, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Latvia, Liberia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Mauritania, Malta, Morocco, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Nigeria, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Palestinian Authority, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Romania, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Syria, Slovenia, Suriname, USA, Sierra Leone, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Ukraine, Uruguay, Finland, France, Croatia, Montenegro, Chile, Sweden, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, South Africa, Jamaica.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic does not have state sovereignty and is not a subject of international law; its future is subject to settlement in accordance with relevant UN decisions.
Indian Ocean- the third largest ocean on Earth, covering about 20% of its water surface.
Area 76.2 million km2
Volume 210 million km3
In the north it is limited by Asia, in the west by the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, in the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands and Australia, in the south by Southern Ocean. The border between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans runs along the 20° meridian of eastern longitude, and between the Indian and Pacific Oceans runs along the 147° meridian of eastern longitude. The northernmost point of the Indian Ocean is located at approximately 30°N latitude in the Persian Gulf. The Indian Ocean is approximately 10,000 km wide between the southern points of Australia and Africa.
Climate
In this region there are four climatic zones elongated along parallels. The first, located north of 10° south latitude, is dominated by a monsoon climate with frequent cyclones moving towards the coasts. In summer, the temperature over the ocean is 28-32°C, in winter it drops to 18-22°C. The second zone (trade wind) is located between 10 and 30 degrees south latitude. Throughout the year, southeast winds blow here, especially strong from June to September. The average annual temperature reaches 25 °C. The third climate zone lies between the 30th and 45th parallel, in subtropical and temperate latitudes. In summer the temperature here reaches 10-22°C, and in winter - 6-17°C. Between 45 degrees south latitude and Antarctica lies the fourth zone of the subantarctic and Antarctic climate zones, which is characterized by strong winds. In winter, the temperature here ranges from −16 °C to 6 °C, and in summer - from −4 °C to 10 °C.
Economic significance
Indian Ocean
Fishing
The importance of the Indian Ocean for global fisheries is small: catches here account for only 5% of the total. The main commercial fish in the local waters are tuna, sardine, anchovy, several species of sharks, barracuda and stingrays; Shrimp, lobster and lobster are also caught here.
Transport routes
The most important transport routes in the Indian Ocean are routes from the Persian Gulf to Europe and North America, as well as from the Gulf of Aden to India, Indonesia, Australia, Japan and China.
Minerals
The most important mineral resources of the Indian Ocean are oil and natural gas. Their deposits are located on the shelves of the Persian and Suez Gulfs, in the Bass Strait, and on the shelf of the Hindustan Peninsula. Ilmenite, monazite, rutile, titanite and zirconium are exploited on the coasts of Mozambique, Madagascar and Ceylon. There are deposits of barite and phosphorite off the coast of India and Australia, and deposits of cassiterite and ilmenite are exploited on an industrial scale in the offshore zones of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Maritime transport is of paramount importance for the implementation of foreign economic (interstate, intercontinental) relations. It provides more than 4/5 of all international transport. They include a particularly large proportion of bulk cargo (oil, petroleum products, ores, coal, grain, etc.). But recently the share of container transportation of so-called general cargo (finished products and semi-finished products) has been increasing.
Backgammon with intercontinental, interstate transportation, maritime transport carries out large-scale transportation of goods by large and small cabotage within its country. Large cabotage is the navigation of ships between different ports (for example, Novorossiysk, Novorossiysk - Arkhangelsk); small cabotage - transportation between ports of the same sea (Novorossiysk - Tuapse).
In terms of cargo turnover (29 trillion t-km) and labor productivity, maritime transport significantly exceeds other modes of transport. The cost of transporting goods by sea is the lowest in transport. The most effective use of sea transport is when transporting goods over long distances. Maritime transportation in domestic communications is less efficient.
To carry out transportation, maritime transport has a complex diversified economy: fleet, seaports, ship repair yards, etc.
Maritime transportation services several tens of thousands of ships, with a total tonnage of more than 550 million gross registered tons (GRT). Of the total composition of the world merchant fleet, 1/3 of the ships are registered under the flags of industrialized countries, 1/3 also belong to shipping companies of developed countries countries, but flies under the “convenient” (cheap) flags of developing countries, less than 1/5 is the share of developing countries, the rest falls on the share of countries with economies in transition. The largest fleets are those of Panama (112 million gross reg tons), Liberia (50), Bahamas(30), (27), (26), Cyprus (23), (22), (22), Japan (17), China (15). However, world leadership is very conditional, since a significant share of their fleets is the property of Western European countries (including Germany), which use the flag of convenience policy to evade high taxes.
