Article
Article
- Earth Science
- Oceanography
- Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Article By:
Reid, Joseph L. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.
Last reviewed:2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.481800
- Surface currents
- Temperature at the sea surface
- Salinity at the sea surface
- Dissolved oxygen at the sea surface
- Nutrients at the sea surface
- Distribution of properties with depth
- Links to Primary Literature
- Additional Readings
The Pacific Ocean has an area of 6.3 × 107 mi2 (1.65 × 108 km2) and a mean depth of 14,049 ft (4282 m). It covers 32% of the Earth's surface and 46% of the surface of all oceans and seas, and its area is greater than that of all land areas combined. Its mean depth is the greatest of the three oceans, and its volume is 53% of the total of all oceans. Its greatest depths in the Marianas and Japan trenches are the world's deepest, more than 6 mi (10 km; Fig. 1).
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