The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world’s oceans.
It covers an area of 63,855,000 mi2 (165,383,800 km2) and accounts for 46 percent of the total surface area of the Earth, greater than the combined surface area of all the land masses.
The eastern boundaries of the Pacific Ocean are the continents of North America and South America. The main western boundry of the Pacific Ocean is the continent of Asia, the country of Indonesia, and the continent of Australia. The remaining boundaries are island chains and several seas and straits on the northern and western edges, such as the Bering Sea and the Tasman Sea.
The Pacific Ocean is also the deepest ocean. The greatest known depth is 36,198 feet (11,033 meters) in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench southwest of Guam in the North Pacific. The Tonga Trench in the South Pacific measures a depth of 35,702 feet (10,882 meters). Several other trenches are also deeper than the deepest points of the other oceans.
There are many island groups in the Pacific Ocean which have disparate geological characteristics, but they are generally considered to be of two basic geological compositions. The Andesite Line divides the two basic types.
The groups in the western Pacific near the Asian and Australian continents have geological characteristics similar to that of the nearby land areas; examples of this type are Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, New Guinea, and New Zealand. The groups of the eastern Pacific, most located in the tropics, tend to be of three types: high volcanic islands, coral reefs, and atolls. Examples of these islands are the Gilberts, the Marianas, the Carolines, and the Marshalls north of the equator. The “Polynesian Triangle” from the Hawaiian Archipelago to Easter Island and New Zealand is found south of the equator.
The climate of the North Pacific and the climate of the South Pacific are determined by belts of air pressure and wind systems in a horizontal pattern. The winds from the continents, particularly from Asia, influence their effects.
Surface water currents rotate clockwise in the North Pacific and counterclockwise in the South Pacific, driven by winds, such as the trade winds and the Equatorical Countercurrent, which sometimes spreads to form the El Nino along the South American coast in January and February.
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