Approximately 40% of the world's fleet are tankers carrying out international transportation of oil and petroleum products.
The total number of seaports on Earth exceeds 2.2 thousand, but the so-called world ports, i.e. giant ports that annually transship more than 100 million tons of cargo 17 (see table). Sea ports with a cargo turnover of 50-100 million tons – 20; There are about fifty ports in the world with a cargo turnover of 20-50 million tons.
Largest seaports in the world
|
Port |
Country |
Freight turnover (million tons) |
|
Singapore |
Singapore |
325 |
|
Rotterdam |
320 |
|
|
New Orleans |
USA |
225 |
|
Shanghai |
China |
185 |
|
Hong Kong |
China |
175 |
|
Chiba |
Japan |
170 |
|
Houston |
USA |
160 |
|
Nagoya |
Japan |
155 |
|
Ulsan |
R.Korea |
150 |
|
Antwerp |
130 |
|
|
Long Beach |
USA |
125 |
|
Incheon |
R.Korea |
120 |
|
Busan |
R.Korea |
115 |
|
Yokohama |
Japan |
115 |
|
Kaohsiung |
115 |
|
|
Los Angeles |
USA |
115 |
|
Guangzhou |
China |
100 |
An analysis of the list of the world's largest ports shows that a significant part of them (11 out of 17 largest) are located in Asia. This indicates the growing role of the Asia-Pacific region in the world economy.
All major seaports are divided into two types: universal and specialized. Most of the world's ports are of a universal type. But along with universal ones, there are ports specialized for the export of oil (for example, Ras Tanura, Mina El Ahmadi, Hark, Tampico, Valdez), ore and coal (Tubaran, Richards Bay, Duluth, Port Cartier, Port Hedlen ), grain, timber and other cargo. Specialized ports are common mainly in developing countries. They are focused on loading goods that are the subject of export of a given country.
In the structure of world maritime transport V last decades changes were taking place: before the onset of the energy crisis, the main feature of these changes was an increase in the share of liquid cargo (oil, oil products and gas). Due to the crisis, their share began to decrease, while the share of dry cargo and general cargo (finished products and semi-finished products) increased. Although it should be noted that in general the volume of maritime transport, including petroleum products, is growing.
Main directions of sea transportation:
Among the ocean basins, the first place in terms of the volume of sea freight traffic is occupied by the Atlantic Ocean (1/2 of all sea freight), along the coast of which the largest seaports are located foreign Europe and America (2/3 of all ports). Several areas of maritime shipping have emerged:
- North Atlantic (the largest in the world), connecting Europe with North America.
- South Atlantic connecting Europe with South America.
- Western Atlantic, connecting Europe with Africa.
It ranks second in terms of maritime transport volume. It still lags far behind the Atlantic, but has the highest growth rates in cargo turnover. The potential of this ocean is very great. 30 countries with a population of 2.5 billion people reach its shores, many of which (Japan and the NIS countries) have high rates of economic development. There are many major ports of Japan located on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, South-East countries Asia Australia, USA and . The largest cargo flow here is between the USA and Japan.
The third place in terms of maritime traffic volume is occupied by the Indian Ocean, with 30 countries with a population of 1 billion people accessing its shores. The most powerful cargo flows here occur in the Persian Gulf region.
The geography of maritime transport is greatly influenced by the sea straits ((the most ships pass through it - 800 per day), Gibraltar (200 ships per day), Hormuz (100), Malacca (80), Bosphorus (40), Bab el- Mandeb, Dardanelles, Skagerrak, Polk, Bering, Mozambique, etc.), as well as sea shipping canals (Suez, Panama, Kiel).
Main directions of global cargo transportation:
Oil and petroleum products:
- from the Middle East to , USA and ;
- from the area Caribbean Sea to the USA and Western Europe.
- from Australia, South Africa, USA to Western Europe and Japan.
Iron Ore:
- from to Japan;
- from Australia to Western Europe and Japan.
Cereals:
- from the USA, Canada, Australia and to developing countries in Africa and Latin America.
