Coordinates: 0°N 160°W

Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's oceanic
divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the
Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in
the south and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia
in the west and the Americas in the east.

At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in

area (as defined with an Antarctic southern border), this largest
division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—
covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about one-third of
its total surface area, making it larger than all of Earth's land area
combined.[1] The centers of both the Water Hemisphere and the
Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean. The equator
subdivides it into the North(ern) Pacific Ocean and South(ern)
Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert
Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within
Coordinates 0°N 160°W
the South Pacific.[2]
Surface 165,250,000 km2
Its mean depth is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).[3] Challenger Deep area (63,800,000 sq mi)
in the Mariana Trench, located in the western north Pacific, is
the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,928 meters Average 4,280 m (14,040 ft)
(35,853 feet).[4] The Pacific also contains the deepest point in depth
the Southern Hemisphere, the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Max. depth 10,911 m (35,797 ft)
Trench, at 10,823 meters (35,509 feet).[5] The third deepest point
Water 710,000,000 km3
on Earth, the Sirena Deep, is also located in the Mariana Trench.
volume (170,000,000 cu mi)
The western Pacific has many major marginal seas, including the Islands List of islands
South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan, the Sea
of Okhotsk, the Philippine Sea, the Coral Sea, and the Tasman Settlements Anchorage, Auckland,
Sea. Brisbane, Busan,
Guayaquil, Hong Kong,
Honolulu, Lima, Los
Angeles, Manila,
Contents Melbourne, Osaka,
Etymology Panama City, Papeete,
History San Francisco, San
Early migrations Diego, Seattle, Shanghai,
European exploration Singapore, Suva,
New Imperialism Sydney, Tijuana, Tokyo,
Valparaíso, Vancouver,
Geography
Vladivostok
Bordering countries and territories
Sovereign nations
Disputed countries
Territories
 Landmasses and islands
Water characteristics
Climate
Geology
Geological history
Seamount chains
Economy
Fishing
Environmental issues
Major ports and harbors
See also
References
Further reading
Historiography
External links

Etymology
Though the peoples of Asia and Oceania have traveled the Pacific Ocean since prehistoric times, the eastern
Pacific was first sighted by Europeans in the early 16th century when Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de
Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and discovered the great "southern sea" which he named Mar
del Sur (in Spanish). The ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan
during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favorable winds on reaching
the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means "peaceful sea".[6]

History

Early migrations

Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. About 3000 BC, the Austronesian
peoples on the island of Taiwan mastered the art of long-distance canoe travel and spread themselves and
their languages south to the Philippines, Indonesia, and maritime Southeast Asia; west towards Madagascar;
southeast towards New Guinea and Melanesia (intermarrying with native Papuans); and east to the islands
of Micronesia, Oceania and Polynesia.[8]

Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan. Trade, and therefore
knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was
a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of this trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In
219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality. From 1404 to 1433 Zheng
He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean.

European exploration
 The first contact of European
navigators with the western
edge of the Pacific Ocean
was made by the Portuguese
expeditions of António de
Abreu and Francisco Serrão,
Made in 1529, the Diogo Ribeiro map
via the Lesser Sunda Islands,
was the first to show the Pacific at
to the Maluku Islands, in Universalis Cosmographia, the
about its proper size
1512,[9][10] and with Jorge Waldseemüller map dated 1507,
Álvares's expedition to from a time when the nature of the
southern China in 1513,[11] Americas was ambiguous,
both ordered by Afonso de Albuquerque from Malacca. particularly North America, as a
possible part of Asia, was the first
The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco map to show the Americas
Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of separating two distinct oceans. South
Panama and reached a new ocean.[12] He named it Mar del Sur America was generally considered a
(literally, "Sea of the South" or "South Sea") because the ocean was "new world" and shows the name
"America" for the first time, after
to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the
Amerigo Vespucci
Pacific.

