Pacific Ocean
hideThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east. At 169.2 million square kilometres (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, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 ft).
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News tagged with pacific ocean
Ships warned about icebergs headed for New Zealand
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
8 hours ago |
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(AP) -- Ships are on alert and maritime authorities are monitoring the movements of hundreds of menacing icebergs drifting toward New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean, officials said.
Icebergs head from Antarctica for New Zealand
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Ships in the south Pacific Ocean have been alerted that hundreds of icebergs believed to have split off Antarctic ice shelves are drifting north toward New Zealand, officials said Tuesday.
El Nino Could Play A Role In Colorado's Winter Weather, Scientist Says
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- El Nino, a warming event of the tropical Pacific Ocean that affects weather patterns in the United States and elsewhere, has strengthened in recent months and already appears to have influenced Colorado's ...
One word: bioplastics
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, more than 250 billion pounds of plastic are produced worldwide. Much of it ends up in the world's oceans, a fact that troubles MIT biology professor Anthony Sinskey.
Salmon migration mystery explored on Idaho's Clearwater River
Nov 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Temperature differences and slow-moving water at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers in Idaho might delay the migration of threatened juvenile salmon and allow them to grow larger ...
SEA to conduct expedition dedicated to measuring plastic marine debris in the North Atlantic Ocean
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Sea Education Association (SEA) is preparing to conduct the first-ever research expedition dedicated solely to examining the accumulation of plastic marine debris in the North Atlantic Ocean.
NASA's GOES Project offers real-time hurricane alley movies
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 09, 2009 |
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People love to get the big picture of hurricane alleys, and thanks to the GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., they can now get real-time satellite animations of the eastern ...
NASA satellites see Tropical Storm Neki form in the Central Pacific
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Tropical Storm Neki formed today about 830 miles southeast of Johnston Island in the Central Pacific Ocean. NASA's QuikScat and Aqua satellites quickly captured and analyzed winds and temperatures in Neki, ...
Super typhoon Lupit heading west in the Philippine Sea
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Lupit has joined the ranks of super typhoons in the Western Pacific Ocean, and is currently packing maximum sustained winds near 132 mph, down from a previous peak near 149 mph, but still a Category Four strength ...
Tropical Storm Nepartak becoming extra-tropical at sea
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 13, 2009 |
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Tropical Storm Nepartak is now speeding in a northeasterly direction in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, where it is becoming extra-tropical and developing frontal qualities.
Come together, right now... tropical depression 18W dissipates, Parma intensifies
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 30, 2009 |
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Two tropical cyclones in the Western Pacific are keeping in tune to the 1969 hit song by the Beatles, "Come Together." Tropical Depression 18W and Tropical Storm Parma are already beginning to merge now that ...
Floundering El Ninos Make for Fickle Forecasts
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Since May 2009, the tropical Pacific Ocean has switched from a cool pattern of ocean circulation known as La Niña to her warmer sibling, El Niño. This cyclical warming of the ocean waters ...
Global warming may dent El Nino's protective shield from Atlantic hurricanes, increase droughts
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- El Niño, the periodic eastern Pacific phenomenon credited with shielding the United States and Caribbean from severe hurricane seasons, may be overshadowed by its brother in the central Pacific ...
Typhoon Choi-Wan swinging by Japan on weekend
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 18, 2009 |
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Typhoon Choi-Wan passed the island of Iwo To stirring up heavy surf, hurricane-force winds and torrential, flooding rains. This weekend, it will continue on its northeasterly track paralleling Japan, while ...
Slow-moving Marty headed for drier air, cooler waters
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 18, 2009 |
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Marty was still holding onto tropical storm status on September 18, with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph and taking a slow march through the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
