Oceanography

Pacific Oceans

         

          The Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered and named the Pacific Ocean; “pacific” means peaceful. The pacific is the largest, coldest, and deepest of all oceans. It occupies about one-third of the total surface area of the earth and contains 696 million cubic kilometers volume of water. Most of the Pacific flow is very deep where average depth exceeds 5000 meters. The Pacific Ocean forms a circular-shaped basin. Along its periphery are numerous volcanoes, faults, and trenches that form the ring of fire. The western border of the Pacific is irregular and encompasses several marginal seas: the sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, the South China Sea, the Sea of the East Indian Archipelago, the Coral Sea, and the Tasman Sea. The seas are relatively much smaller and shallower bodies of salt water. The Bering Sea and the waters of Antarctic Ocean mark the north and south boundaries of the Pacific. Hundreds of scattered volcanic islands, including Hawaii are found in pacific ocean.