In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific

East to West on a Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands that would
eventually result in the first world circumnavigation. Magellan
called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful")
because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the
expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of
Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century.[13] Magellan
stopped at one uninhabited Pacific island before stopping at Guam in
March 1521.[14] Although Magellan himself died in the Philippines
in 1521, Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano led the Maris Pacifici by Ortelius (1589). One
remains of the expedition back to Spain across the Indian Ocean and of the first printed maps to show the
round the Cape of Good Hope, completing the first world Pacific Ocean[7]
circumnavigation in a single expedition in 1522.[15] Sailing around
and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese
expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands,[16] the Aru Islands,[17]
and Papua New Guinea.[18] In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached
Japan.[19]

In 1564, five Spanish ships carrying 379 explorers crossed the ocean
from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi, and sailed to the
Philippines and Mariana Islands.[20] For the remainder of the 16th
century, Spanish influence was paramount, with ships sailing from
Mexico and Peru across the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines via
Guam, and establishing the Spanish East Indies. The Manila Map of the Pacific Ocean during
galleons operated for two and a half centuries, linking Manila and European Exploration, circa 1702–
Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history. Spanish 1707.
expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook
Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South
Pacific.[21]
Later, in the quest for Terra Australis ("the [great] Southern Land"),
Spanish explorations in the 17th century, such as the expedition led
by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, discovered
the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos, and sailed the Torres Strait
between Australia and New Guinea, named after navigator Luís Vaz
de Torres. Dutch explorers, sailing around southern Africa, also
engaged in discovery and trade; Willem Janszoon, made the first
completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in
Cape York Peninsula,[22] and Abel Janszoon Tasman
circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental
coast and discovered Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642.[23] Map of the Pacific Ocean during
European Exploration, circa 1754.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a
mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval
powers. As the only known entrance from the
Atlantic, the Strait of Magellan was at times
patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of
non-Spanish ships. On the western side of the
Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish
Philippines.[24]

The 18th century marked the beginning of major

exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the
Aleutian Islands, such as the First Kamchatka
expedition and the Great Northern Expedition,
led by the Danish Russian navy officer Vitus
Bering. Spain also sent expeditions to the
Pacific Northwest, reaching Vancouver Island in
southern Canada, and Alaska. The French
explored and settled Polynesia, and the British
made three voyages with James Cook to the Spanish explorations and routes across the Pacific Ocean.
South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the
North American Pacific Northwest. In 1768,
Pierre-Antoine Véron, a young astronomer accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of
exploration, established the width of the Pacific with precision for the first time in history.[25] One of the
earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–
1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand,
Australia, and the South Pacific.[21]

New Imperialism

Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by European
powers, and later Japan and the United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were
made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard;[26] HMS Challenger during
the 1870s;[27] the USS Tuscarora (1873–76);[28] and the German Gazelle (1874–76).[29]

In Oceania, France obtained a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia
protectorates in 1842 and 1853, respectively.[30] After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean
navy officer Policarpo Toro negotiated the incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in
1888. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations.[31](p53) By 1900 nearly all Pacific
islands were in control of Britain, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Chile.[30]
 Although the United States
gained control of Guam and
the Philippines from Spain in
1898,[32] Japan controlled
most of the western Pacific
by 1914 and occupied many
other islands during the
Dupetit Thouars taking over Tahiti on Pacific War; however, by the
9 September 1842
end of that war, Japan was
defeated and the U.S. Pacific The bathyscaphe Trieste, before her
Fleet was the virtual master record dive to the bottom of the
of the ocean. The Japanese-ruled Northern Mariana Islands came Mariana Trench, 23 January 1960
under the control of the United States.[33] Since the end of World
War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become
independent states.

