Post amazing facts about the Pacific Ocean. Interesting facts about the Pacific Ocean. Natural resources and environmental issues in the Pacific

Pacific Ocean- the largest of all existing on our planet. However, it does not live up to its name at all. The ocean is not known for its calm disposition. It is here that the largest number of storms and storms originate. A significant number occur in the ocean. That is, the name is somewhat exaggerated and does not at all correspond to the real character of the natural reservoir. In this article we will reveal about the Pacific Ocean and tell you where it got such a strange name.

Name

The Pacific Ocean got its name from Magellan. During the journey, the navigator was lucky enough not to notice any waves, storms, or other unpleasant phenomena that occur far from the shore. At the same time, Magellan crossed the Pacific Ocean in 3 months and 20 days. And all this time the waters were calm. It was one of those rare periods that fishermen can only dream of.

The Pacific Ocean was originally called the "South Sea". The name was given to him by the navigator Vasco Nunez de Balboa. The traveler was looking for a place that has access to the sea. Together with his team, he crossed the Panama Channel at its narrowest point and thus ended up in the Pacific Ocean. The navigator immediately declared that the reservoir belonged to the kingdom. At the same time, he could not even imagine that he had found himself in the waters of the most majestic ocean.

On Russian maps the Pacific Ocean was called a sea until the revolution.

History of the Pacific

The Pacific Ocean arose more than 750 million years ago. It was formed as a result of the collapse of the ancient continent of Rodinia. Initially, there was only one huge ocean, which was called Mirovia.

The Pacific Ocean is home to the largest mollusks on Earth, from which the largest pearls are extracted. The size of one shell can reach up to 200 centimeters, weight – up to 300 kilograms.

The largest chain of coral islands on Earth is located in the Pacific Ocean. This is the Great Barrier Reef.

The largest tides occur in the Pacific Ocean. Water level differences are 9 meters and sometimes more.

The deepest place on our planet, the Mariana Trench, is located in the Pacific Ocean. Its bottom is 11,000 meters below sea level. Also in the ocean, the depth of which is about 10,000 kilometers. Despite the enormous depth, in the failures. According to scientists, in these places, which are not found in any other part of the Earth. It is believed that it was the great depth and temperature of the water that helped them survive the Ice Age.

Features of the Pacific Ocean

The date line passes through the waters of the Pacific Ocean. That is, in its western and eastern parts there are different times and, as a consequence, different numbers.

In addition to time, the composition of the water also varies. In mid-latitudes it is much saltier than in the equator region. This is due to the significant amount of precipitation.

The Pacific Ocean is rich not only in wildlife, but also in natural resources. It contains about 40% of reserves and gas. Moreover, most of the deposits have not even been explored.

On average, the depth of the Pacific Ocean is about 4300 meters.

Some more interesting facts about the Pacific Ocean

In the South Pacific Ocean there is a real ship graveyard at the bottom. True, not sea, but space. It is in this area that such objects are most often flooded. There are no shipping routes in the south. Therefore, the probability of a space object hitting a sea vessel is reduced to almost zero.

In the Pacific Ocean, however, they are completely hidden under water. There are about 10,000 peaks in the ocean. Some of them are of volcanic nature.

In the Pacific Ocean are the Imperial Mountains. Its size is about 1500 kilometers.

Algae whose length exceeds 200 meters have been found in the Pacific Ocean. And their size is constantly increasing.

More than 90% of salmon species live in the Pacific Ocean. However, their catch is most often limited at the legislative level. Most species are on the verge of extinction.

More than 1,000 species of crustaceans can be found in the Pacific Ocean. These include creatures of enormous size.

At the beginning of the last century, a cable was laid along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, the length of which was about 13 thousand kilometers. This is the first such communication wire designed to transmit messages.

The shape of the Pacific Ocean is similar to a triangle. The narrowest part is located in the north. To the south the reservoir expands. This is evidenced by photographs taken in space.

