Complex physical and geographical characteristics of the Pacific Ocean. Characteristics of the Pacific Ocean

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PACIFIC OCEAN, the largest reservoir in the world, whose area is estimated at 178.62 million km 2, which is several million square kilometers more than the land area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe earth and more than twice the area of ​​​​the Atlantic Ocean. The width of the Pacific Ocean from Panama to the eastern coast of Mindanao Island is 17,200 km, and the length from north to south, from the Bering Strait to Antarctica, is 15,450 km. It extends from the western coasts of North and South America to the eastern coasts of Asia and Australia. From the north, the Pacific Ocean is almost completely closed by land, connecting with the Arctic Ocean through the narrow Bering Strait (minimum width 86 km). In the south, it reaches the coast of Antarctica, and in the east, its border with the Atlantic Ocean is drawn along 67 ° W. - meridian of Cape Horn; in the west, the border of the South Pacific Ocean with the Indian Ocean is drawn along 147 ° E, corresponding to the position of Cape Southeast in southern Tasmania.

Regionalization of the Pacific Ocean.

Usually the Pacific Ocean is divided into two regions - North and South, bordering on the equator. Some specialists prefer to draw the boundary along the axis of the equatorial countercurrent, i.e. approximately 5°N Previously, the waters of the Pacific Ocean were more often divided into three parts: northern, central and southern, the boundaries between which were the Northern and Southern tropics.

Separate parts of the ocean, located between islands or land ledges, have their own names. The largest water areas of the Pacific Basin include the Bering Sea in the north; the Gulf of Alaska in the northeast; the bays of California and Tehuantepec in the east, off the coast of Mexico; Gulf of Fonseca off the coast of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, and somewhat to the south - the Gulf of Panama. There are only a few small bays off the west coast of South America, such as Guayaquil off the coast of Ecuador.

In the western and southwestern parts of the Pacific Ocean, numerous large islands separate many inter-island seas from the main water area, such as the Tasman Sea southeast of Australia and the Coral Sea off its northeast coast; the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria north of Australia; the Banda Sea north of Timor Island; the Flores Sea north of the island of the same name; the Java Sea to the north of Java Island; the Gulf of Thailand between the peninsulas of Malacca and Indochina; Bakbo Bay (Tonkinsky) off the coast of Vietnam and China; Macassar Strait between the islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi; the Moluccas and Sulawesi seas, respectively, to the east and north of the island of Sulawesi; finally, the Philippine Sea to the east of the Philippine Islands.

A special area in the southwest of the northern half of the Pacific Ocean is the Sulu Sea within the southwestern part of the Philippine archipelago, which also has many small bays, inlets and semi-enclosed seas (for example, the Sibuyan Sea, Mindanao Sea, Visayan Sea, Manila Bay, Lamon Bay and Leite). Off the eastern coast of China are the East China and Yellow Seas; the latter forms two bays in the north: Bohaiwan and West Korean. The Japanese Islands are separated from the Korea Peninsula by the Korea Strait. In the same northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean, several more seas stand out: the Inland Sea of ​​Japan among the southern Japanese islands; the Sea of ​​Japan to their west; to the north - the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, connected with the Sea of ​​Japan by the Tatar Strait. Further north, immediately south of the Chukotka Peninsula, is the Gulf of Anadyr.

The greatest difficulty is the drawing of the border between the Pacific and Indian Oceans in the region of the Malay Archipelago. None of the proposed boundaries could satisfy botanists, zoologists, geologists and oceanologists at the same time. Some scientists consider the so-called dividing line. the Wallace line through the Makassar Strait. Others propose drawing the border across the Gulf of Thailand, the southern part of the South China Sea and the Java Sea.

Coastal characteristics.

The shores of the Pacific Ocean vary so much from place to place that it is difficult to single out any common features. With the exception of the extreme south, the Pacific coast is framed by a ring of dormant or occasionally active volcanoes, known as the Ring of Fire. Most of the coasts are formed by high mountains, so that the absolute elevations of the surface change sharply at close distances from the coast. All this testifies to the presence of a tectonically unstable zone along the periphery of the Pacific Ocean, the slightest movement within which causes strong earthquakes.

