Natural resources of the seas of the Pacific Ocean. Geographical location and natural features

The world ocean is great amount water and the earth's crust below it, its area significantly exceeds the land area. Such a territory has a huge supply of resources that are actively used by man. What resources are rich in the ocean and how do they help people?

Aquatic

The volume of the World Ocean is 1370 million square meters. km. This is 96% of the entire hydrosphere of the Earth. Despite the fact that sea water is not suitable for drinking, it is used in production, on the farm. In addition, desalination plants have been developed that can turn sea water into drinking water. In the Arctic Ocean, except sea water, exist huge stock fresh water in the form of glaciers.

Rice. 1. Most main resource oceans - water

mineral

The ocean water itself Earth's crust under it are rich in all sorts of minerals. The following species are found in the water:

magnesium;
potassium;
bromine;

In total, ocean water contains about 75 chemical elements. Oil and natural gas are extracted from the shelf. In total, 30 oil and gas production basins have been developed in the World Ocean. The largest deposits are situated in Persian Gulf indian ocean. Iron and manganese ore have been found in deep water areas. Most of them are mined now in the Pacific Ocean. Stone ore is mined in Japan and Great Britain, and sulfur is mined in the USA. Placers of gold and diamonds are located off the coast of Africa, and amber is mined on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

Rice. 2. There are deposits of amber off the coast of the Baltic Sea

In the waters of the oceans there is a huge amount of uranium and deuterium. The development of ways to isolate these elements from water is being actively pursued, as uranium reserves on land are disappearing.

Energy

The ability of water to ebb and flow provides energy resources. With the help of water energy, thermal and mechanical energy is generated. The following countries have the greatest potential:

Australia;
Canada;
England;
France;
Argentina;
Russia.

The height of the tides here can reach 15 meters, which means that the power of water energy is much greater.

Rice. 3. Tidal power powers hydroelectric power plants

Biological

The biological resources of the oceans include plants and animals that live in its waters. They are quite diverse - about 140 thousand species are found here. biological objects. The biomass volume of the World Ocean is 35 billion tons.

The most common industry is fishing. With the help of fish and seafood, humanity provides itself with protein, fatty acids, microelements. Microscopic organisms are used to make animal feed. Algae are used in various types of production - chemical, food, pharmaceutical.

The largest fish catch is observed in the shelf zone of the oceans. The richest in this regard is the Pacific Ocean, as the largest and climatically favorable. In second place is the Atlantic Ocean. The natural resources of the Pacific Ocean are the most exposed to destruction. There are many ways of communication, as a result of which ocean waters are heavily polluted.

Today, there are plantations in the seas, on which some organisms are bred. In Japan, pearl oysters are bred, in European countries - mussels. Such a fishery is called mariculture.

recreational

The resources of the World Ocean are also recreational. These include those parts of the ocean that are used for recreation, entertainment, scientific excursions. It is impossible to evaluate all the recreational opportunities of the World Ocean in full. Almost all coasts of the ocean are used for recreation, with the exception of the Arctic. 4.6. Total ratings received: 266.

In February of this year, the XV Pacific Science Congress will open in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. Almost four years have passed since the XIV Pacific Scientific Congress, which took place in our country in Khabarovsk.

The Congress attracted about two thousand scientists - representatives of all continents. It was attended by the largest scientists of the countries of the world who have been studying the Pacific Ocean for a long time and made a significant contribution to its knowledge, as well as representatives of young developing countries just starting research.

A wide range of problems was discussed at the congress: from the geology of the seabed and its continental framing to the whole variety of biological and oceanological issues, from medicine to social and humanitarian issues - such is the range of reports and discussions of the congress. Special attention was given to global issues of protection and protection of the environment.

Nearly half of the population lives in the Pacific the globe. The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest, it contains most of all the waters of the oceans. natural processes flowing in the Pacific Ocean are the regulators of the life processes of the entire Earth. water shell The ocean forms the climate, controls the weather, and is a source of moisture and a heat accumulator for a large part of our planet. This determines its significance for the Earth and humanity.

Geological phenomena occurring in the crust of this ocean have a significant impact on geological processes continents. Without knowing the geology of the ocean, we cannot uncover the whole story. geological development Earth, to understand the patterns of formation of its crust and the distribution of minerals. This problem is one of the leading problems of our time.

In our country, the study of the World Ocean is a state task. The reports at the 25th and 26th CPSU Congresses noted the need to explore and use the resources of the ocean as one of the most important tasks, on the solution of which the future of mankind depends.

The Pacific region is a huge treasury of natural resources, a source of biological, mineral and energy resources. To study this treasury and make it serve humanity is a task worthy of the attention of world science. The future of mankind is largely connected with the development of ocean resources. The Pacific Ocean is of particular importance in providing food; it provides over 60% of the world's fish catch, is in first place in the extraction of algae, crabs and other seafood.

AT recent times big practical value acquire geological studies of the bottom. Large accumulations of iron-manganese nodules containing nickel, cobalt and a number of other rare elements so necessary for the national economy have been found here.

At great depths of the rift zones, thick deposits of metal-bearing silts containing polymetals have been discovered. The Pacific shelf in the future may become one of the important suppliers of oil and gas.

Serious problems are facing scientists studying physical processes in the Pacific Ocean. Significant progress has been made in this area, but as researchers penetrate the secrets of the Pacific Ocean, they increasingly understand that the processes occurring in the ocean are global in nature and their study requires the organization of synchronous observations over a vast area. This is possible only on the basis of international cooperation, since none of the countries is able to concentrate in one area a sufficient number of ships, specialists and measuring equipment.