Geography
The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. It may
be further subdivided by the equator into northern (North Pacific)
and southern (South Pacific) portions. It extends from the Antarctic
region in the South to the Arctic in the north.[1] The Pacific Ocean
encompasses approximately one-third of the Earth's surface, having
an area of 165,200,000 km2 (63,800,000 sq mi)—significantly larger
than Earth's entire landmass of some 150,000,000 km2
(58,000,000 sq mi).[34] Sunset over the Pacific Ocean as
seen from the International Space
Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 mi) from the Bering Sea Station. Anvil tops of thunderclouds
in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern are also visible.
Ocean at 60°S (older definitions extend it to Antarctica's Ross Sea),
the Pacific reaches its greatest east–west width at about 5°N latitude,
where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia—halfway
around the world, and more than five times the diameter of the Moon.[35] The lowest known point on Earth
—the Mariana Trench—lies 10,911 m (35,797 ft; 5,966 fathoms) below sea level. Its average depth is
4,280 m (14,040 ft; 2,340 fathoms), putting the total water volume at roughly 710,000,000 km3
(170,000,000 cu mi).[1]

Due to the effects of plate tectonics, the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2.5 cm (1 in) per
year on three sides, roughly averaging 0.52 km2 (0.20 sq mi) a year. By contrast, the Atlantic Ocean is
increasing in size.[36][37]

Along the Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea,
Coral Sea, East China Sea (East Sea), Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, South China Sea (South Sea), Sulu Sea,
Tasman Sea, and Yellow Sea (West Sea of Korea). The Indonesian Seaway (including the Strait of Malacca
and Torres Strait) joins the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the west, and Drake Passage and the Strait of
Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the
Pacific with the Arctic Ocean.[38]

As the Pacific straddles the 180th meridian, the West Pacific (or western Pacific, near Asia) is in the Eastern
Hemisphere, while the East Pacific (or eastern Pacific, near the Americas) is in the Western Hemisphere.[39]
The Southern Pacific Ocean harbors the Southeast Indian Ridge crossing from south of Australia turning
into the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (north of the South Pole) and merges with another ridge (south of South
America) to form the East Pacific Rise which also connects with another ridge (south of North America)
which overlooks the Juan de Fuca Ridge.

For most of Magellan's voyage from the Strait of Magellan to the Philippines, the explorer indeed found the
ocean peaceful; however, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many tropical storms batter the islands of the
Pacific.[40] The lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes.[41]
Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed
entire towns.[42]

The Martin Waldseemüller map of 1507 was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct
oceans.[43] Later, the Diogo Ribeiro map of 1529 was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper
size.[44]

Bordering countries and territories

Sovereign nations
Argentina
Australia
Brunei
Cambodia
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
The island geography of the Pacific Ocean
Ecuador Basin
El Salvador
Federated States of Micronesia
Fiji
Guatemala
Honduras
Indonesia
Japan
Kiribati
Malaysia
Marshall Islands
Mexico
Regions, island nations and territories of
Nauru Oceania
Nicaragua
New Zealand
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
 Russia
Samoa
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Tonga
Tuvalu
United States
Vanuatu
Vietnam

Disputed countries

China1
North Korea2
South Korea2
Taiwan1
1The status of Taiwan and China is disputed. For more information, see political status of
Taiwan.
2The status of North Korea and South Korea is disputed. For more information, see North
Korea–South Korea relations

Territories
American Samoa (US) Kingman Reef (US)
Baker Island (US) Macau (China)
Clipperton Island (France) Midway Atoll (US)
Cook Islands (New Zealand) New Caledonia (France)
Coral Sea Islands (Australia) Niue (New Zealand)
French Polynesia (France) Norfolk Island (Australia)
Guam (US) Northern Mariana Islands (US)
Hong Kong (China) Palmyra Atoll (US)
Howland Island (US) Pitcairn Islands (UK)
Jarvis Island (US) Tokelau (New Zealand)
Johnston Island (US) Wallis and Futuna (France)
Wake Island (US)

Landmasses and islands

The ocean has most of the islands in the world. There are about 25,000 islands in the Pacific
Ocean.[45][46][47] The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be divided into three main groups known
as Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the
International Date Line, includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the center, the
Marshall Islands to the east and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast.[48][49]
Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea, the world's
second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the
Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to
south are the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Santa
Cruz, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.[50]