The Pacific Ocean washes the coastlines of 43 countries. Some of them are islands.

People have descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench only 3 times. One of the daredevils was the famous director James Cameron.

Floating garbage islands in the Pacific Ocean are formed as a result of circular currents, of which there are many in the ocean.

The Pacific Ocean is the warmest of all.

In the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, they are perfectly adjacent to each other and even intersect. This leads to funny situations. For example, at the end of the last century, a cargo ship sank in the ocean. It hit the . The ship was loaded with toys. As a result of the crash, plastic products washed up on the shores of Japan and even Alaska. The distance between the toys was thousands of kilometers.

The Pacific Ocean is one of the favorite places for surfers. Athletes choose it because of the high height of the waves and their sufficient quantity. Calm there is a rare occurrence.

It is believed that the first person to visit the Pacific Ocean on a ship was Magellan . In 1520 he rounded South America and saw new expanses of water. Since during the entire journey Magellan’s team did not encounter a single storm, then new ocean called " Quiet".

But even earlier, in 1513, the Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa headed south from Colombia to a place where, as he was told, there was a rich country with a large sea. Having reached the ocean, the conquistador saw an endless expanse of water stretching to the west, and called it " South Sea".

Animal world

The ocean is famous for its rich flora and fauna. It is home to about 100 thousand species of animals. Such diversity is not found in any other ocean. For example, the second largest ocean by area is inhabited by “only” 30 thousand species of animals.

There are several places in the Pacific Ocean where the depth exceeds 10 km. This is the famous Kermadec and Tonga depressions. Scientists were able to describe 20 species.

Half of all seafood consumed by humans is caught in the Pacific Ocean. Among the 3 thousand species of fish, industrial-scale fishing is open for herring, mackerel, etc.

Climate

The large extent of the ocean from north to south quite logically explains the diversity of climatic zones - from equatorial to Antarctic. The most extensive zone is the equatorial one. Throughout the year, the temperature here does not drop below 20 degrees. Temperature fluctuations throughout the year are so small that we can safely say that it is always +25 there. There is a lot of precipitation, more than 3,000 mm. in year. Characterized by very frequent cyclones.

The amount of precipitation is greater than the amount of water evaporating. Rivers that bring more than 30 thousand m³ into the ocean annually fresh water, do surface water less salty than other oceans.

Relief of the bottom and islands of the Pacific Ocean

The bottom topography is extremely varied. Located in the east East Pacific Rise, where the terrain is relatively flat. In the center there are basins and deep-sea trenches. The average depth is 4,000 m, and in some places exceeding 7 km. The bottom of the center of the ocean is covered with products of volcanic activity with high contents of copper, nickel and cobalt. The thickness of such deposits in some areas can be 3 km. The age of these rocks begins with the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

At the bottom there are several long chains of seamounts formed as a result of the action of volcanoes: d ora of the Emperor, Louisville and the Hawaiian islands. There are about 25,000 in the Pacific Ocean. This is more than in all other oceans combined. Most of them are located south of the equator.

Islands are classified into 4 types:

1. Continental Islands. Very closely related to the continents. Include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand and the Philippines;
2. High Islands. Appeared as a result of underwater volcanic eruptions. Many of the modern high islands have active volcanoes. For example Bougainville, Hawaii and Solomon Islands;
3. Coral raised platforms;

The last two types of islands are huge colonies of coral polyps, forming and.

• This ocean is so huge that its maximum width is equal to half the earth's equator, i.e. more than 17 thousand km.
• Animal world large and varied. Even now, new animals unknown to science are regularly discovered there. So, in 2005, a group of scientists discovered about 1000 species of decapod cancer, two and a half thousand mollusks and more than a hundred crustaceans.
• The deepest point on the planet is in the Pacific Ocean at. Its depth exceeds 11 km.
• The highest mountain in the world is located on Hawaiian Islands. It is called Muana Kea and is extinct. The height from base to top is about 10,000 m.
• Located on the ocean floor Pacific Volcanic Ring of Fire, which is a chain located along the perimeter of the entire ocean.