One of the most urgent problems of the Pacific region is the protection of nature and its protection from pollution. Society, armed with modern technology, is increasingly being introduced into the ocean, and the ocean ceases to be as boundless and bottomless as it seemed before, and its natural resources are inexhaustible and the volume of water is such that an unlimited amount of industrial and domestic waste can be dumped there. All this was demonstrated at the congress. A number of reports on physical oceanology and marine biology have convincingly shown that not a single region of the World Ocean can serve as a place for the disposal of any kind of waste. It has also been demonstrated that the violation of the ecological balance in the ocean due to its pollution can lead to irreparable consequences.

The Congress revealed the most complex natural, environmental and socio-economic scientific problems Pacific region. He also showed that the solution of these problems is possible only under the condition of a broad international cooperation, in the conditions of peaceful coexistence of the peoples of the planet.

The Great, or Pacific, Ocean is the greatest ocean on Earth. It accounts for about half (49%) of the area and more than half (53%) of the volume of the waters of the World Ocean, and the surface area is equal to almost a third of the entire surface of the Earth as a whole. In terms of the number (about 10 thousand) and the total area (more than 3.5 million km2) of islands, it ranks first among the rest of the oceans of the Earth.

In the northwest and west, the Pacific Ocean is bounded by the shores of Eurasia and Australia, in the northeast and east by the shores of North and South America. Border with the North Arctic Ocean is carried out through the Bering Strait along the Arctic Circle. The southern border of the Pacific Ocean (as well as the Atlantic and Indian) is considered the northern coast of Antarctica. When identifying the Southern (Antarctic) Ocean, its northern boundary is drawn along the waters of the World Ocean, depending on the change in regime surface water from temperate latitudes to Antarctic. It runs approximately between 48 and 60°S. (Fig. 3).

Borders with other oceans south of Australia and South America are also conditionally drawn along the water surface: with the Indian Ocean - from Cape South East Point at about 147 ° E, with the Atlantic Ocean - from Cape Horn to the Antarctic Peninsula. In addition to a wide connection with other oceans in the south, there is communication between the Pacific and the northern part of the Indian Ocean through the interisland seas and the straits of the Sunda archipelago.

The area of the Pacific Ocean from the Bering Strait to the coast of Antarctica is 178 million km2, the volume of water is 710 million km3.

The northern and western (Eurasian) coasts of the Pacific Ocean are dissected by seas (there are more than 20 of them), bays and straits that separate large peninsulas, islands and entire archipelagos of continental and volcanic origin. Coast of Eastern Australia, southern part North America and especially South America, as a rule, are straightforward and difficult to access from the ocean. With a huge surface area and linear dimensions (more than 19 thousand km from west to east and about 16 thousand km from north to south), the Pacific Ocean is characterized by a weak development of the continental margin (only 10% of the bottom area) and a relatively small number of shelf seas.

Within the intertropical space, the Pacific Ocean is characterized by accumulations of volcanic and coral islands.

still exist various points point of view on the question of the time of formation of the Pacific Ocean in its modern form, but, obviously, by the end of the Paleozoic era, a vast reservoir already existed on the site of its basin, as well as the ancient pro-continent Pangea, located approximately symmetrically with respect to the equator. At the same time, the formation of the future Tethys Ocean began in the form of a huge bay, the development of which and the invasion of Pangea subsequently led to its disintegration and the formation of modern continents and oceans.

The bed of the modern Pacific Ocean is formed by a system of lithospheric plates bounded on the ocean side by mid-ocean ridges, which are part of global system mid-ocean ridges. These are the East Pacific Rise and the South Pacific Ridge, which, reaching a width of up to 2,000 km in some places, join together in the southern part of the ocean and continue to the west, into the Indian Ocean. The East Pacific Ridge, extending to the northeast, to the coast of North America, in the Gulf of California region, connects with the system of continental rift faults of the California Valley, the Yosemite Trench and the San Andreas Fault. The median ridges of the Pacific Ocean, in contrast to the ridges of other oceans, do not have a clearly defined axial rift zone, but are characterized by intense seismicity and volcanism with a predominance of ejecta of ultramafic rocks, i.e., they have the features of a zone of intensive renewal of the oceanic lithosphere. Throughout the entire length of the median ridges and adjacent sections of the plates are crossed by deep transverse faults, which are also characterized by the development of modern and, especially, ancient intra-plate volcanism. Located between the median ridges and bounded by deep-sea trenches and transitional zones, the vast bed of the Pacific Ocean has a complexly dissected surface, consisting of a large number of basins with a depth of 5000 to 7000 m or more, the bottom of which is composed of oceanic crust covered with deep-sea clays, limestones and silts of organic origin. . The relief of the bottom of the basins is predominantly hilly. The deepest basins (about 7000 m or more): Central, West Mariana, Philippine, South, Northeast, East Caroline.

The basins are separated from each other or crossed by arched uplifts or blocky ridges, on which volcanic structures are planted, often crowned with coral structures within the intertropical space. Their peaks protrude above the water in the form of small islands, often grouped into linearly elongated archipelagos. Some of them are still active volcanoes spewing basaltic lava flows. But for the most part these are already extinct volcanoes built on coral reefs. Some of these volcanic mountains are located at a depth of 200 to 2000 m. Their peaks are leveled by abrasion; the position deep under water is obviously associated with the lowering of the bottom. Formations of this type are called guyots.

Of particular interest among the archipelagos of the Central Pacific Ocean are the Hawaiian Islands. They form a chain 2500 km long, stretched north and south of the Tropic of the North, and are the tops of huge volcanogenic massifs rising from the ocean floor along a powerful deep fault. Their visible height is from 1000 to 4200 m, and the underwater one is approximately 5000 m. internal structure and appearance Hawaiian Islands - typical example oceanic intraplate volcanism.