In the east, the steep slopes of the mountains approach the very coast of the Pacific Ocean or are separated from it by a narrow strip of coastal plain; such a structure is characteristic of the entire coastal zone, from the Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska to Cape Horn. Only in the extreme north does the Bering Sea have low-lying shores.

In North America, isolated depressions and passages occur in the coastal mountain ranges, but in South America the majestic Andes chain forms an almost continuous barrier along the entire length of the mainland. The coastline here is quite flat, and bays and peninsulas are rare. In the north, the Puget Sound and San Francisco bays and the Strait of Georgia are most deeply cut into the land. On most of the South American coastline, the coastline is flattened and almost nowhere forms bays and bays, with the exception of Guayaquil Bay. However, in the extreme north and extreme south of the Pacific Ocean, there are areas very similar in structure - the Alexander Archipelago (southern Alaska) and the Chonos Archipelago (off the coast of southern Chile). Both areas are characterized by numerous islands, large and small, with steep shores, fjords and fjord-like straits that form secluded bays. The rest of the Pacific coast of North and South America, despite its great length, presents only limited opportunities for navigation, since there are very few convenient natural harbors, and the coast is often separated by a mountain barrier from the interior of the mainland. In Central and South America, mountains make it difficult to communicate between west and east, isolating a narrow strip of the Pacific coast. In the north Pacific, the Bering Sea is ice-bound for most of the winter, while the coast of northern Chile is desert for a considerable length; this area is known for its deposits of copper ore and sodium nitrate. Areas located in the extreme north and extreme south of the American coast - the Gulf of Alaska and the vicinity of Cape Horn - have gained notoriety for their stormy and foggy weather.

The western coast of the Pacific Ocean differs significantly from the eastern one; the shores of Asia have many bays and inlets, in many places forming an unbroken chain. There are numerous ledges of various sizes: from such large peninsulas as Kamchatka, Korean, Liaodong, Shandong, Leizhou bandao, Indochina, to countless capes separating small bays. Mountains are also confined to the Asian coast, but they are not very high and usually somewhat removed from the coast. More importantly, they do not form continuous chains and are not a barrier that isolates coastal areas, as is observed on the eastern coast of the ocean. In the west, many large rivers flow into the ocean: Anadyr, Penzhina, Amur, Yalujiang (Amnokkan), Huanghe, Yangtze, Xijiang, Yuanjiang (Hongkha - Red), Mekong, Chao Phraya (Menam). Many of these rivers have formed vast deltas with large populations. The Yellow River carries so much sediment into the sea that its deposits form a bridge between the coast and a large island, thus creating the Shandong Peninsula.

Another difference between the east and west coasts of the Pacific Ocean is that the west coast is flanked by a huge number of islands of various sizes, often mountainous and volcanic. These islands include the Aleutian, Commander, Kuril, Japanese, Ryukyu, Taiwan, Philippine (their total number exceeds 7000); finally, between Australia and the Malay Peninsula there is a huge cluster of islands, comparable in area to the mainland, on which Indonesia is located. All these islands have a mountainous relief and are part of the Ring of Fire, encircling the Pacific Ocean.

Only a few large rivers of the American continent flow into the Pacific Ocean - mountain ranges prevent this. The exceptions are some rivers of North America - Yukon, Kuskokwim, Fraser, Columbia, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Colorado.

Bottom relief.

