A problem occurred finding the results. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The northeastern Pacific margin is the strike-slip zone where the American Plate and the Pacific Plate are gliding laterally past each other via the major San Andreas Fault system. Its area, excluding adjacent seas, encompasses about 63.8 million square miles (165.25 million square km). The central Pacific region lies between the boundaries of the eastern and western regions. To the south of Micronesia lies Melanesia, which consists mostly of small coral islands. From north to south they include the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. The western Pacific arcs of volcanic islands and deep trenches are convergent zones where two plates are colliding, one being subducted (forced under the other). To the south of Australia the boundary extends across the Bass Strait and thence from Tasmania to Antarctica. Pacific Ocean, body of salt water extending from the Antarctic region in the south to the Arctic in the north and lying between the continents of Asia and Australia on the west and North and South America on the east. Coeditor of. They cover large areas of the ocean floor in the Pacific. It has double the area and more than double the water volume of the Atlantic Ocean—the next largest division of the hydrosphere—and its area more than exceeds that of the whole land surface of the globe. South East The Brighton Pier in England. The Pacific Ocean stretches from the shores of Antarctica to the Bering Strait through 135° of latitude, some 9,600 miles (15,500 km). In the Southern Hemisphere the Pacific and Atlantic mix in the relatively narrow Drake Passage between Tierra del Fuego in South America and Graham Land in Antarctica. The Hawaiian Ridge extends westward from Hawaii to the 180° meridian. The northernmost chain of oceanic islands is associated with the Hawaiian Ridge. The western, or Asiatic, coastal boundary, in contrast, is irregular. Apart from the narrow coastal zone of the eastern region and the broad continental seas of the western region, the Pacific is floored with pelagic (oceanic) material derived from the remains of marine plants and animals that once inhabited the waters lying above. To the south of the Galapagos lies the Peru Basin, which is separated by the extensive Sala y Gómez Ridge from the Southeast Pacific Basin, which in turn is separated from the Southwest Pacific Basin by the East Pacific Rise and indeterminate Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, which runs from the Sala y Gómez Ridge to Antarctica in the vicinity of 150° W. Extending southward from the Tasman Basin (between New Zealand and eastern Australia) is the Macquarie Ridge, which forms a major boundary between the deep waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. We are sorry. The Hawaiian archipelago consists of about 2,000 islands, although the term Hawaiian Islands is usually applied to the small group that lies at the eastern end of the archipelago. Significant oceanic trenches in this region are the Middle America Trench in the North Pacific and the Peru-Chile Trench in the South Pacific. A geologically important boundary between the continental, or “high,” islands and the numerous truly oceanic, or “low,” islands of the Pacific is the Andesite Line, a region of intense volcanic and seismic activity. The East Pacific Rise is an active spreading centre where new crust is being created. The immense area of Polynesia includes the Hawaiian Islands, the Phoenix Islands, Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, the Society Islands, Tuamotu, and the Marquesas. Associate Professor of Geography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu. Similar processes form coatings, called manganese crusts, on the rock surfaces of seamounts. Wholesale highlights of our 2020-2025 business plan. The region’s physiography is dominated by a group of large continental islands, however, including New Guinea. The islands of the western region—including the Aleutians, the Kurils, the Ryukyus, Taiwan, the Malay Archipelago (including New Guinea), and New Zealand—are continental in character. Calcareous globigerina ooze occurs in the shallower parts of the South Pacific, the dissolving power of the seawater at great depths being sufficient to dissolve calcareous material to such an extent that these oozes are not generally found at depths in excess of about 15,000 feet (4,600 metres). Bay Area Region includes… Headquartered in Snodland, Kent – South East Water is one of 21 regulated water supply companies in England and Wales, and we have 2.2 million people living in our supply area who depend on us to deliver safe, high quality drinking water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Minerals from seawater and alluvial deposits, Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Pacific Ocean, Pacific Ocean - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Pacific Ocean - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). This article treats the physical and human geography of the Pacific Ocean. North East Inner City and Cabra - Glasnevin: 122,000: 14: Sean McDermott Street and Cabra: South East: South East Inner City, Pembroke and Kimmage – Rathmines: 142,000: 16: Civic Offices and Crumlin: South Central: Ballyfermot-Drimnagh and South West Inner … These ridges include the Aleutian Ridge in the northwestern Pacific; the series of ridges extending southward through the Kuril, Bonin, and Mariana island groups, and the archipelagoes of Yap and Palau; those extending eastward from New Guinea, including the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon and Santa Cruz island chains; and, finally, the ridges extending southward, from which rise the Samoa, Tonga, Kermadec, and Chatham island groups, as well as Macquarie Island. The summit of a partially submerged volcano forms the outline of Kraternaya Bay, Yankich Island, in the Kuril Islands of Russia. Nearly all are coralline; the principal groups are the Marianas, the Marshalls, the Carolines, Kiribati (Gilbert Islands), and Tuvalu (Ellice Islands). The area is based on the centre of your postcode. The numerous tropical islands of the Pacific are mainly coralline. Got It, To see if there are more features which affect this area you can turn feature types on and off using the tickboxes in the Key. To cover the cost of supplying you with water and sewerage services, water suppliers charge customers a yearly water rate. Its greatest longitudinal extent measures some 12,000 miles (19,300 km) along latitude 5° N, between the coasts of Colombia in South America and the Malay Peninsula in Asia. People and Communities The overall population in … A belt of diatom ooze occurs between latitudes 45° and 60° S and across the North Pacific, between Japan and Alaska. With an area of 19,096 km2, South East region is the third largest among the other nine regions of England. The separation between the Pacific and Indian oceans is less distinct, but generally it is considered to lie along the line of islands extending eastward from Sumatra, through Java to Timor, thence across the Timor Sea to Cape Londonderry in Australia. The continental shelf, which runs parallel to it, is narrow, while the adjacent continental slope is very steep. They lie, in the main, between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and occur in great numbers in the western Pacific. Mountainous coastline of the eastern Pacific Ocean, Big Sur, California. We are relied upon to maintain water supply to 5,657km² of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire. The eastern boundary of the Pacific is associated with the American cordilleran system, which stretches from Alaska in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south. The mean depth of the Pacific (excluding adjacent seas) is 14,040 feet (4,280 metres), and its greatest known depth is 36,201 feet (11,034 metres)—in the Mariana Trench—also the greatest depth found in any ocean. The principal types of coral reefs—fringing, barrier, and atoll—as well as the guyots, which rise within the Pacific from the ocean floor in latitudes north and south of the tropics, are explained partially by the slow subsidence theory advanced by the English naturalist Charles Darwin during the 19th century and partially by the theory of plate tectonics. It is of oceanographic significance that the great rivers of eastern Asia—including the Amur, the Huang He (Yellow River), the Yangtze, the Xi and Pearl (Zhu), and the Mekong—enter the Pacific indirectly by way of the marginal seas. For discussion of the physical and chemical oceanography and marine geology of the Pacific, see ocean. Silica-containing material, such as radiolarian and diatom ooze, is found at greater depths, but even these siliceous remains are dissolved at very great depths, where the characteristic deposit is red clay. South East region had a population of over 8,634,750 as of 2011 and is highly populated compared to the other regions. Information about the quality of the drinking water supplied to your home or business can be The Pacific basin may conveniently be divided into three major physiographic regions: the eastern, western, and central Pacific regions. The seaward boundary of the western Pacific region is marked by a broken line of oceanic trenches, extending from the Aleutian Trench in the north through the Kuril and Japan trenches and southward to the Tonga and Kermadec trenches, terminating close to the northeast of North Island, New Zealand. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.