The largest area, Polynesia, stretching from Hawaii in the north to

New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu, Tokelau, Tarawa Atoll in the Republic of
Samoa, Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Kiribati
Islands, Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center, and the
Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu, Mangareva Islands, and Easter Island
to the east.[51]

Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs and uplifted
coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside the andesite line and include New Guinea, the islands of New
Zealand, and the Philippines. Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents. High
islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville, Hawaii,
and the Solomon Islands.[52]

The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under
the ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with
chains of reef patches. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually
slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in
the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia.[53][54]
 Ladrilleros Beach in Colombia Point Reyes headlands, Point
on the coast of Chocó natural Reyes National Seashore,
region California

Tahuna maru islet, French Los Molinos on the coast of

Polynesia Southern Chile

Water characteristics
The volume of the Pacific Ocean, representing about 50.1 percent of
the world's oceanic water, has been estimated at some 714 million
cubic kilometers (171 million cubic miles).[55] Surface water
temperatures in the Pacific can vary from −1.4 °C (29.5 °F), the
freezing point of sea water, in the poleward areas to about 30 °C
(86 °F) near the equator.[56] Salinity also varies latitudinally,
reaching a maximum of 37 parts per thousand in the southeastern
area. The water near the equator, which can have a salinity as low as
34 parts per thousand, is less salty than that found in the mid-
latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the Sunset in Monterey County,
year. The lowest counts of less than 32 parts per thousand are found California, U.S.
in the far north as less evaporation of seawater takes place in these
frigid areas.[57] The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise
in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific gyre) and counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
The North Equatorial Current, driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds, turns north near the
Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current.[58]
Turning eastward at about 45°N, the Kuroshio forks and some water moves northward as the Aleutian
Current, while the rest turns southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current.[59] The Aleutian Current
branches as it approaches North America and forms the base of a counter-clockwise circulation in the
Bering Sea. Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current.[60] The South
Equatorial Current, flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea, turns east at
about 50°S, and joins the main westerly circulation of the South Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling
Antarctic Circumpolar Current. As it approaches the Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides;
one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current.[61]

Climate
The climate patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres
generally mirror each other. The trade winds in the southern and
eastern Pacific are remarkably steady while conditions in the
North Pacific are far more varied with, for example, cold winter
temperatures on the east coast of Russia contrasting with the
milder weather off British Columbia during the winter months
due to the preferred flow of ocean currents.[62]

In the tropical and subtropical Pacific, the El Niño Southern

Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather conditions. To determine
the phase of ENSO, the most recent three-month sea surface
temperature average for the area approximately 3,000 km
(1,900 mi) to the southeast of Hawaii is computed, and if the
region is more than 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) above or below normal for
that period, then an El Niño or La Niña is considered in
progress.[63]

In the tropical western Pacific, the monsoon and the related wet Impact of El Niño and La Niña on North
season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in America
the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian
landmass.[64] Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late
summer, when the difference between temperatures aloft and sea
surface temperatures is the greatest; however, each particular basin
has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least
active month, while September is the most active month. November
is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are
active.[65] The Pacific hosts the two most active tropical cyclone
basins, which are the northwestern Pacific and the eastern Pacific.
Pacific hurricanes form south of Mexico, sometimes striking the
western Mexican coast and occasionally the southwestern United
States between June and October, while typhoons forming in the
northwestern Pacific moving into southeast and east Asia from May
to December. Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin,
where they occasionally impact island nations. Typhoon Tip at global peak intensity
on 12 October 1979
In the arctic, icing from October to May can present a hazard for
shipping while persistent fog occurs from June to December.[66] A
climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months.
The Westerlies and associated jet stream within the Mid-Latitudes can be particularly strong, especially in
the Southern Hemisphere, due to the temperature difference between the tropics and Antarctica,[67] which
records the coldest temperature readings on the planet. In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy
and cloudy conditions associated with extratropical cyclones riding the jet stream, it is usual to refer to the
Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of
latitude.[68]