The Pacific Ocean depression has a fairly constant depth over the entire area - approx. 3900–4300 m. The most remarkable elements of the relief are deep depressions and trenches; uplifts and ridges are less pronounced. Two uplifts stretch from the coast of South America: the Galapagos in the north and the Chilean, stretching from the central regions of Chile to about 38 ° S. latitude. Both of these rises join and continue south towards Antarctica. As another example, a rather extensive underwater plateau can be mentioned, above which the Fiji and Solomon Islands rise. Often close to the coast and parallel to it are deep-sea trenches, the formation of which is associated with a belt of volcanic mountains framing the Pacific Ocean. Among the most famous are the deepwater Challenger depressions (11,033 m) southwest of Guam; Galatea (10,539 m), Cape Johnson (10,497 m), Emden (10,399 m), three Snellius troughs (named after a Dutch ship) with depths from 10,068 to 10,130 m, and the Planeta trough (9,788 m) near the Philippine Islands; Ramapo (10,375 m) south of Japan. The Tuskarora depression (8513 m), which is part of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, was discovered in 1874.

A characteristic feature of the bottom of the Pacific Ocean are numerous seamounts - the so-called. guyots; their flat tops are located at a depth of 1.5 km or more. It is generally accepted that these are volcanoes, which used to rise above sea level, were subsequently washed away by waves. To explain the fact that they are now at great depths, one has to assume that this part of the Pacific trough is undergoing sagging.

The bed of the Pacific Ocean is composed of red clays, blue muds and crushed coral fragments; some vast areas of the bottom are covered with globigerine, diatom, pteropod, and radiolarian muds. The bottom sediments contain manganese nodules and shark teeth. There are a lot of coral reefs, but they are common only in shallow waters.

The salinity of the water in the Pacific Ocean is not very high and ranges from 30 to 35‰. Temperature fluctuations are also quite significant depending on the latitudinal position and depth; surface temperatures in the equatorial belt (between 10° N and 10° S) are approx. 27°C; at great depths and in the extreme north and south of the ocean, the temperature is only slightly above the freezing point of sea water.

Currents, tides, tsunamis.

The main currents in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean include the warm Kuroshio Current, or the Japanese Current, which passes into the North Pacific (these currents play the same role in the Pacific Ocean as the system of the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current in the Atlantic Ocean); cold California current; Northern Equatorial (Equatorial) current and cold Kamchatka (Kuril) current. In the southern part of the ocean, the warm East Australian and South Tradewind (Equatorial) currents stand out; cold currents of the West Winds and Peruvian. In the Northern Hemisphere, these major current systems move clockwise, while in the Southern Hemisphere they move counterclockwise. Tides are generally low for the Pacific Ocean; the exception is Cook Inlet in Alaska, famous for its exceptionally high rise in water during high tides and second only to the Bay of Fundy in the northwest Atlantic Ocean in this respect.

When earthquakes or large landslides occur on the seabed, waves - tsunamis - occur. These waves cover huge distances, sometimes more than 16 thousand km. In the open ocean, they have a low height and a large extent, however, when approaching land, especially in narrow and shallow bays, their height can increase up to 50 m.

Research history.

Navigation in the Pacific began long before recorded human history. However, there is evidence that the first European to see the Pacific Ocean was the Portuguese Vasco Balboa; in 1513 the ocean opened before him from the Darien Mountains in Panama. In the history of Pacific exploration there are such famous names as Ferdinand Magellan, Abel Tasman, Francis Drake, Charles Darwin, Vitus Bering, James Cook and George Vancouver. Later, scientific expeditions aboard the British ship Challenger (1872–1876) and then on the Tuscarora ships played a major role. "Planet" and "Discovery".

However, not all sailors who crossed the Pacific Ocean did it on purpose, and not all were well equipped for such a voyage. It could well be that the winds and ocean currents picked up primitive ships or rafts and carried them away to distant shores. In 1946, the Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl put forward a theory according to which Polynesia was settled by settlers from South America who lived in pre-Inca times in Peru. In support of his theory, Heyerdahl and five companions sailed almost 7 thousand km across the Pacific Ocean on a primitive raft made of balsa logs. However, although his voyage of 101 days proved the possibility of such a journey in the past, most oceanologists still do not accept Heyerdahl's theories.