The Hawaiian Islands are the northern outskirts of the huge island group of the central Pacific Ocean, which bears the common name "Polynesia". The continuation of this group up to about 10°S. are the islands of Central and Southern Polynesia (Samoa, Cook, Society, Tabuai, Marquesas, etc.). These archipelagos, as a rule, are elongated from the northwest to the southeast, along the lines of transform faults. Most of them are of volcanic origin and are composed of strata of basaltic lava. Some are crowned with wide and gentle volcanic cones 1000-2000 m high. The smallest islands in most cases are coral buildings. Numerous clusters of small islands, located mainly north of the equator, in the western part of the Pacific lithospheric plate, have similar features: the Mariana, Caroline, Marshall and Palau islands, as well as the Gilbert archipelago, which partially enters the southern hemisphere. These groups of small islands are collectively known as Micronesia. All of them are of coral or volcanic origin, are mountainous and rise hundreds of meters above sea level. The coasts are surrounded by surface and underwater coral reefs, which greatly impede navigation. Many small islands are atolls. Near some of the islands there are deep ocean trenches, and to the west of the Mariana Archipelago there is a deep-water trench of the same name, which belongs to the transition zone between the ocean and the Eurasian mainland.

In the part of the Pacific Ocean bed adjacent to the American continents, small isolated volcanic islands are usually scattered: Juan Fernandez, Cocos, Easter, etc. The largest and most interesting group is the Galapagos Islands, located near the equator near the coast of South America. This is an archipelago of 16 large and many small volcanic islands with peaks of extinct and active volcanoes up to 1700 m high.

The transitional zones from the ocean to the continents differ in the structure of the ocean floor and the features of tectonic processes both in the geological past and at the present time. They encircle the Pacific Ocean in the west, north and east. AT different parts ocean, the processes of formation of these zones proceed differently and lead to different results, but everywhere they are very active both in the geological past and at the present time.

From the side of the ocean floor, the transition zones are limited by arcs of deep-sea trenches, in the direction of which the lithospheric plates move and the oceanic lithosphere sinks under the continents. Within the transition zones in the structure of the ocean floor and marginal seas transitional types of the earth's crust predominate, and oceanic types of volcanism are replaced by mixed effusive-explosive volcanism of subduction zones. Here we are talking about the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", which encircles the Pacific Ocean and is characterized by high seismicity, numerous manifestations of paleovolcanism and volcanic landforms, as well as the existence within its limits of more than 75% of the planet's currently active volcanoes. Basically, this is a mixed effusive-explosive volcanism of medium composition.

Most clearly all the typical features of the transition zone are expressed within the northern and western margins of the Pacific Ocean, that is, off the coast of Alaska, Eurasia and Australia. This wide strip between the ocean floor and land, including the underwater margins of the continents, is unique in its complexity of structure and in the ratio between land and water area, it is distinguished by significant fluctuations in depths and heights, the intensity of processes occurring both in the depths of the earth's crust and on the water surface.

The outer margin of the transition zone in the north Pacific Ocean is formed by the Aleutian deep-sea trench, which extends for 4000 km in a convex arc southward from the Gulf of Alaska to the shores of the Kamchatka Peninsula, with a maximum depth of 7855 m. This trench, towards which the movement of lithospheric plates of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean from the rear it borders the underwater foot of the chain of the Aleutian Islands, most of them are volcanoes of the explosive-effusive type. About 25 of them are active.

A continuation of this zone off the coast of Eurasia is a system of deep-water trenches, with which the deepest parts of the World Ocean are connected, and at the same time, areas of the most complete and diverse manifestation of volcanism, both ancient and modern, both on island arcs and on the outskirts of the mainland. In the rear of the Kuril-Kamchatka deep-sea trench (maximum depth over 9700 m) is the Kamchatka Peninsula with its 160 volcanoes, of which 28 are active, and the arc of the volcanic Kuril Islands with 40 active volcanoes. The Kuriles are the peaks of an underwater mountain range that rises above the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk by 2000-3000 m, and the maximum depth of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench running from the Pacific Ocean exceeds 10,500 m.

The system of deep-water trenches continues to the south with the Japan Trench, and the volcanogenic zone continues with the extinct and active volcanoes of the Japan Islands. The entire system of trenches, as well as island arcs, starting from the Kamchatka Peninsula, separates the shallow shelf seas of Okhotsk and East China from the mainland of Eurasia, as well as the depression of the Sea of Japan located between them with a maximum depth of 3720 m.

Near the southern part of the Japanese Islands, the transition zone expands and becomes more complex; complex structure and a maximum depth of more than 7000 m. From the Pacific Ocean, it is limited by the Mariana Trench with a maximum depth of the World Ocean of 11,022 m and the arch of the Mariana Islands. The inner branch, which limits the Philippine Sea from the west, is formed by the Ryukyu Trench and the Ryukyu Islands and continues further by the Philippine Trench and the arc of the Philippine Islands. The Philippine Trench stretches along the foot of the islands of the same name for more than 1,300 km and has a maximum depth of 10,265 m. There are ten active islands and many extinct volcanoes. Between island arcs and Southeast Asia within offshore are the East China and most of the South China Sea (the largest in this region). Only East End The South China Sea and the interisland seas of the Malay Archipelago reach depths of more than 5,000 m, and the earth's crust of a transitional type serves as their base.

Along the equator, the transition zone within the Sunda Archipelago and its island seas continues towards the Indian Ocean. There are a total of 500 volcanoes on the islands of Indonesia, of which 170 are active.

The southern region of the Pacific transitional zone northeast of Australia is distinguished by great complexity. It extends from Kalimantan to New Guinea and further south to 20°S, fringing the Sohul-Queensland shelf of Australia from the north. This entire section of the transition zone is a complex combination of deep-sea trenches with depths of 6000 m or more, underwater ridges and island arcs, separated by basins or areas of shallow water.

Off the east coast of Australia, between New Guinea and New Caledonia, lies the Coral Sea. From the east, it is limited by a system of deep-water trenches and island arcs (New Hebrides, etc.). The depths of the basin of the Coral and other seas of this transitional area (the Fiji Sea and especially the Tasman Sea) reach 5000-9000 m, their bottom is composed of an oceanic or transitional type of crust.