Page 2 of 13
What is the Pacific Ocean? General characteristics and description of the Pacific Ocean.
What is the Pacific Ocean? General characteristics of the Pacific Ocean. Table.
|
Ocean name |
Pacific Ocean |
|
Pacific Ocean area: |
|
|
With the seas |
178.684 million km² |
|
Without seas |
165.2 million km² |
|
Average depth of the Pacific Ocean: |
|
|
With the seas |
|
|
Without seas |
|
|
Greatest depth |
10,994 m (Mariana Trench) |
|
Volume of water in the Pacific Ocean: |
|
|
With the seas |
710.36 million km 3 |
|
Without seas |
707.6 million km 3 |
|
Average temperature |
|
|
Salinity |
|
|
Width from west to east - from Panama to the east coast of Mindanao |
|
|
Length from north to south, from the Bering Strait to Antarctica |
|
|
Number of islands |
|
|
Animals (number of species) |
more than 100,000 |
|
Incl. fish species |
|
|
Incl. species of mollusks |
|
|
Types of algae |
|
What is the Pacific Ocean? Description of the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean on our planet, occupying almost a third of it. It accounts for 49.5% of the surface area of the World Ocean and 53% of the volume of its waters. The width of the ocean from west to east is 17,200 km, the length from north to south is 15,450 km. The area of the Pacific Ocean is 30 million square kilometers larger than the area of the entire landmass of the Earth.
The Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean on our planet. Its average depth is 3984 meters, and its greatest depth is 10,994 km (Mariana Trench or Challenger Deep).
The Pacific Ocean is the warmest ocean on our planet. Most of the ocean lies in warm latitudes, so the average temperature of its waters (19.37 ° C) is two degrees higher than the temperature of other oceans (with the exception of the Arctic).
Pacific Coast– the most densely populated territory of the Earth, about half of the population of our planet lives here in 50 states.
The Pacific Ocean has the greatest commercial importance Of all the reservoirs on the planet, about 60% of the world's fish catch is caught here.
The Pacific Ocean has the largest hydrocarbon reserves throughout the World Ocean - about 40% of all potential oil and gas reserves are located here.
The Pacific Ocean has the richest flora and fauna– Almost 50% of all living organisms in the World Ocean live here.
The Pacific Ocean is the wildest ocean on the planet– more than 80% of tsunamis are “born” here. The reason for this is large number underwater volcanoes.
The Pacific Ocean is of great transport importance- The most important transport routes pass here.
Discovery of the Pacific Ocean. Why is the ocean "Pacific"?
Why is the Pacific Ocean called "quiet"? After all, this is the most formidable of all the oceans on Earth: 80% of tsunamis originate here, the ocean is replete with underwater volcanoes, and is famous for catastrophic hurricanes and storms. It’s just ironic that the first European explorer and discoverer of the Pacific Ocean, Ferdinand Magellan, never encountered a storm during his three-month voyage. The ocean was quiet and gentle, for which it received its current name - “Quiet”.
By the way, Magellan was not the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. The first was the Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who explored the New World. He crossed the American continent and reached the coast of what he thought was the sea. He did not yet know that in front of him was the greatest ocean on Earth and gave it the name South Sea.
Boundaries and climate of the Pacific Ocean. What is the Pacific Ocean?
With land:
Western border of the Pacific Ocean: off the eastern coasts of Australia and Eurasia.
Eastern limit of the Pacific Ocean: off the western coasts of South and North America.
Northern limit of the Pacific Ocean: almost completely closed by land - Russian Chukotka and American Alaska.
Southern Pacific Rim: off the northern coast of Antarctica.
Borders of the Pacific Ocean. Map.
With other oceans:
Boundary of the Pacific Ocean with the Arctic Ocean: The border is drawn in the Bering Strait from Cape Dezhnev to Cape Prince of Wales.
Boundary of the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean: the border is drawn from Cape Horn along the meridian 68°04’ (67?) W. or at the shortest distance from South America to the Antarctic Peninsula through the Drake Passage, from Oste Island to Cape Sterneck.