Geology
The ocean was first mapped by Abraham Ortelius; he
called it Maris Pacifici following Ferdinand Magellan's
description of it as "a pacific sea" during his
circumnavigation from 1519 to 1522. To Magellan, it
seemed much more calm (pacific) than the Atlantic.[69]

The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction

in the Pacific. A petrologic boundary, it separates the
deeper, mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin
from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic Ring of Fire. The Pacific is ringed by many
igneous rock on its margins.[70] The andesite line follows volcanoes and oceanic trenches.
the western edge of the islands off California and passes
south of the Aleutian arc, along the eastern edge of the
Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands,
the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand's North Island.[71][72]

The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of

the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then
to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New
Guinea, and New Zealand lie outside the andesite line.

Within the closed loop of the andesite line are most of the deep
troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic Ulawun stratovolcano situated on the
islands that characterize the Pacific basin. Here basaltic lavas gently island of New Britain, Papua New
flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains Guinea
whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters.
Outside the andesite line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and the
Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism.[48] The Ring of Fire is named after
the several hundred active volcanoes that sit above the various subduction zones.

The Pacific Ocean is the only ocean which is almost totally bounded by subduction zones. Only the
Antarctic and Australian coasts have no nearby subduction zones.

Geological history

The Pacific Ocean was born 750 million years ago at the breakup of Rodinia, although it is generally called
the Panthalassic Ocean until the breakup of Pangea, about 200 million years ago.[73] The oldest Pacific
Ocean floor is only around 180 Ma old, with older crust subducted by now.[74]

Seamount chains

The Pacific Ocean contains several long seamount chains, formed by hotspot volcanism. These include the
Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain and the Louisville Ridge.
Economy
The exploitation of the Pacific's mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean's great depths. In shallow waters
of the continental shelves off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, petroleum and natural gas are
extracted, and pearls are harvested along the coasts of Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua,
Panama, and the Philippines, although in sharply declining volume in some cases.[75]

Fishing

Fish are an important economic asset in the Pacific. The shallower shoreline waters of the continents and the
more temperate islands yield herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, and tuna, as well as shellfish.[76]
Overfishing has become a serious problem in some areas. For example, catches in the rich fishing grounds
of the Okhotsk Sea off the Russian coast have been reduced by at least half since the 1990s as a result of
overfishing.[77]

Environmental issues
The quantity of small plastic fragments floating in the north-east
Pacific Ocean increased a hundredfold between 1972 and 2012.[79]
The ever-growing Great Pacific garbage patch between California
and Japan is three times the size of France.[80] An estimated 80,000
metric tons of plastic inhabit the patch, totaling 1.8 trillion
pieces.[81]

Marine pollution is a generic term for the harmful entry into the
Pacific Ocean currents have created
ocean of chemicals or particles. The main culprits are those using the
3 "islands" of debris.[78]
rivers for disposing of their waste.[82] The rivers then empty into the
ocean, often also bringing chemicals used as fertilizers in
agriculture. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals in the water
leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.[83]

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste

that has ended up floating in a lake, sea, ocean, or waterway.
Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and
coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach
litter.[82]

From 1946 to 1958, Marshall Islands served as the Pacific Proving

Grounds for the United States and was the site of 67 nuclear tests on Marine debris on a Hawaiian coast
various atolls.[84][85] Several nuclear weapons were lost in the
Pacific Ocean,[86] including one-megaton bomb lost during the 1965
Philippine Sea A-4 incident.[87]

In addition, the Pacific Ocean has served as the crash site of satellites, including Mars 96, Fobos-Grunt, and
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.