The hydrological regime of the northern part of this area favors the development of corals, which are especially common in the Coral Sea. On the Australian side, it is limited by a unique natural structure - the Great Barrier Reef, which stretches along the continental shelf for 2300 km and reaches a width of 150 km in the southern part. It consists of individual islands and entire archipelagos, built of limestone coral and surrounded by underwater reefs of living and dead coral polyps. Narrow channels crossing the Great Barrier Reef lead to the so-called Great Lagoon, the depth of which does not exceed 50 m.

From the side of the Southern Basin, the ocean floor between the islands of Fiji and Samoa extends to the southwest, the second, external to the ocean, arc of trenches: Tonga (its depth of 10,882 m is the maximum depth of the World Ocean in the southern hemisphere) and its continuation Kermadec, maximum depth which also exceeds 10 thousand m. From the side of the Fiji Sea, the Tonga and Kermadec trenches are limited by underwater ridges and arcs of the islands of the same name. In total, they stretch for 2000 km to the North Island of New Zealand. The archipelago rises above the underwater plateau that serves as its pedestal. This is special type structures of the underwater margins of the continents and transitional zones, called microcontinents. They vary in size and represent uplifts composed of continental crust, crowned with islands and surrounded on all sides by basins with oceanic-type crust within the World Ocean.

The transitional zone of the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, facing the continents of North and South America, differs significantly from its western margin. There are no marginal seas or island arcs. From south Alaska to Central America stretches a strip of a narrow shelf with mainland islands. Along the western coast of Central America, as well as from the equator along the outskirts of South America, there is a system of deep-water trenches - the Central American, Peruvian and Chilean (Atakama) with maximum depths respectively, more than 6000 and 8000 m. Obviously, the process of formation of this part of the ocean and neighboring continents proceeded in the interaction of the deep-sea trenches that existed at that time and continental lithospheric plates. North America moved over and closed the trenches on its way to the west, and the South American Plate moved the Atacama Trench to the west. In both cases, as a result of the interaction of oceanic and continental structures, there was a collapse into folds, uplift of the marginal parts of both continents and the formation of powerful suture zones - the North American Cordilleras and the Andes of South America. Each of these structural zones is characterized by intense seismicity and manifestation of mixed types of volcanism. OKLeontiev found it possible to compare them with the underwater ridges of the island arcs of the western transitional zone of the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean extends between 60° north and south latitude. In the north, it is almost closed by the land of Eurasia and North America, separated from each other only by the shallow Bering Strait with the smallest width of 86 km, connecting the Bering Sea of the Pacific Ocean with the Chukchi Sea, which is part of the Arctic Ocean.

Eurasia and North America extend south as far as the Tropic of the North in the form of vast massive landmasses, which are the centers of the formation of continental air, capable of influencing the climate and hydrological conditions of neighboring parts of the ocean. South of the Tropic of the North, the land acquires a fragmentary character; to the coast of Antarctica, its large land areas are only Australia in the southwest of the ocean and South America in the east, especially its extended part between the equator and 20 ° S. latitude. South of 40°S The Pacific Ocean, together with the Indian and Atlantic, merge into a single water surface, not interrupted by large areas of land, over which oceanic air of temperate latitudes is formed, and where Antarctic air masses freely penetrate.

The Pacific Ocean reaches its greatest width (almost 20 thousand km) within the tropical equatorial space, i.e. in that part of it, where during the year the most intensively and regularly enters thermal energy sun. As a result, the Pacific receives more solar heat during the year than other parts of the oceans. And since the distribution of heat in the atmosphere and on the water surface depends not only on the direct distribution solar radiation, but also from air exchange between land and water surface and water exchange between various parts of the World Ocean, it is quite clear that the thermal equator over the Pacific Ocean is shifted to the northern hemisphere and runs approximately between 5 and 10 ° N, and the northern part of the Pacific Ocean is generally warmer than the southern one.

Let us consider the main baric systems that determine the meteorological conditions (wind activity, precipitation, air temperature), as well as the hydrological regime of surface waters (systems of currents, temperature of surface and subsurface waters, salinity) of the Pacific Ocean during the year. First of all, this is the near-equatorial depression (calm zone), somewhat extended towards the northern hemisphere. This is especially pronounced in the summer of the northern hemisphere, when an extensive and deep baric depression with a center in the Indus River basin is established over the strongly heated Eurasia. In the direction of this depression, streams of humid unstable air rush from the subtropical high-pressure centers of both the northern and southern hemispheres. Most of the northern half of the Pacific Ocean at this time is occupied by the North Pacific maximum, along the southern and eastern periphery of which monsoons blow towards Eurasia. They are associated with heavy rainfall, the amount of which increases towards the south. The second monsoon stream moves from southern hemisphere, from the tropical zone of high pressure. In the northwest, there is a weakened western transfer towards North America.

In the southern hemisphere, where it is winter at this time, strong westerly winds, carrying air from temperate latitudes, cover the waters of all three oceans south of the 40°S parallel. almost to the coast of Antarctica, where they are replaced by east and southeast winds blowing from the mainland. The western transfer operates in these latitudes of the southern hemisphere and in the summer, but with less force. Winter conditions in these latitudes are characterized by heavy precipitation, storm winds, and high waves. With a large number of icebergs and floating sea ice, travel in this part of the oceans is fraught with great dangers. It is not for nothing that navigators have long called these latitudes the “roaring forties”.

At the corresponding latitudes in the northern hemisphere, the western transport is also the dominant atmospheric process, but due to the fact that this part of the Pacific Ocean is closed by land from the north, west and east, in winter there is a slightly different meteorological situation than in the southern hemisphere. With the western transport, cold and dry continental air enters the ocean from the side of Eurasia. It is involved in the closed system of the Aleutian Low, which is formed over the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, is transformed and carried to the coast of North America by southwestern winds, leaving abundant precipitation in the coastal zone and on the slopes of the Cordilleras of Alaska and Canada.