Boundary of the Pacific Ocean with the Indian Ocean:
- south of Australia- along the eastern border of the Bass Strait to the island of Tasmania, then along the meridian 146°55’E. to Antarctica;
- north of Australia- between the Andaman Sea and the Strait of Malacca, further along the southwestern coast of the island of Sumatra, the Sunda Strait, the southern coast of the island of Java, the southern borders of the Bali and Savu seas, the northern border of the Arafura Sea, the southwestern coast of New Guinea and the western border of the Torres Strait.
Pacific climate. General characteristics and description of the Pacific Ocean.
Climate of the Pacific Ocean in parts.
The South Pacific is the coldest, as the water comes close to the shores of Antarctica. Here in winter the water is covered with ice.
The climate of the North Pacific is much milder. This is influenced by the fact that the Pacific Ocean from the north has virtually no contact with the cold Arctic Ocean, but is limited by land.
The western part of the Pacific Ocean is warmer than the eastern part.
In the tropical latitudes of the ocean, powerful hurricanes - typhoons - arise.
There are two zones where typhoons originate:
- east of the Philippines - the typhoon moves northwest and north through Taiwan, Japan and reaches almost the Bering Strait.
- off the coast of Central America.
The amount of precipitation fell unevenly over the surface of the big ocean planets.
- The greatest amount of precipitation (more than 2000 mm per year) is typical for the equatorial belt,
- The least amount of precipitation (less than 50 mm per year) is in the northern hemisphere off the coast of California, in the southern hemisphere off the coast of Chile and Peru.
Precipitation in the ocean generally prevails over evaporation, so the salinity of the water is somewhat lower than in other oceans.
Read more about the climate of the Pacific Ocean in the articles:
- Pacific climate. Cyclones and anticyclones. Baric centers.
Flora, fauna and economic importance of the Pacific Ocean. What is the Pacific Ocean?
The flora and fauna of the Pacific Ocean is incredibly diverse. About half of the living organisms of the entire World Ocean live here. This is due to the enormous size of the largest ocean on the planet and the diversity of natural conditions.
The largest number of species live in tropical and equatorial latitudes; in northern and temperate latitudes, species diversity is poorer, but here the number of individuals of each species is greater. For example, about 50 species of seaweed are found in the cold waters of the Bering Sea, and about 800 species are found in the warm waters of the Malay Archipelago. But the mass of algae in the Bering Sea is much greater than the total mass of aquatic plants in the Malay Archipelago.
The depths of the Pacific Ocean are also not lifeless. The animals that live here have an unusual body structure, many of them fluoresce, emitting light as a result chemical reactions. This device serves to scare away predators and attract prey.
In the Pacific Ocean lives:
- more than 850 species of algae;
- more than 100 thousand species of animals (of which over 3800 species of fish);
- more than 6 thousand species of mollusks;
- about 200 species of animals living at a depth of more than 7 thousand km;
- 20 species of animals living at a depth of more than 10 thousand km.
Economic importance of the Pacific Ocean - general characteristics and description of the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific coast, its islands and seas are developed extremely unevenly. The most developed industrial centers are coast of the USA, Japan and South Korea. The economies of Australia and New Zealand are also largely related to the development of the largest ocean on the planet.
The Pacific Ocean is of great importance in the life of mankind. as a source of food. It accounts for up to 60% of the world's fish catch. Commercial fishing is especially developed in tropical and temperate latitudes.
Across the Pacific important sea and air communications lie between the countries of the Pacific basin and transit routes between the countries of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
The Pacific Ocean is of great economic importance in terms of mining. Up to 40% of the potential oil and gas reserves of the World Ocean are located here. Currently, hydrocarbons are produced on the shelf of China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the United States of America (Alaska), Ecuador (Gulf of Guayaquil), Australia (Bass Strait) and New Zealand.
The Pacific Ocean also plays a very specific role in modern world: here in the southern part of the ocean there is a “cemetery” of failed spaceships.
Relief of the bottom, sea and islands of the Pacific Ocean. What is the Pacific Ocean?
The relief of the bottom of the Pacific Ocean - description and general characteristics of the Pacific Ocean.
The bottom of the largest ocean on the planet also has the most complex terrain. At the base of the ocean is the Pacific Plate. The following plates are adjacent to it: Nazca, Cocos, Juan de Fuca, Philippine, in the south - the Antarctic plate, and in the north - the North American plate. Such a large number of lithospheric plates leads to strong tectonic activity in the region.
