Although all the world's oceans could be considered as one since planet Earth is mostly covered by water, the Pacific Ocean it is from the largest ocean. It is one of the parts of the planet that houses 15.000 kilometers of territory. Its extension starts from Bering Sea and reaches the waters of southern Antarctica that are already frozen. Among its waters there are more than 25.000 islands located along the south of the Earth's equator. This makes it the ocean with the largest number of islands than the rest of the oceans combined.
In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics, origin, flora and fauna of the Pacific Ocean.
Origin of the Pacific Ocean
There are some scientific theories that state that the water that exist on our planet began to emerge due to a consequence of the volcanic activity of each with the rotating force that involves the realization of the cosmos. This means that approximately 10% of all the water that exists on the planet already existed in the origins. However, it only spread superficially around the entire territory.
This ocean, still today, it is still one of the great unknowns in the field of geology. One of the theories that is most used to sign the birth of the Pacific is that it occurred due to the convergence of plates that allowed an intersection. In this convergence of plants, a hole was created so that the lava can solidify to establish the most extensive ocean foundations in the world.
There is no evidence that this happened, but it is one of the phenomena that is most popular today. And it is very complex to be able to demonstrate this theory and any other. Another theory about the origin of the Pacific Ocean comes from a group of students who proposed that when a new tectonic plate arises, it is produced by the meeting of two others in a fault. In the case of these plates, it moves to its sides and produces an unstable situation from which an intersection or hole emerges. It is here that this ocean would originate.
Key features
We are going to highlight the main characteristics of the Pacific Ocean. In terms of location, it is a large body of water with salty characteristics that ranges from the Antarctic region to the northern Arctic. They also spread through western Australia and Asia and reach the south and north of the American continent on the eastern side. We can say that its limits are to the west with Oceania and Asia and to the east with America.
Regarding its size, we have said that it is the largest ocean in the world and corresponds to an area of 161,8 million square kilometers, with a depth that ranges between 4280 meters and 10 924 meters. This last figure is constantly changing since it is located in the Mariana Trench and expeditions are made for time if it can go deeper.
Given that has a volume of 714 839 310 cubic kilometers, allows you to achieve great wealth in terms of biological diversity. Its ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and this makes it very important for the ecological balance of the world.
Geology and climate
We are going to analyze which are the structural features and geological formation. The Pacific Ocean is the oldest and most extensive ocean basin of all. It can be dated to approximately 200 million years ago. Among the most important structural features of both the continental slope and the basin, they have been configured thanks to the various geological phenomena that take place in the areas near the edges of the tectonic plates.
Its continental shelf it is quite narrow in some regions of South America and North America, but quite wide in Australia and Asia. In this area, large amounts of wealth are usually accumulated in both biodiversity and geological materials. In the interior of the Pacific Ocean there is a Mesoceanic mountain range that has an extension of 8.700 kilometers and is found from the Gulf of California to the southern west of South America. It usually has an average height of 2130 meters above the seabed.
As for the climate, its temperature can be set in different climatic regions. Specifically, it is defined in 5 climatic regions. We have the area of the tropics, mid-latitudes, the typhoon area, the monsoon region and the equator. The trade winds develop in the middle latitudes and are to the south and north of the equator. The temperature is fairly constant throughout the year and is between 21 and 27 degrees.
Flora and fauna of the Pacific Ocean
It is often believed that the waters of the Pacific Ocean have a homogeneous and calm nature. However, any area, even pelagic, is very varied just like any other terrestrial ecosystem. Here various maritime currents stand out and, therefore, vegetation becomes the most important food resource for ocean animals. Seaweed and chlorophytes abound. They are a division of green algae that include up to 8200 species and are characterized by having chlorophyll a and b. There are also large amounts of red algae that are characterized by reddish tones due to the pigments of phycocyanin and phycoerythrin.
Regarding the fauna, because its extension is overwhelming, it stores thousands of species, especially fish. Here the plankton is the basis of all food and of the food web. Most of the species that make up plankton are transparent and show some colors when viewed through a microscope. Colors usually range from red to blue. Some of them have luminescence since there are areas of depths where sunlight does not reach. In marine fauna there are all kinds of fish, sharks, cetaceans, crustaceans, etc.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the Pacific Ocean and its characteristics.