In 1961, a discovery was made, indicating the possibility of even more amazing contacts between the inhabitants of opposite shores of the Pacific Ocean. In Ecuador, in a primeval burial at the Valdivia site, a fragment of ceramics was found, strikingly similar in design and technology to the ceramics of the Japanese Islands. Other pottery items have been found that belong to these two spatially separated cultures and also have a noticeable similarity. Judging by archaeological data, this transoceanic contact between cultures located at a distance of about 13 thousand km occurred ca. 3000 BC.

The characteristic of the Pacific Ocean indicates that it is the largest and deepest on the planet. It washes such continents as Eurasia, America, Australia and Antarctica. In the Mariana Trench, the depth of the ocean reaches 11 km.

Etymology

The first person living in Europe to visit the eastern side of the ocean was Balboa, a Spanish conquistador. When he crossed the Isthmus of Panama and, without knowing it, got into the ocean, he called it the South Sea. A few years later, he decided to try his luck. He traveled for almost four months, overcoming the ocean from the Philippines to Tierra del Fuego. After that, he was called Quiet. But the French scientist Buache, who sailed with his team and the seas of the Pacific Ocean, and its entire basin, estimating its gigantic size, called it the Great. However, this hydronym did not take root.

Salinity and properties of water in winter

Basically, the highest indicator of salts reaches 35.6%. This option is found only in the tropics due to the fact that the climate in these areas is not characterized by a large amount of precipitation, but intense evaporation can be observed here. The characteristic of the Pacific Ocean, which is found in many reference books, suggests that closer to the eastern part of the waters, salinity decreases much due to cold currents. It must be said that in temperate as well as subpolar zones, this indicator is close to the minimum mark due to constant rains and snows.

The occurrence of ice, that is, the freezing of water, directly depends on the salt content. Often they cover only the Antarctic regions, as well as the waters of the Bering, Japan, and Okhotsk Seas. On the shores of Alaska, icebergs often appear, which mainly "travel" in the Pacific Ocean.

Ecology

Due to the impact of destructive human activities, the map of the Pacific Ocean allows you to mark several areas of water that are completely polluted and cause great harm to people, as well as threaten the lives of animal species such as whales. The main pollution is oil and all kinds of waste. Because of them, the ocean is overloaded with metals, radioactive substances, which simply should not be in the water. A complete characterization of the Pacific Ocean showed that all substances that enter it are carried throughout its entire water area. The most interesting thing is that even in the body of animals living near Antarctica, similar compounds were found.

A place that attracts tourists for a long time does not look like picturesque landscapes for a long time. Most of the people come to look at the garbage patch, formed several years ago due to waste carried by the currents. The terrible thing is that it almost reaches the shores of California, Hawaii and Japan. If in 2001 the spot area was 1 billion square meters. km, and weight - 4 million tons, then at the moment this figure has increased several thousand times! Every 10 years, this landfill grows to a decent size.

Due to the fact that some birds mistake small plastic clusters for food, they themselves eat them or feed them to their chicks. As a result, these substances are not digested by the body, and the creature dies due to the impossibility of their withdrawal.

Animal and plant world

More than half of the inhabitants of the oceans live in the waters of the Pacific. Many species of fish and plants are represented here. Only phytoplankton is here more than 1300 representatives. The vegetation of the waters has 4 thousand aquatic and 29 terrestrial plants. In cold zones, kelp is common, the length of which sometimes reaches 200 m. And in the tropical - red and fucus algae.

At depth, holothurians live, which feed only on soil. The tropical waters of the ocean are several thousand times richer in fish than other waters. Here you can see sea urchins, horseshoe crabs, as well as several other species of animals that are not preserved in other oceans. Most salmon live here.

Rivers of the Pacific

All water streams that flow into the ocean are not huge, but they have a fairly high flow rate. At the moment, there is no exact number of how many streams merge with these powerful waters. Some have more than 100 streams, while others have more than a thousand.

The map of the Pacific Ocean allows you to see 40 rivers that are directly related to its basin. The largest of them is the watercourse, the mouth of which is the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Amur.