The largest and most majestic ocean on the planet, which is no different calm character. The name “Quiet” was given to it by the greatly mistaken Ferdinand Magellan, who during his journey did not observe any storms or any other excesses.

If we take the entire water surface of the Earth as 100%, the Pacific Ocean will occupy almost half of this amount - 46%. For comparison: the share of the Indian Ocean is only 20%. And if we conditionally unite all the earth’s land into one continent, its area will be less than the area of ​​the Pacific Ocean.

The deepest point on the planet, the famous Mariana Trench, is an impressive place. If you imagine this depression as a mountain of equivalent height, it would rise higher than Everest. It is known that at least 20 species of oceanic animals live and thrive at the bottom of the depression. The average depth of the ocean is also impressive, almost 4300 m.

In addition to the Mariana Trench, there are several other points in the ocean with a depth of about 10 thousand km. These are the Tonga and Kermadec depressions, as well as the Philippine Trench.

The Pacific Ocean also leads in the number of islands located in it. There are more than 25 thousand of them in total. The other three oceans combined cannot boast of such an amount.

The entire area of ​​the Pacific Ocean is divided into western and eastern. The western one is adjacent to Asia, the eastern one is adjacent to America.

When viewed from space, the Pacific Ocean resembles a triangle.

The time of the “official” discovery of the Pacific Ocean was the beginning of the 16th century. It was then that the Spaniard Vasco de Balboa was first struck by its greatness and power.

The unyielding nature of the ocean is evidenced by the fact that earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur more often in its area than in any other place in the world. Seismically turbulent areas frame the Pacific Ocean almost entirely. On flooded and already dormant volcanoes, atolls are formed - islands based on corals.

The flora and fauna of the ocean are rich and varied. More than 100,000 species of animals call it home. This is three times the "population" of the Atlantic Ocean. There are more than a thousand species and subspecies of decapod crayfish alone.

Many underwater mountain ranges in the Pacific Ocean were formed as a result of volcanic eruptions. Thus, in particular, the Emperor Mountains appeared, representing a whole range.

The longest chain of coral islands, the Great Barrier Reef, is also located in the Pacific Ocean. It encircles the northeast coast of Australia.

Alas, some islands of the Pacific Ocean are not formed as a result of natural phenomena. In its northern waters grow so-called “garbage islands”, the basis of which is unrecycled waste - mainly plastic bottles.

Truly gigantic tsunamis are formed in the Pacific Ocean. The average speed of destructive waves can be about 750 kilometers per hour.

If all the water of the Pacific Ocean is distributed evenly over the surface of the planet, it will cover it completely, and the thickness of the water layer will exceed 2700 m.

One of the shipwrecks that occurred in 1992 in the Pacific Ocean greatly helped scientists in studying its currents. A Hong Kong ship sailing to the United States and loaded to the brim with plastic toys never made it to the States after being caught in a severe storm. But artificial turtles, beavers, frogs and the famous yellow ducks swam to different parts of the Earth, including Hawaii, Japan and Alaska.

The Pacific Ocean is also famous for its highest tides. Off the Korean coast, water can rise to 9 meters in height.

Surfers respect the Pacific Ocean for the height of its waves.

The most unusual monetary unit in the world was discovered on the islands of the Pacific Ocean - stone rings more than two meters high. Each of them reaches a weight of 15 tons. If you come to the island group of Yap and want to sell something there, it will be very problematic to transport such revenue for the goods. Unless it will be possible to stand next to her...

The vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean amaze the imagination. It is amazing that once fearless sailors dared to cross them on sailing ships, not knowing whether they would ever see land again, or whether they were destined to disappear on this endless water surface. And even now, despite the rapid development of science, the Pacific depths are still practically unexplored.