Wind systems, water exchange, features of the topography of the ocean floor, the position of the continents and the outlines of their coasts affect the formation of the surface currents of the ocean, and they, in turn, determine many features of the hydrological regime. In the Pacific Ocean, with its vast dimensions, within the intratropical space, there is a powerful system of currents generated by the trade winds of the northern and southern hemispheres. In accordance with the direction of movement of the trade winds along the margins of the North Pacific and South Pacific Ocean maxima facing the equator, these currents move from east to west, reaching a width of more than 2000 km. The North Trade Wind flows from the shores of Central America to the Philippine Islands, where it divides into two branches. The southern one partially spreads over the interisland seas and partially feeds the surface inter-trade countercurrent that runs along the equator and to the north of it, advancing towards the Central American isthmus. The northern, more powerful branch of the North Trade Wind Current goes to the island of Taiwan, and then enters the East China Sea, skirting the Japanese islands from the east, gives rise to a powerful system of warm currents in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean: this is the Kuroshio Current, or the Japanese Current, moving at a speed of 25 to 80 cm/s. Near the island of Kyushu, the Kuroshio forks, and one of the branches enters the Sea of Japan under the name of the Tsushima Current, the other goes out into the ocean and follows the eastern coast of Japan, until at 40 ° N. latitude. it is not pushed to the east by the cold Kuril-Kamchatka countercurrent, or Oyashio. The continuation of Kuroshio to the east is called the Kuroshio Drift, and then the North Pacific Current, which is directed to the coast of North America at a speed of 25-50 cm / s. In the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, north of the 40th parallel, the North Pacific Current branches into the warm Alaska Current, heading towards the shores of South Alaska, and the cold California Current. The latter, following along the shores of the mainland, flows south of the tropic into the North Equatorial Current, closing the northern circulation of the Pacific Ocean.

Most of the Pacific Ocean north of the equator is dominated by high surface water temperatures. This is facilitated by the large width of the ocean in the intertropical space, as well as the system of currents that carry the warm waters of the Northern Equatorial Current to the north along the coasts of Eurasia and its neighboring islands.

The Northern Tradewind current carries water with a temperature of 25 ... 29 ° C all year round. The high temperature of surface waters (up to approximately 700 m depth) persists within Kuroshio to almost 40°N. (27 ... 28 °С in August and up to 20 °С in February), as well as within the North Pacific Current (18 ... 23 °С in August and 7 ... 16 °С in February). A significant cooling effect on the northeast of Eurasia up to the north of the Japanese islands is exerted by the cold Kamchatka-Kuril Current, which originates in the Bering Sea, which in winter is intensified by cold waters coming from the Sea of Okhotsk. From year to year, its power varies greatly depending on the severity of winters in the Bering and Okhotsk Seas. The region of the Kuril Islands and the islands of Hokkaido is one of the few in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean where ice occurs in winter. At 40° N when meeting with the Kuroshio current, the Kuril current plunges to a depth and flows into the North Pacific. In general, the temperature of the waters of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean is higher than in the southern part at the same latitudes (5 ... 8 ° C in August in the Bering Strait). This is partly due to limited water exchange with the Arctic Ocean due to the threshold at the Bering Strait.

The Southern Equatorial Current moves along the equator from the shores of South America to the west and even enters the northern hemisphere up to about 5°N. In the area of the Moluccas, it branches: the bulk of the water, together with the North Equatorial Current, enters the system of the Intertrade Countercurrent, and the other branch penetrates into the Coral Sea and, moving along the coast of Australia, forms a warm East Australian current, which flows into the current off the coast of Tasmania. Western winds. The temperature of surface waters in the South Equatorial Current is 22...28 °С, in the East Australian in winter from north to south it varies from 20 to 11 °С, in summer - from 26 to 15 °С.

The Circumpolar Antarctic, or West Wind Current, enters the Pacific Ocean south of Australia and New Zealand and moves in a sublatitudinal direction to the shores of South America, where its main branch deviates to the north and, passing along the coasts of Chile and Peru under the name of the Peru Current, turns to the west, flowing into the South Trade Wind, and closes the Circulation of the southern half of the Pacific Ocean. The Peruvian current carries relatively cold waters and reduces the air temperature over the ocean and off the western coasts of South America almost to the equator to 15...20 °C.

There are certain regularities in the distribution of surface water salinity in the Pacific Ocean. At an average salinity of 34.5-34.6%o for the ocean, the maximum indicators (35.5 and 36.5%c) are observed in the zones of intense trade wind circulation in the northern and southern hemispheres (respectively, between 20 and 30° N and 10 and 20°S) This is due to a decrease in precipitation and an increase in evaporation compared with equatorial regions. Up to the fortieth latitudes of both hemispheres in the open part of the ocean, salinity is 34-35% o. The lowest salinity is in high latitudes and in the coastal regions of the northern part of the ocean (32-33% o). There it is associated with the melting of sea ice and icebergs and the desalination effect river flow, therefore, there are significant seasonal fluctuations in salinity.

The size and configuration of the greatest of the Earth's oceans, the features of its connections with other parts of the World Ocean, as well as the size and configuration of the surrounding land areas and the associated directions of circulation processes in the atmosphere, created a number of features of the Pacific Ocean: the average annual and seasonal temperatures of its surface waters are higher than in other oceans; the part of the ocean located in the northern hemisphere is generally much warmer than the southern, but in both hemispheres the western part is warmer and receives more precipitation than the eastern part.