Minerals

One cannot overlook the fact that the bottom of the Pacific Ocean contains many minerals. There you can find deposits of various minerals. In the shelves of many countries, especially such as Japan, the United States of America, Australia and others, gas and oil are produced. Tin is mined in huge quantities in Malaysia, zircon - in Australia. Ores and manganese deposits are located in the northern part of the waters. Thanks to the estimates contained in the characteristics of the Pacific Ocean, we can say for sure that these waters hide about 40% of gas and oil reserves. Hydrates are also located here, because of which in 2013 in Japan it was decided to drill wells for natural gas production in the direction from the country's capital to the northeast of the ocean.

Infrequently show their character with a restless course. At the same time, it is interesting that, while traveling on the waters, Magellan and his team did not get into a single storm for all three months of their stay here. That is why the ocean got its name. It is divided into several sides: northern and southern, the border between which runs along the equator line.

Ocean area - 178.7 million square kilometers;
Maximum depth - Mariana Trench, 11022 m;
Number of seas - 25;
The largest seas are the Philippine Sea, the Coral Sea, the Tasman Sea, the Bering Sea;
The largest bay is Alaska;
The largest islands are New Zealand, New Guinea;
The strongest currents:
- warm - Northern Equatorial, Southern Equatorial, Kuroshio, East Australian;
- cold - West Winds, Peruvian, Californian.
The Pacific Ocean occupies a third of the entire earth's surface and half of the area of ​​the World Ocean. Almost in the middle it crosses the equator. The Pacific Ocean washes the shores of five continents:
- Eurasia from the northwest;
- Australia from the southwest;
- Antarctica from the south;
- South and North America from the west.

In the north, through the Bering Strait, it connects to the Arctic Ocean. In the southern part, the conditional boundaries between the three oceans - the Pacific and Indian, Pacific and Atlantic - are drawn along the meridians, from the extreme southern continental or island point to the Antarctic coast.
The Pacific Ocean is the only one that is located almost entirely within the boundaries of one lithospheric plate - the Pacific. In places where it interacts with other plates, seismically active zones arise, which create the Pacific seismic belt, known as the Ring of Fire. Along the edges of the ocean, at the boundaries of the lithospheric plates, there are its deepest parts - oceanic trenches. One of the main features of the Pacific Ocean are tsunami waves that result from underwater eruptions and earthquakes.
The climate of the Pacific Ocean is due to its location in all climatic zones, except for the polar one. Most precipitation occurs in the equatorial zone - up to 2000 mm. Due to the fact that the Pacific Ocean is protected by land from the influence of the Arctic Ocean, its northern part is warmer than the southern.
Trade winds reign in the central part of the ocean. Devastating tropical hurricanes - typhoons, which are characteristic of monsoonal air circulation, are characteristic of the western part of the Pacific Ocean. Storms are frequent in the north and south.
There is almost no floating ice in the North Pacific, as the narrow Bering Channel limits communication with the Arctic Ocean. And only the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Bering Sea are covered with ice in winter.
The flora and fauna of the Pacific Ocean is characterized by richness and diversity. One of the richest organisms in terms of species composition is the Sea of ​​Japan. The coral reefs of tropical and equatorial latitudes are particularly rich in life forms. The largest coral structure is the Great Barrier Reef (Great Coral Reef) near the east coast of Australia, where tropical fish species, sea urchins, stars, squids, octopuses live ... Many types of fish are of commercial importance: salmon, chum salmon, pink salmon, tuna, herring, anchovies...
In the Pacific Ocean, there are also ssavtsy: whales, dolphins, fur seals, sea beavers (found only in the Pacific Ocean). One of the features of the Pacific Ocean is the presence of animal giants: blue whale, whale shark, king crab, tridacna mollusk ...
The territories of more than 50 countries, in which almost half of the world's population lives, go to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
The beginning of the development of the Pacific Ocean by Europeans was laid by Ferdinand Magellan (1519 - 1521), James Cook, A. Tasman, V. Bering. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the expeditions of the English ship Challenger and the Russian ship Vityaz had particularly important results. In the second half of the 20th century, the Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl and the Frenchman Jacques-Yves Cousteau carried out interesting and versatile studies of the Pacific Ocean. At the present stage, specially created international organizations are engaged in the study of the nature of the Pacific Ocean.