Facts about the Pacific Ocean

• Its area is approximately 10 times the area of ​​Russia.
• The first person to cross the Pacific Ocean was Ferdinand Magellan. During the entire voyage, which lasted almost 4 months, he never observed destructive storms, so he called the ocean Pacific. As it turned out, it was in vain - storms rage here much more often than in the Indian or Atlantic oceans (facts about Magellan).
• The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is almost 4 kilometers.
• One of its outdated names, now not officially used, is the Great.
• The waters of the Pacific Ocean wash the shores of 43 states.
• This is where the deepest place on Earth is located - the Mariana Trench, the bottom of which lies 10,994 meters below sea level. Man visited it only three times, and one of the brave explorers who went down there alone was director James Cameron, creator of Avatar, Titanic and the first two Terminators.
• Pacific waters make up more than 50% of the world's oceans.
• The Pacific Ocean covers a third of the Earth's surface (Earth Facts).
• There are about 25 thousand islands in its vastness, which is more than in any other ocean or sea. This is even more than the total number of islands in the rest of the oceans.
• The speed of tsunami waves in the Pacific Ocean can reach 700-800 km/h (tsunami facts).
• Due to circular currents, entire floating islands of garbage gather in its center. The largest garbage patch consists of approximately 100 million tons of garbage, and its area is between 0.4 and 0.8% of the area of ​​the Pacific Ocean.

• The largest mollusks in the world are found here, reaching a weight of 300 kg.
• More than 100 thousand species of living creatures live in the Pacific waters.
• Tides on the shores of the Pacific Ocean in some places, for example, off the coast of Korea, reach a height of 9 meters. These are the highest tides in the world.
• At its bottom are the Imperial Mountains - a huge mountain range stretching for 1,500 kilometers (mountain facts).
• The Pacific Ocean is the warmest of all.
• About 95% of all salmon fish in the world are found in its waters.
• In its widest part, the distance between the banks exceeds 19,800 kilometers.
• About a third of all explored underwater oil and natural gas fields are located in the Pacific Ocean.
• It accounts for 46% of the total water surface of our planet.
• There are more than a thousand species of crayfish here.
• The total area of ​​the Pacific Ocean is approximately 30 million kilometers larger than the total area of ​​all land.
• More than 10 thousand mountain peaks rise from its bottom, mostly extinct volcanoes.
• Some Pacific algae grow 180-200 meters in length.
• In the Pacific Ocean is the Great Barrier Reef, the world's longest chain of coral islands, 900 kilometers long.

It would seem that the Pacific Ocean should be serene, but in fact it is not calm at all - storms often rage here. The name was given by Ferdinand Magellan, who for three months did not encounter a storm, all the time observing the relatively calm surface of the water. The area is 180 million square kilometers, which is about 30 percent of the earth's surface or half the area of ​​all the oceans and more than the area of ​​all land combined. The extreme points - the Malacca Peninsula and Panama are located at a distance of 24 thousand kilometers from each other, this is more than half the circumference of the globe.

Peculiarities

The Pacific Ocean is by no means a calm place. Strong hurricanes sweep over the water. Tsunamis caused by earthquakes form waves that rush towards the coast at a speed of almost a thousand kilometers per hour, causing enormous destruction.

Tsunami in Japan

Europeans discovered the Pacific Ocean later than other oceans. It was visited almost simultaneously by the indigenous inhabitants of Europe from two sides - from the west in 1512 by the Portuguese Serrana and Di Abreu, and from the east in 1513 by the Spaniard Nunez de Balboa, who crossed the Isthmus of Panama.

The water level of the Pacific Ocean is higher than in neighboring oceans; in such vast spaces, the law of vessels that communicate with each other does not work.

The perimeter of the Pacific Ocean is the line where tectonic plates collide, this is the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, this name was given due to the many active volcanoes. This dangerous area is rife with earthquakes, which often cause tsunamis. Only the South Pacific is a relatively calm place.

In ancient times, people plied the ocean surface on fairly simple ships. This was proven by Thor Heyerdahl, who sailed on rafts made of Balsa wood from the coast of Peru to the Tuamotu archipelago. The end points were 7,000 kilometers apart, and the voyage itself took more than three months.