Major ports and harbors

See also
 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Pacific Alliance
Pacific coast
Pacific Time Zone
Seven Seas
Trans-Pacific Partnership
War of the Pacific

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Further reading
Barkley, Richard A. (1968). Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press.
 prepared by the Special Publications Division, National Geographic Society. (1985). Blue
Horizons: Paradise Isles of the Pacific. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society.
ISBN 978-0-87044-544-6.
Cameron, Ian (1987). Lost Paradise: The Exploration of the Pacific (https://archive.org/details/l
ostparadiseexpl00came). Topsfield, MA: Salem House. ISBN 978-0-88162-275-1.
Couper, A.D. (ed.) (1989). Development and Social Change in the Pacific Islands. London:
Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-00917-1.
Gilbert, John (1971). Charting the Vast Pacific. London: Aldus. ISBN 978-0-490-00226-5.
Lower, J. Arthur (1978). Ocean of Destiny: A Concise History of the North Pacific, 1500–1978
(https://archive.org/details/oceanofdestinyco0000lowe). Vancouver: University of British
Columbia Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-0101-0.
Napier, W.; Gilbert, J.; Holland, J. (1973). Pacific Voyages. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
ISBN 978-0-385-04335-9.
Nunn, Patrick D. (1998). Pacific Island Landscapes: Landscape and Geological Development
of Southwest Pacific Islands, Especially Fiji, Samoa and Tonga (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=AN8486A8fMcC&pg=PA15). editorips@usp.ac.fj. ISBN 978-982-02-0129-3.
Oliver, Douglas L. (1989). The Pacific Islands (3rd ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
ISBN 978-0-8248-1233-1.
Paine, Lincoln. The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World (2015).
Ridgell, Reilly (1988). Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia,
and Polynesia (2nd ed.). Honolulu: Bess Press. ISBN 978-0-935848-50-2.
Samson, Jane. British imperial strategies in the Pacific, 1750–1900 (Ashgate Publishing,
2003).
Soule, Gardner (1970). The Greatest Depths: Probing the Seas to 20,000 feet (6,100 m) and
Below (https://archive.org/details/greatestdepthspr00soul). Philadelphia: Macrae Smith.
ISBN 978-0-8255-8350-6.
Spate, O.H.K. (1988). Paradise Found and Lost. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
ISBN 978-0-8166-1715-9.
Terrell, John (1986). Prehistory in the Pacific Islands: A Study of Variation in Language,
Customs, and Human Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-
30604-1.

Historiography
Davidson, James Wightman. "Problems of Pacific history." Journal of Pacific History 1#1
(1966): 5–21.
Gulliver, Katrina. "Finding the Pacific world." Journal of World History 22#1 (2011): 83–100.
online (https://www.academia.edu/download/3168710/22.1.gulliver.pdf)
Igler, David (2013). The Great Ocean: Pacific Worlds from Captain Cook to the Gold Rush.
New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-991495-1.
Munro, Doug. The Ivory Tower and Beyond: Participant Historians of the Pacific (Cambridge
Scholars Publishing, 2009).
Routledge, David. "Pacific history as seen from the Pacific Islands." Pacific Studies 8#2
(1985): 81+ online (https://web.archive.org/web/20160923134705/https://journals.lib.byu.edu/s
pc/index.php/PacificStudies/article/viewFile/9369/9018)
Samson, Jane. "Pacific/Oceanic History" in Kelly Boyd, ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of Historians
and Historical Writing vol 2 (https://books.google.com/books?id=0121vD9STIMC&pg=PA901).
Taylor & Francis. pp. 901–02. ISBN 978-1-884964-33-6.
External links
EPIC Pacific Ocean Data Collection Viewable (https://web.archive.org/web/20100504012429/h
ttp://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/ewb/) on-line collection of observational data
NOAA In-situ Ocean Data Viewer (https://web.archive.org/web/20060211015453/http://dapper.
pmel.noaa.gov/dchart/) plot and download ocean observations
NOAA PMEL Argo profiling floats Realtime Pacific Ocean data (https://web.archive.org/web/20
060210183949/http://floats.pmel.noaa.gov/floats/)
NOAA TAO (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/jsdisplay/) El Niño data Realtime Pacific Ocean El
Niño buoy data
NOAA Ocean Surface Current Analyses (https://web.archive.org/web/20051229005041/http://
www.oscar.noaa.gov/datadisplay/) – Realtime (OSCAR) Near-realtime Pacific Ocean Surface
Currents derived from satellite altimeter and scatterometer data

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