Pacific Ocean in more, than other parts of the World Ocean, is the scene of the birth of the atmospheric process, known as tropical cyclones or hurricanes. These are vortices of small diameter (no more than 300-400 km) and high speed (30-50 km/h). They form within the tropical convergence zone of the trade winds, as a rule, during the summer and autumn of the northern hemisphere and move first in accordance with the direction of the prevailing winds, from west to east, and then along the continents to the north and south. For the formation and development of hurricanes, a vast expanse of water is required, heated from the surface to at least 26 ° C, and atmospheric energy, which would impart translational motion to the formed atmospheric cyclone. The features of the Pacific Ocean (its size, in particular, the width within the intratropical space, and the maximum surface water temperatures for the World Ocean) create conditions over its water area that contribute to the origin and development of tropical cyclones.

The passage of tropical cyclones is accompanied by catastrophic phenomena: destructive winds, strong excitement on the high seas, heavy rainfall, flooding of the plains on adjacent land, floods and destruction leading to severe disasters and loss of life. Moving along the coasts of the continents, the most powerful hurricanes go beyond the intratropical space, transforming into extratropical cyclones, sometimes reaching great strength.

main area The origin of tropical cyclones in the Pacific Ocean is located south of the Tropic of the North, east of the Philippine Islands. Moving initially to the west and northwest, they reach the shores of Southeast China (in Asian countries, these eddies bear the Chinese name "typhoon") and move along the continent, deviating towards the Japanese and Kuril Islands.

The branches of these hurricanes, deviating to the west south of the tropic, penetrate into the interisland seas of the Sunda archipelago, into the northern part of the Indian Ocean and cause destruction in the lowlands of Indochina and Bengal. Hurricanes originating in the southern hemisphere north of the Southern Tropic move towards the coasts of Northwest Australia. There they carry the local name "BILLY-BILLY". Another center of origin of tropical hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean is located off the western coast of Central America, between the Tropic of the North and the equator. From there, hurricanes rush to the coastal islands and coasts of California.

In the first years of the new millennium, an increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones (typhoons) near the Asian and North American coasts of the Pacific Ocean, as well as an increase in their power, was noted. This applies not only to the Pacific, but also to other oceans of the Earth. This phenomenon may be one of the consequences of global warming. The increased warming of the surface waters of the oceans in tropical latitudes also enhances atmospheric energy, which provides forward motion, speed of movement and destructive force hurricanes.

More than half of the living matter of the entire World Ocean of the Earth is concentrated in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. This applies to both plants and animals. The organic world as a whole is distinguished by species richness, antiquity, and a high degree of endemism.

The fauna, totaling up to 100 thousand species, is characterized by mammals that live mainly in temperate and high latitudes. A representative of toothed whales, the sperm whale, has a massive distribution, and several species of striped whales from toothless whales. Their fishing is strictly limited. Separate genera of the eared seal family (sea lions) and fur seals are found in the south and north of the ocean. Northern fur seals are valuable fur-bearing animals, the trade of which is strictly controlled. In the northern waters of the Pacific Ocean, there are also very rare sea lions (from eared seals) and walrus, which has a circumpolar range, but is now on the verge of extinction.

The fish fauna is very rich. In tropical waters, there are at least 2000 species, in the northwestern seas - about 800 species. The Pacific Ocean accounts for almost half of the world's fish catch. The main fishing areas are the northern and central parts of the ocean. The main commercial families are salmon, herring, cod, anchovies, etc.

The predominant mass of living organisms that inhabit the Pacific Ocean (as well as other parts of the World Ocean) are invertebrates that live at different levels ocean waters and at the bottom of shallow waters: these are protozoa, coelenterates, arthropods (crabs, shrimps), mollusks (oysters, squids, octopuses), echinoderms, etc. They serve as food for mammals, fish, sea birds, but also constitute an essential component of marine fisheries and are aquaculture objects.

Pacific Ocean thanks to high temperatures its surface waters in tropical latitudes is especially rich in various types of corals, including those with a calcareous skeleton. No other ocean has such an abundance and variety of coral structures. various types like in the Pacific.

The basis of plankton is made up of unicellular representatives of the animal and plant world. There are almost 380 species in the phytoplankton of the Pacific Ocean.

The greatest richness of the organic world is typical for areas where the so-called upwelling is observed (the rise to the surface of deep waters rich in minerals) or waters with different temperatures mix, which creates favorable conditions for the nutrition and development of phyto- and zooplankton, which feed on fish and others. nekton animals. In the Pacific, upwelling areas are concentrated along the coasts of Peru and in divergence zones in subtropical latitudes, where there are areas of intensive fishing and other trades.

Against the background of normal, annually recurring conditions, the Pacific Ocean is characterized by a phenomenon that disrupts the usual rhythm of circulation and hydrological processes and is not observed in other parts of the World Ocean. It manifests itself at intervals of 3 to 7 years and entails a violation of the usual environmental conditions within the intertropical space of the Pacific Ocean, influencing the life of living organisms, including the population of the coastal regions of the land. It consists in the following: at the end of November or in December, i.e. shortly before Christmas (why the phenomenon received the popular name "El Niño", which means "Holy Child"), for reasons not yet understood, the south trade wind is weakening and, consequently, the South Trade wind is weakening and the influx of relatively cold waters to the shores of South America and west of it. At the same time, winds usually unusual for these latitudes begin to blow from the northwest towards the southern hemisphere, carrying relatively warm waters to the southeast, intensifying the Equatorial countercurrent. This disrupts the upwelling phenomenon both in the intratropical divergence zone and off the coast of South America, which, in turn, leads to the death of plankton, and then the death of fish and other animals that feed on it.

The El Niño phenomenon has been regularly observed since the second half of the 19th century. It has been established that in many cases it was accompanied by a violation of environmental conditions not only in the ocean, but also on vast areas of adjacent land: an anomalous increase in precipitation in the arid regions of South America and, conversely, droughts in the island and coastal regions of Southeast Asia and Australia. The consequences of El Niño in 1982-1983 and 1997-1998 are considered especially severe, when this unfavorable phenomenon lasted for several months.