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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.

What is the Pacific Ocean? Description of the Pacific.

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 its water volume. The width of the ocean from west to east is 17,200 km, and the length from north to south is 15,450 km. The area of ​​the Pacific Ocean is 30 million square kilometers larger than the entire land area of ​​the Earth.

The Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean on our planet.. Its average depth is 3984 meters, and the greatest is 10,994 km (the Mariana Trench or the "Challenger Abyss").

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 Ocean).

Pacific Coast- the most densely populated territory of the Earth, here in 50 states lives about half of the population of our planet.

The Pacific Ocean has the greatest commercial value of all the water bodies of the planet - about 60% of the world's fish catch is produced here.

The Pacific Ocean has the largest reserves of hydrocarbons in the entire 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 of the World Ocean live here.

The Pacific Ocean is the most "violent" ocean on the planet- more than 80% of the tsunami is "born" here. The reason for this is the large number of underwater volcanoes.

The Pacific Ocean is of great transport importance- the most important transport routes pass here.

The opening of the Pacific. Why is the ocean "Pacific"?

Why is the Pacific Ocean called "Pacific"? After all, this is the most formidable of all the oceans of the Earth: 80% of the tsunami originates here, the ocean is replete with underwater volcanoes, and is famous for catastrophic hurricanes and storms. Just ironically, the first European explorer and discoverer of the Pacific Ocean, Ferdinand Magellan, never got into 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 came out on the coast as he thought of the sea. He did not yet know that before him was the greatest ocean of the Earth and gave it the name of the South Sea.

Borders 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 border of the Pacific Ocean: off the western coasts of South and North America.

Northern border of the Pacific Ocean: almost completely enclosed by land - Russian Chukotka and American Alaska.

South Pacific Ocean: off the northern coast of Antarctica.

Pacific borders. Map.

With other oceans:

Border of the Pacific Ocean with the Arctic Ocean: the border is drawn in the Bering Strait from Cape Dezhnev to Cape Prince of Wales.

The border of the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean: the boundary is drawn from Cape Horn along the meridian 68°04’ (67?) W. or the shortest distance from South America to the Antarctic Peninsula through the Drake Passage, from Ost Island to Cape Sternek.

The border 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.

Climate of the Pacific. General characteristics and description of the Pacific Ocean.

The climate of the Pacific Ocean in parts.

The South Pacific Ocean 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 Ocean is much milder. This is influenced by the fact that the Pacific Ocean from the north has practically 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 - are born.

There are two zones of typhoon origin:

• east of the Philippines - the typhoon is moving northwest and north through Taiwan, Japan and almost reaches the Bering Strait.
• off the coast of Central America.

The amount of precipitation is uneven over the surface of the planet's largest ocean.

• The greatest amount of precipitation (more than 2000 mm per year) is characteristic of 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, in general, 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:

• Climate of the Pacific. 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 extremely diverse. About half of the living organisms of the entire oceans live here. This is due to the huge size of the largest ocean on the planet and the variety of natural conditions.

The largest number of species lives in tropical and equatorial latitudes, in the northern and temperate latitudes the 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 larger 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 of chemical reactions. This device is used to scare off predators and attract prey.

In the Pacific Ocean lives:

• more than 850 types 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.

The economic importance of the Pacific Ocean - a general characteristic and description of the Pacific Ocean.

The coast of the Pacific Ocean, its islands and seas are developed extremely unevenly. The most developed industrial centers are coast of the USA, Japan and South Korea. The economy of Australia and New Zealand is also largely associated with the development of the largest ocean on the planet.

