Doreen Gonzales - The Huge Pacific Ocean

THE HUGE PACIFIC OCEAN

Doreen Gonzales

T he

Gonzales is

O u r E a r t h s O c e a n s

The

huge

Pacific

OceaN

Doreen Gonzales

Enslow Elementary

an imprint of

E

Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Industrial Road Box Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922 USA

http: //www. enslow. com

Enslow Elementary, an imprint of Enslow Publishers, Inc. Enslow Elementary is a registered trademark of Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Copyright 2013 by Enslow Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Gonzales, Doreen.

The huge Pacific ocean / Doreen Gonzales. p. cm. ( Our earth's oceans) Includes index. Summary: Learn about the world's largest ocean, its sea floor, and the animals that call the Pacific Ocean home.

Also read about the people who have explored it and what is being done to keep the Pacific clean Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-0-7660-4090-8 Pacific Ocean Juvenile literature. I. Title. GC771. G65 2013 46'14 dc23 2012007614

Future editions: Paperback ISBN 978-1-4644-0151-0 ePUB ISBN 978-1-4645-1058-8 Single User PDF ISBN 978-1-4646-1058-5 Multi-User PDF ISBN 978-0-7660-4436-4

Printed in the United States of America 102012 Lake Book Manufacturing, Inc. , Melrose Park, IL

To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all Internet Addresses in this book were active and appropriate when we went to press. However, the author and the publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on those Internet sites or on other Web sites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by e-mail to comments@enslow. com or to the address on the back cover.

Enslow Publishers, Inc. , is committed to printing our books on recycled paper. The paper in every book contains 10% to 30% post-consumer waste ( PCW) . The cover board on the outside of each book contains 100% PCW. Our goal is to do our part to help young people and the environment too!

Photo Credits: 2011 Photos. com, a division of Getty Images. All rights reserved. , pp. 28, 33, 34, 35; 2011 Photos. com, a division of Getty Images. All rights reserved. : Boris Ryzhkov, p. ( right) , Chad Anderson, p. 13, GentooMultimediaLimited, p. 29, Radu Razvan, p. ( left) ; Corel Corporation, pp. 14, 24, 30, 31, 43; Courtesy of Wildlife Conversation Society, p. ( left) ; Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2002, NOAA/OER, pp. 18, 20; iStockphoto. com: Classix, p. 10, Russell Tate, p. 4; NOAA( National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) , pp. 19, 21, ( right) , 41; NOAA ( National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) : Jaime Hall, p. 27, Kip Evans, pp. 23, 26, Scot Anderson, p. 25; OAR/National Undersea Research Program ( NURP) ; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, p. 38; Shutterstock. com, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 16, 22, 32, 39, 42, 44; This image comes from The Report of the Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger during the years 1873-1876 published 1885-95. , p. 37; Tom LaBaff, p.

Cover Photos: Shutterstock. com

Table of

CONTENTS

The Earths Largest Ocean

Ocean Resources

The Ocean Floor

An Ocean of Life

Ocean Exploration

A Healthy Sea

Pacific Ocean Facts Words to Know Learn More ( Books and Web Sites) Index

Chapter The Earth's LARGEST OCEAN

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth. It covers over million square miles (155 million square kilometers). This is almost one third of the earths surface. The Pacific Ocean is so big that all of the worlds land could float on top of it with room to spare.

The Pacific Ocean stretches from the Arctic Circle in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south. Asia and Australia form

its western borders, and North and South America are its eastern boundaries.

The Pacific holds several seas. Sea is another word for ocean. It can also mean a small part of an ocean. Pacific seas include the Bering Sea, the Sea of Japan, and the South China Sea.

More than twenty thousand islands dot the Pacific. The people who live on these islands have many different cultures.

Climate

In the north, the Pacific Ocean has long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Along the equator, temperatures stay hot all year. This area is called the tropics. In the south, the Pacific has cool winters and mild summers.

The water temperature near the equator is about 81F (27C) . The farther the water is from the equator, the cooler its temperature. The temperature also drops as the water gets deeper. The water at the bottom of the ocean is just above freezing.

The Pacific Ocean has two main currents that move in a circular pattern. A current is like a river within the ocean. The North Pacific current travels clockwise. The other main current is in the South Pacific. It moves counterclockwise.

The air above the ocean is always moving, too. Ocean winds cause waves. The size of the waves depends on how hard and how long the wind blows. Gentle winds called trade winds always blow toward the equator.

This view from the sky shows the Pacific Ocean near Thailand.

Winds can also be destructive. Storms called typhoons and hurricanes begin in tropical waters. They have winds that can whirl up to miles (241 kilometers) per hour.

Tides

Pacific waters also move in tides. Tides are caused by the moons gravity. It is always pulling water toward it. This causes each ocean wave that hits the shore to go a little farther onto land. When water has risen to its highest level, it is said to be at high tide. At this point, the earth and moon begin changing position.