Large waves that form in different places are suitable for surfing.

On the island of Yap you can see the largest monetary units - these are stone rings, the diameter of some of them exceeds two meters. People do not move them from place to place, but knock out the name of the new owner in front of witnesses, erasing the name of the old one.

Interesting facts about the Pacific Ocean - records. This is a very deep body of water - the average depth is about four kilometers, and there is the deepest place on Earth - the Mariana Trench, which is more than 11 kilometers deep. Of course, there are many interesting facts about such a significant place on the planet. There is also the Tonga Trench, which is only 200 meters shallower than the Mariana Trench and is the deepest place in the southern hemisphere. The third deepest place on Earth is located near the Philippine Islands, its depth is more than 10 kilometers. The Tonga Trench is connected to the Kermadec Trench with a depth of just over 10 kilometers, this is the fourth deepest place in the Pacific Ocean.

There are many islands here - more than ten thousand (according to some data - about 25 thousand), according to this parameter it is a record holder. This a large number of The islands are explained by volcanic activity in this region - some islands arose from lava, others (for example, atolls) are the tops of volcanic cones. Some islands arose on shallows and are of coral origin.

In Micronesia there are the Mariana Islands, which have a very warm climate - the air temperature is about 30 degrees Celsius, the water temperature is about 25 degrees Celsius. Moreover, temperature fluctuations are minimal - in 1934 the most a big difference between the coldest and warmest day of the year, it was 12 degrees Celsius.

There are many shells in which pearls are found. The largest pearl was found off the island of Palawan (Philippines). She weighed more than six kilograms, with a length of 24 and a width of 16 centimeters.

The Pacific Ocean is associated with warmth and palm trees. But here there is a northern ice cover, which forms in the Sea of ​​Japan, Bering, and Okhotsk, as well as a southern one, which forms near Antarctica. Icebergs that float on the sea never cross the equator, and always belong to the part of the hemisphere in which they formed.

In Korea, tides reach a height of 9 meters.

Animal and plant life

There is as much biomass (plants and animals) here as in all other oceans combined. This is due not only to its large size, but also to the fact that there are many more species here in the tropical part than in the same climatic conditions in other parts of the world. In total, there are about 100 thousand animals living in water in this region.

The largest tridacna lives near the equator, weighing up to four hundred kilograms. It poses a danger to divers, because a large shell with its doors can squeeze the hand of a careless or overly curious underwater diver.

In the recent past, sea cows lived on the Commander Islands, which were first discovered by Bering in 1741. These animals lived in these territories even before the appearance of humans. But when hunters appeared, these sirenian mammals were completely exterminated within a few decades.

The International Date Line, which runs approximately along the 180th meridian, divides time into two days. That is, on the two sides of this conditional line there are different dates.

In the deep depressions there is very strong water pressure and almost complete darkness. But life thrives here, with many deep-sea fish glowing in the dark. This deep-sea world has been little studied. Almost every time scientific vehicles descend to great depths, new species of living beings are discovered.

To the northeast of Australia is the Great Barrier Reef. This is the largest landform on the planet that was created by living beings. In addition to many reefs, about a thousand atolls rise on the ocean surface here - low coral islands that are shaped like a ring. This shape is explained by the fact that the cone of an extinct volcano is surrounded by a coral reef in a circle.

The Pacific Ocean is the most tourist place on earth, where locals relax and millions of tourists from all over the world come here. There are many ship routes and air routes here. It is very important to preserve the ecology of this place, since its large size does not at all mean that this place is protected from harmful influence person. After all, in the northern part of the water area there is a large garbage patch - human-made waste is carried here by the current. The pollution is very uneven, so its area cannot be accurately determined, but this stain on the water surface (and on a person’s reputation) is very large - from one to one hundred million square kilometers. You can observe so-called garbage islands hundreds of kilometers in diameter.