The Pacific Ocean plays an important role in human life. as 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 run between the countries of the Pacific basin and transit routes between the countries of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Great economic importance of the Pacific Ocean and in terms of mining. Up to 40% of the potential oil and gas reserves of the World Ocean are located here. Hydrocarbons are currently being produced offshore in China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the United States of America (Alaska), Ecuador (Guayaquil Bay), Australia (Bass Strait) and New Zealand.

The Pacific Ocean also plays a very specific role in the modern world: here in the southern part of the ocean there is a "cemetery" of failed spaceships.

The relief of the bottom, the sea and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. What is the Pacific Ocean?

The relief of the bottom of the Pacific Ocean - a description and general characteristics of the Pacific Ocean.

The bottom of the planet's largest ocean also has the most difficult terrain.. At the base of the ocean is the Pacific Plate. The plates adjoin it: Nazca, Cocos, Juan de Fuca, Philippine, in the south - the Antarctic plate, and in the north - the North American. 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, is the so-called "ring of fire" of the planet. Earthquakes constantly occur here, volcanoes erupt, tsunamis are born.

"Ring of Fire" of the planet.

The bottom of the Pacific Ocean is literally strewn single mountains volcanic origin. At the moment there are about 10,000 of them.

In addition, there is a complex submarine mountain range 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 - a vast western one, where warm currents predominate, and a small eastern one, where the cold Peruvian current dominates.

Countless islands and archipelagos, formed as a result of volcanic activity, are combined into a separate part of the world - Oceania.

The largest basins of the Pacific Ocean are: Chilean, Peruvian, Northwestern, Southern, Eastern, Central.

Pacific Ocean 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, the Malay Archipelago. In the east of the ocean there are neither large islands nor bays protruding deep into the land - the coastline is smooth. The exception is the Gulf of California - a semi-enclosed sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean. Off the coast of Antarctica is the only southern marginal sea of ​​this ocean - the Ross Sea.

Islands of the Pacific.

In this article, we reviewed the description and general characteristics of the Pacific Ocean, gave an answer to the question: What is the Pacific Ocean? Read further: Pacific Ocean waters: ocean water masses, ocean temperature, ocean salinity, ice formation and Pacific water color.

Theme: Seas, inland waters and water resources

Lesson:Features of the nature of the seas washing the shores of Russia

The purpose of the lesson: to find out which seas wash the shores of Russia, to study the features of the nature of the seas.

The seas washing the coast of Russia belong to the basins of three oceans: the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic.

Seas of the Arctic Ocean:

1. White
2. Barents
3. Kara
4. Laptev
5. East Siberian
6. Chukchi

Rice. 1. Seas of the Arctic Ocean and their characteristics ()

The seas of the Arctic Ocean lie mainly on the territory of the shelf, therefore, they generally do not differ in significant depths. The coastline of these seas is very indented. All the seas of this ocean (except the White Sea) are marginal.

Rice. 2. Seas of the Arctic Ocean on the physical map ()

These seas are characterized by a harsh climate and are covered with ice for a significant period of time. An exception among them is the Barents Sea, whose waters are warmed by the warm North Atlantic Current.

Rice. 3. Inflow of warm waters into the Barents Sea ()

The severity of the climate and ice coverage increase in the eastern direction. The salinity of the seas of the Arctic Ocean is low. These seas are used as a transport route, in addition, they are rich in biological and mineral resources, although their economic development is difficult due to the severity of the climate.

Barents Sea differs in relatively warm waters compared to the rest of the seas of the Arctic Ocean. This sea is characterized by constant collisions of warm air masses and waters with cold ones. The coast is heavily indented. The sea is distinguished by its diversity and richness of biological and other types of resources.

White Sea is internal. Summer here is short and cool. In the south, the water can warm up to +17 degrees.

Rice. 4. White Sea on the map ()

Kara Sea has a rather harsh climate. The water temperature in summer rises to +5 degrees in the south. Most of the year is covered with ice.

Laptev sea characterized by harsh climatic conditions.

differs by slightly warmer waters relative to the Laptev Sea. The massif of perennial ice reaches several meters.