At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, along the edges of the Pacific Plate, there is the so-called planet's "ring of fire". Earthquakes constantly occur here, volcanoes erupt, and tsunamis are born.
"Ring of Fire" of the planet.
The bottom of the Pacific Ocean is literally strewn single mountains of volcanic origin. On at the moment there are about 10,000 of them.
In addition, there is a difficult underwater mountain ridge system, the longest of which is located in the south and east of the ocean - this is the East Pacific Rise, which passes in the south into the South Pacific Ridge. This underwater ridge divides the Pacific Ocean into two asymmetrical parts - the vast western part, where warm currents predominate, and the small eastern part, where the cold Peruvian Current dominates.
Countless islands and archipelagos, formed as a result of volcanic activity, are combined into separate part light - Oceania.
The largest basins of the Pacific Ocean are: Chilean, Peruvian, Northwestern, Southern, Eastern, Central.
Pacific seas and coastline. What is the Pacific Ocean?
Almost all the seas of the Pacific Ocean are located on its northern and western outskirts - off the coast of Asia, Australia, and the Malay Archipelago. There is no ocean in the east large islands, nor the bays protruding deep into the land - coastline smooth. The exception is the Gulf of California, a semi-enclosed sea of the Pacific Ocean. Off the coast of Antarctica there is the only southern marginal sea of this ocean - the Ross Sea.
Pacific Islands.
In this article we looked at the description and general characteristics Pacific Ocean, answered the question: What is the Pacific Ocean? Read further:
Pacific Ocean waters: ocean water masses, ocean temperature, ocean salinity, ice formation and color of Pacific Ocean water.
According to accepted criteria, taking into account general and specific area-forming factors, S. V. Mikhailov identified four transport areas in the World Ocean.
1. The Atlantic transport region occupies the space between 60° N latitude. and 30° S It is characterized by favorable navigation conditions (non-freezing, relatively short length of sea routes, etc.), and a preference for predominantly developed countries. Within the region there are transatlantic routes connecting the coasts Western Europe and America, and pass meridional routes along the American, European and African coasts. The largest volumes of traffic are carried out between the ports of Europe and North America. The structure of cargo flows is dominated by oil, ore, coal, and general cargo. Passenger transportation is carried out mainly by air lines, which geographically coincide with ocean routes.
2. The Pacific transport region is limited by parallels of 40° N. latitude. and 50° S It lies in an ice-free region of the ocean, but in the southwest of its central part there are typhoons that complicate navigation. This area is characterized by long sea routes. They mainly connect Japan and the shores of Asia with the American and Australian coasts; communications between the ports of Asia and Australia are less developed. Freight flows are dominated by oil from the Indian Ocean to Japan, metal and industrial products from the United States to China and Southeast Asian countries. Equipment and instruments are sent from Japan, and raw materials are sent from the countries of Southeast Asia: ore, jute, rubber, etc. In the Pacific transport region, cargo exchange characteristic of the “developed countries - dependent countries” system prevails. This is explained by the fact that, on the one hand, developing countries are accessing it, and on the other, developed countries such as the USA and Australia. Passenger transportation is carried out mainly by Aeroflot via transoceanic and intercontinental air routes.
3. The Indian transport region is located approximately between the parallels of 15° N latitude. and 45° S and is characterized by favorable navigation conditions. This area has a very significant share of transit routes connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Partially they pass through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, partially around Africa. In addition, there are transoceanic routes from African countries to India, Indonesia, Australia, from India to the ports of the Australasian seas and to the shores of Australia. The most intense shipping is observed in the northern part of the Indian transport region, mainly along transit sea routes. The structure of cargo flows is determined by oil, non-ferrous metal ores, rubber, jute, rice, tea exported from the Indian Ocean countries, and industrial goods imported into them. Transit transportation includes raw materials and general cargo. In this transport area there are relatively great place occupy passenger traffic mainly on local lines in South Asian countries.
4. The Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea region occupies an intermediate position between the Atlantic and Indian transport regions. It is distinguished by a highly specialized oil transportation profile. Moreover, they have a one-way direction: the ports of the Persian Gulf are senders, the ports of the Mediterranean and Atlantic are the recipients of cargo. In addition to maritime transportation of oil, its transmission through oil pipelines laid along the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea is developed here. Due to the closed nature of the basin and its relatively small water area, the volume of transportation largely depends on the international situation in the region.