Mineral resources of the Pacific Ocean.

The bottom of the Pacific Ocean hides rich deposits of various minerals. On the shelves of China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the United States of America (Alaska), Ecuador (Guayaquil Bay

), Australia (Bass Strait) and New Zealand produce oil and gas. According to existing estimates, the subsoil of the Pacific Ocean contains up to 30-40% of all potential oil and gas reserves of the World Ocean. The largest producer of tin concentrates in the world is Malaysia, and Australia is the largest producer of zircon, ilmenite and others. The ocean is rich in ferromanganese nodules, with total reserves on the surface up to 7‣‣‣1012 tons. The most extensive reserves are observed in the northern deepest part of the Pacific Ocean, as well as in the Southern and Peruvian basins. In terms of the main ore elements, the concretions of the ocean contain manganese 7.1‣‣‣1010 t, nickel 2.3‣‣‣109 t, copper 1.5‣‣‣109 t, cobalt 1‣‣‣109 t. In the Pacific Ocean rich deep-sea deposits discovered gas hydrates: in the Oregon depression, the Kuril ridge and the Sakhalin shelf in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Nankai trench in the Sea of Japan and around the coast of Japan, in the Peruvian depression. In 2013, Japan intends to begin pilot drilling to extract natural gas from methane hydrate deposits on the Pacific Ocean floor northeast of Tokyo.

Red clays are widespread in the Pacific Ocean, especially in the northern hemisphere. This is due to the great depth of the ocean basins. In the Pacific Ocean, there are two belts (southern and northern) of siliceous diatom oozes, as well as a distinct equatorial belt of siliceous radiolarian deposits. Vast areas of the bottom of the southwestern ocean are occupied by coral-algal biogenic deposits. To the south of the equator, foraminiferal oozes are widespread. There are several fields of pteropod deposits in the Coral Sea

In the northern deepest part of the Pacific Ocean, as well as in the Southern and Peruvian basins, extensive fields of ferromanganese nodules are observed.

Many peoples inhabiting the Pacific shores and islands from ancient times made voyages on the ocean, mastered its riches. The beginning of the penetration of Europeans into the Pacific Ocean coincided with the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries. The ships of F. Magellan for several months of navigation crossed a huge body of water from east to west. All this time, the sea was surprisingly calm, which gave Magellan reason to call it the Pacific Ocean. Much information about the nature of the ocean was obtained during the voyages of J. Cook. A great contribution to the study of the ocean and the islands in it was made by Russian expeditions under the direction of I. F. Kruzenshtern, M. P. Lazarev, V. M. Golovnin, Yu. F. Lisyansky. In the same 19th century comprehensive research were conducted by S. O. Makarov on the vessel ʼʼ Vityazʼʼ. Regular scientific flights since 1949 ᴦ. made by Soviet expeditionary ships. A special international organization is engaged in the study of the Pacific Ocean.

In the waters of the Pacific Ocean is concentrated more than half of the living matter of the entire oceans Earth. This applies to both plants and animals. The organic world as a whole is distinguished by species richness, antiquity, and a high degree of endemism.

The fauna, numbering up to 100 thousand species in general, is characterized by mammals living mainly in temperate and high latitudes. A representative of toothed whales, the sperm whale, has a massive distribution, and several species of striped whales from toothless whales. Their fishing is strictly limited. Separate genera of the eared seal family (sea lions) and fur seals are found in the south and north of the ocean. Northern fur seals are valuable fur-bearing animals, the trade of which is strictly controlled. In the northern waters of the Pacific Ocean, there are also very rare sea lions (from eared seals) and walrus, which has a circumpolar range, but is now on the verge of extinction.

very rich fauna fish. In tropical waters, there are at least 2000 species, in the northwestern seas - about 800 species. The Pacific Ocean accounts for almost half of the world's fish catch. The main fishing areas are the northern and central parts of the ocean. The main commercial families are salmon, herring, cod, anchovies, etc.

The predominant mass of living organisms inhabiting the Pacific Ocean (as well as other parts of the World Ocean) falls on invertebrates that live at different levels of ocean waters and at the bottom of shallow waters: these are protozoa, coelenterates, arthropods (crabs, shrimps), mollusks (oysters, squids, octopuses), echinoderms, etc.
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Οʜᴎ serve as food for mammals, fish, sea birds, but also constitute an essential component of marine fisheries and are objects of aquaculture.

The Pacific Ocean, due to the high temperatures of its surface waters in tropical latitudes, is especially rich in various species corals, incl. having a calcareous skeleton. In no other ocean is there such an abundance and variety of coral structures of various types as in the Pacific.

basis plankton are unicellular representatives of the animal and plant world. There are almost 380 species in the phytoplankton of the Pacific Ocean.

The greatest wealth of the organic world is characteristic of areas where the so-called upwelling(raising to the surface of deep waters rich in mineral substances) or mixing of waters with different temperatures occurs, which creates favorable conditions for the nutrition and development of phyto- and zooplankton, which fish and other nekton animals feed on. In the Pacific, upwelling areas are concentrated along the coasts of Peru and in divergence zones in subtropical latitudes, where there are areas of intensive fishing and other trades.

The Amundsen Sea is located off the coast of Antarctica.

Banda, the inter-island sea of the Pacific Ocean in Indonesia.

Bellingshausen Sea is located off the coast of Antarctica

The Bering Sea is the largest and deepest among the seas of Russia

The Inland Sea of Japan (Seto-Nikai) is located inside the straits between the islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku (Japan).

The East China Sea (Donghai) is a semi-enclosed sea of the Pacific Ocean, between the coast of East Asia (China) and the islands of Ryukyu and Kyushu (Japan).

