pacific adj

1 promoting peace; "the result of this pacific policy was that no troops were called up"

2 relating to or bordering the Pacific Ocean; "Pacific islands"

3 disposed to peace or of a peaceful nature; "the pacific temper seeks to settle disputes on grounds of justice rather than by force"; "a quiet and peaceable person"; "in a peaceable and orderly manner" [syn: peaceable] n : the largest ocean in the world [syn: Pacific Ocean]

see pacific

English

Etymology

From pācificus "peace-making"

Proper noun

1. The Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan) is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia on the west and the Americas on the east. At 169.2 million square kilometers (65.3 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 ft).

Overview

The ocean encompasses almost a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179.7 million square kilometres (69.4 million sq mi and 161 million cubic mi) —significantly larger than Earth's entire landmass, with room for another Africa to spare. Extending approximately 15,500 kilometres (9,600  mi) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the icy margins of Antarctica's Ross Sea in the south (although the Antarctic regions of the Pacific are sometimes described as part of the circumpolar Southern Ocean), the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 kilometres (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia and Peru - halfway across the world, and more than five times the diameter of the Moon. The western limit of the ocean is often placed at the Strait of Malacca. The lowest point on earth—the Mariana Trench—lies 10,911 meters (35,797 ft) below sea level. Its average depth is 4,280 metres (14,000 ft)

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is a term used to describe human-created waste that has found itself floating in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter.

see also Great Pacific Garbage Patch see also Ship pollution

Major ports and harbours

• Acapulco, Mexico
• Anchorage, Alaska, United States
• Antofagasta, Chile
• Arica, Chile
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Batangas, Philippines
• Bluff, New Zealand
• Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
• Buenaventura, Colombia
• Busan, South Korea
• Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• Callao, Peru
• Cebu City, Philippines
• Chongjin, North Korea
• Dalian, People's Republic of China
• Ensenada, Mexico
• Esmeraldas, Ecuador
• Guayaquil, Ecuador
• Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
• Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
• Incheon, South Korea
• Iquique, Chile
• Kaohsiung, Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada
• Keelung, Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Klang, Malaysia
• Kobe, Japan
• Laem Chabang, Thailand
• Lyttleton, New Zealand
• Long Beach, California, United States
• Los Angeles, California, United States
• Manta, Ecuador
• Manzanillo, Mexico
• Mazatlan, Mexico

• Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Metro Manila, Philippines
• Nampo, North Korea
• Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
• Oakland, California, United States
• Panama City, Panama
• Portland, Oregon, United States
• Portoviejo, Ecuador
• Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
• Puerto Montt, Chile
• Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
• Qingdao, People's Republic of China
• San Antonio, Chile
• San Diego, California, United States
• San Francisco, California, United States
• Seattle, Washington, United States
• Shanghai, People's Republic of China
• Shenzhen, People's Republic of China
• Singapore
• Songkhla, Thailand
• Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
• Tacoma, Washington, United States
• Taichung, Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Talcahuano, Chile
• Tauranga, New Zealand
• Tianjin, People's Republic of China
• Tijuana, Mexico
• Tokyo, Japan
• Valparaiso, Chile
• Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
• Vladivostok, Russia
• Xiamen, People's Republic of China
• Yantai, People's Republic of China
• Yokohama, Japan

See also

• War of the Pacific
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
• Pacific-Antarctic Ridge
• Pacific Coast
• Pacific hurricane
• Pacific Islands
• Pacific Rim
• Pacific Time Zone
• Pacific War

References

Further reading

Based on public domain text from US Naval Oceanographer

• Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean
• Blue Horizons: Paradise Isles of the Pacific
• Lost Paradise: The Exploration of the Pacific
• Development and Social Change in the Pacific Islands
• Charting the Vast Pacific
• Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500-1978
• Pacific Voyages
• The Pacific Islands
• Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia
• The Greatest Depths: Probing the Seas to
• Paradise Found and Lost
• Prehistory in the Pacific Islands: A Study of Variation in Language, Customs, and Human Biology

External links

• LA Times special Altered Oceans
• EPIC Pacific Ocean Data Collection Viewable on-line collection of observational data
• NOAA In-situ Ocean Data Viewer Plot and download ocean observations
• NOAA Ocean Surface Current Analyses - Realtime (OSCAR) Near-realtime Pacific Ocean Surface Currents derived from satellite altimeter and scatterometer data
• NOAA PMEL Argo profiling floats Realtime Pacific Ocean data
• NOAA TAO El Niño data Realtime Pacific Ocean El Niño buoy data

nah:Ilhuicaātl Pacífico

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