Pacific Ocean: geographical position and area of the territory

The Pacific Ocean is the very embodiment of the sea element on our luxurious planet. This huge natural formation creates the weather of all continents to a greater or lesser extent. His waves are beautiful in their power and invincibility.

As we, for certain, already know, Quiet is the largest ocean on the planet. Its name was obtained as a result of the incredible luck of that team of seafarers, to whom it seemed peaceful and calm. The second, often met name for the ocean, is the Great. And this is true.

The faces of this element are multifaceted. The science of geography has collected a lot of data over the centuries, which has opened the eyes of the researchers of the Pacific Ocean. Geographical location, area, communication with other oceans of the Earth, washed continents - all this interests us in the framework of this article-travel.

"The most-most" Pacific Ocean

In addition to the most interesting history of obtaining its name by the ocean, he deserved a number of differences "most-most." They deal, in the main, with its geographical features. But just in terms of peace and quiet, the opposite is true - this ocean is the most turbulent and unpredictable. Now consider the geographical location and area of the Pacific Ocean.

As we have already mentioned, the Pacific Ocean is the largest in terms of area among all the oceans. It is 178.7 million km ² . In addition, it is the deepest. In its limits is the Mariana Trench, whose depth is below sea level by more than 11 kilometers!

The huge size of the ocean contributed to his other records. On the surface of the water, it is the warmest among all. Hurricanes and the tsunami of its vastness are the richest. The highest waves are also recorded in the Pacific Ocean.

Position relative to the equator

As we know, one of the basic characteristics of the geographic location of objects is the location relative to the equator of the Earth. Let us also consider the geographical location of the Pacific Ocean relative to the equator.

So, the object of our examination extends both in the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth. A somewhat large part of it, however, belongs to the southern part.

Length

As for the shape of the ocean, here it differs from the north-west to the southeast. At the widest point from west to east it has 19 thousand kilometers, from north to south - 16 thousand. Huge sizes contributed to the variety of conditions within it. By many criteria he was lucky to become the "most-most", on the other - the only one.

To understand the impressive extent of the Pacific Ocean on a planetary scale, let us cite this comparison. The territory of all continents of the Earth taken together will be smaller than this ocean. The width of the vast Pacific Ocean in the tropical latitudes contributed to the fact that it is second in heat (in the first place - Indian).

The diversity of natural conditions within the Pacific spaces can only be surprised. We have a little bit opened the Pacific Ocean: the geographical position and features of the territory.

Washed continents

The waters of the Pacific Ocean are washed by all the continents of the planet, except Africa. That is, the output to its turbulent waves is in Asia, Australia, North and South America, as well as Antarctica. By the way, the influence of the cold fronts of the latter by means of the Pacific Ocean is spreading almost throughout the entire Earth.

But because the message with the cold Arctic Ocean is cut off by land, the Pacific Ocean does not take cold air masses. As a consequence, the southern part of the ocean is colder than the northern one.

Communication with the rest of the oceans

In the boundaries of the land of doubt there is much less than it happens with the oceans. The boundaries of the communicating oceans of the Earth are very conditional. The same feature is possessed by the Pacific Ocean, the geographic location of which we are considering.

Thus, it is most clearly possible to determine the dividing line between the Pacific and the Arctic: it is the Chukchi Peninsula and Alaska. With the Atlantic the message comes through a very wide Drake Passage.

The boundaries of the Pacific and Indian oceans are conditional. Between the mainland Australia and Antarctica, they pass along the meridian, starting from Cape South on the island of Tasmania.

Nature of borders

In geographic research we are interested in the nature of the coastline of that part of the land with which the ocean borders.

So, on the east side of the coast line are simple, not so incised by water floods, the territories are less saturated with island massifs. The western part, on the contrary: there are many islands and archipelagoes, seas, peninsular parts of the land.

Even the nature of the bottom in the western part is appropriate: with strong changes in depth.

Separately, we can also consider such a question as the geographical position of the seas of the Pacific Ocean. As we said, there are more of them in the western part. By their type, these are the outlying seas adjoining Eurasia and Australia. The Mezhostrovnye Seas belong to the group of the Australasian.

Near the coast of Antarctica there are little known seas: Ross, Bellingshausen and Amundsen.

Seismic features

Earth forces are rapidly active in the Pacific. Its boundaries are delineated by a "fire ring" - seismically active zones with many active volcanoes. The area and geographic location of the Pacific Ocean coincided with the mobile tectonic plates of the earth's crust

Because of the high seismic activity of the Pacific Ocean, tsunamis and earthquakes are so frequent here.

Conclusion

In our article, we made an attempt to embark on a short journey through the expanses of the Pacific Ocean - the most impressive, perhaps, natural education on the planet. Among its turbulent waters is so much interesting that fantasy itself draws visual pictures.

We have examined the geographic position of the Pacific Ocean briefly, only to the extent that we can interest the reader or satisfy general curiosity.

Remember the same basic:

• The Pacific Ocean is the largest on the planet: its area is 178.7 million km ² .
• Practically for each question of the plan "Which of the oceans is the most ...?" You can answer that Quiet, while justifying your answer. Indeed: on its vast expanses almost all records that can be attributed to the ocean as a natural form are beaten.
• The ocean is located on either side of the equator of the Earth, mostly in the southern hemisphere.
• It borders on all the oceans of the planet, as well as with all continents, except Africa.
• The most diverse in terms of natural conditions.
• High seismic activity leads to frequent tsunamis and earthquakes.

This is the Great Pacific, the geographical position of which we have considered. And let after the received new information we will dream of a warm shore and gentle waves!