Rice. 5. East Siberian Sea ()

Chukchi Sea is located in the east. Warmer water from the Pacific Ocean enters the Chukchi Sea through the Bering Strait.

1. Beringovo
2. Okhotsk
3. Japanese

Fig.6. Seas of the Pacific Ocean ()

The seas of the Pacific Ocean are separated from the ocean by islands and peninsulas. These seas are characterized by ebbs and flows, fogs, strong winds, and storms. The seas of this ocean are rather cold, only the southern half of the Sea of ​​Japan has relatively warm waters.

Bering Sea- the largest and deepest in Russia. The climate is cold, the weather is unstable. The sea is rich in fish and marine animals.

Rice. 7. Bering Sea on the map ()

Sea of ​​Okhotsk is under the influence of the Siberian anticyclone, so the climatic conditions are quite severe.

Japanese Sea among the Russian seas of the Pacific Ocean, it has the most favorable climatic conditions, although typhoons are characteristic of this sea.

Seas of the Atlantic Ocean:

1. Azov
2. Black
3. Baltic

All these seas are inland, warm enough. The seas of the Atlantic Ocean are of significant commercial, transport, and recreational importance.

Baltic Sea- shallow sea, the coast is indented, quite fresh.

the warmest and deepest of the Russian seas of the Atlantic Ocean. In summer, the water in the sea warms up to +26 degrees. At a depth of more than 150 meters, the waters of the Black Sea contain hydrogen sulfide, so marine life lives mainly in the upper layers of the water.

Rice. 8. Black Sea ()

Sea of ​​Azov- the shallowest and smallest sea. The maximum sea depth is 13.5 meters. The sea is heavily desalinated.

Belongs to the endorheic basin Caspian sea-lake. It is the largest lake in the world by area. In ancient times, the Caspian Sea was a single whole with the Black Sea and was part of the World Ocean. The lake is rich in biological and mineral resources (primarily oil and gas).

Homework

1. List the seas of Russia belonging to the basin of the Arctic Ocean.

Bibliography

Main

1. Geography of Russia: Proc. for 8-9 cells. general education institutions / Ed. A.I. Alekseeva: In 2 books. Book. 1: Nature and population. Grade 8 - 4th ed., stereotype. - M.: Bustard, 2009. - 320 p.

2. Geography of Russia. Nature. Grade 8: textbook. for general education institutions / I.I. Barinov. - M.: Bustard; Moscow textbooks, 2011. - 303 p.

3. Geography. Grade 8: atlas. - 4th ed., stereotype. - M.: Bustard, DIK, 2013. - 48 p.

4. Geography. Russia. nature and population. Grade 8: Atlas - 7th ed., Revised. - M.: Bustard; Publishing house DIK, 2010 - 56 p.

Encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books and statistical collections

1. Geography. Modern illustrated encyclopedia / A.P. Gorkin - M.: Rosmen-Press, 2006. - 624 p.

Literature for preparing for the GIA and the Unified State Examination

1. Thematic control. Geography. Nature of Russia. Grade 8: study guide. - Moscow: Intellect-Centre, 2010. - 144 p.

2. Tests in the geography of Russia: grades 8-9: textbooks, ed. V.P. Dronova Geography of Russia. Grades 8-9: textbook. for general education institutions”/ V.I. Evdokimov. - M.: Publishing house "Exam", 2009. - 109 p.

3. Getting ready for the GIA. Geography. 8th grade. Final testing in the format of the exam. / ed. T.V. Abramov. - Yaroslavl: LLC "Academy of Development", 2011. - 64 p.

4. Tests. Geography. Grades 6-10: Teaching aid / A.A. Letyagin. - M .: LLC "Agency" KRPA "Olimp": "Astrel", "AST", 2001. - 284 p.

Materials on the Internet

1. Federal Institute of Pedagogical Measurements ().

2. Russian Geographical Society ().

5. Nature and population of Russia ().