The Yellow Sea is limited from the Yellow and East China Seas by a conditional border that runs from the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula to Chechzhudo Island and further to the coast somewhat north of the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Coral Sea, a semi-enclosed sea of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Australia.

Mindanao, an interisland sea in the southern part of the Philippine archipelago.

The Moluccas Sea is an inter-island sea of the Pacific Ocean, in the Malay Archipelago, between the islands of Mindanao, Sulawesi, Sula, Moluccas and Talaud. Area 274 thousand square meters. km, maximum depth 4970 m.

The New Guinea Sea lies to the northeast of the island of New Guinea.

The Sea of Okhotsk is one of the largest and deepest seas in Russia.

The Ross Sea is located off the coast of Antarctica.

Seram is an inter-island sea in the Malay Archipelago.

The Solomon Sea is bounded by the islands of New Guinea.

Sulawesi (Celebes Sea) is located between the islands of Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Mindanao, Sangihe and the Sulu archipelago.

The Tasman Sea is located between Australia and the island of Tasmania.

Fiji is located between the islands of Fiji, New Caledonia, Norfolk, Kermadec and New Zealand.

The Philippine Sea is located between the islands of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines in the west, underwater ridges and the Izu Islands.

FLORES is located between the island of Sulawesi in the north, the islands of Sumba and Flores in the south.

South China Sea, in the west of the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Asia, between the Indochina peninsula.

JAVAN SEA, in the west of the Pacific Ocean, between the islands of Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan.

The Sea of Japan lies between the Eurasian mainland and the Korean peninsula, the Sakhalin and Japanese islands, which separate it from other Pacific seas and the ocean itself.

It led to the formation and accumulation in its waters, at the bottom and on the banks of large and diverse natural resources. Partial use of them in the coastal zone began in antiquity. At present, ocean resource exploitation is broad and comprehensive, but it is characterized by spatial differences. This is explained not only natural factors, but also by socio-economic reasons, as well as by the peculiarities of the EGP of the Pacific Ocean. All this in combination affects the development of each type of the main resources of the ocean.

As a result of the favorable impact of hydrological and hydrobiological factors, the Pacific Ocean is characterized by high (about 200 kg/km 2) productivity. Many of its vast areas are richly populated with various animals and plants, many of which have long been used by man. However, until the second half of the 50s, catches in the Pacific Ocean were less than in. This is due to the relatively weak development of fisheries in most of the Pacific countries, the low technical level of their fishing. A sharp increase in the catches of the Peruvian anchovy since 1958 and the intensification of fishing not only in Japan, but also in other countries in this ocean, brought it to the first place in the world in the production of fish and non-fish objects. In 2004, the Pacific Ocean provided 52% of the total world catch. A similar level of production is preserved here at the present time. Most of the catches (about 2/3 of the total catch in the ocean) fall on its northern part. Of course, the volume of fish and seafood production is subject to both temporal and spatial fluctuations.

Areas of mining and fishing

In the ocean as a whole, catches were high in 2009. In some fishing areas, production increased from 2006 to 2009, while in others it decreased over the same period.

The northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean is its main fishing area, where a little more than half of all fish and non-fish species caught in the Pacific Ocean are caught. In this area, the catch in 2009 exceeded the catch in 2006 by 198 thousand tons, mainly as a result of an increase in the catch by Japan and our country.

The catch of the Central-Eastern region of the ocean in 2009 increased by 172 thousand tons compared to the catch of 2008. In these waters, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama increased their catch, while the USA, Canada and Japan, on the contrary, reduced their catches mainly due to a decrease in tuna production.

The Central-Western region is the third in the ocean in terms of catches. Here, in 2009, production increased by 292 thousand tons compared to 2006, since the Asian countries adjacent to it (Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia) expanded their fishing. According to experts, this is a promising area for the development of fishing.

The southeastern region of the ocean is a unique region of the world fishery. In the recent past, in some years, catches here reached 11-13 million tons, mainly due to the Peruvian anchovy. However, such high production volumes and the unfavorable oceanological situation in the area in last years depleted the stocks of this fish and worsened the conditions for its reproduction, which led to a sharp decrease in its catches. Thus, in 2006 the total catch of Peruvian anchovy reached 4297 thousand tons, and in 2007 it dropped to 807 thousand tons. True, the main producing countries of this region - Peru and Chile - increased the catch of other types of fish, such as sardines, horse mackerels, but in general, production here decreased slightly, by only 281 thousand tons, and the Southeast Pacific Ocean continues to rank second in terms of catches.

Northeast region in 2005, 2006 and 2008 ranked fourth in catches among other fishing areas of the Pacific Ocean. In 2007, there was a noticeable decrease in catch volumes due to the restriction of fishing by foreign states in the 200-mile zones of the USA and Canada. The catches of Japan (296 thousand tons) and our country (312 thousand tons) were especially reduced, mainly as a result of a decrease in pollock production. It is characteristic that the catches of the USA and Canada have increased here by only 67 thousand tons, thus, the fishing opportunities of this rather rich region are not fully used. In 2008 and 2009 catches increased but remained below 2006 catches.

The southwestern region of the ocean is still little developed by the world fishery, although the catches in 2009 were higher than the catches of 2005, but lower than the catches of 2007. Here, in addition to the countries adjacent to this region - Australia and New Zealand - Japan, Russia are fishing and other countries that account for more than 70% of the catch in these waters. In 2007, the catch of Japan and Russia increased significantly, which increased the total production in this area.

In 2009, the catch of the Antarctic region, which is still little mastered by the world fishery, increased noticeably. Here, 800 thousand tons of fish and other seafood were caught, mainly by countries leading expeditionary catches.

Production of non-fish objects in all fishing areas of the Pacific Ocean is generally characterized by relative stability and upward trends. The catch of shrimp, and in recent years, krill, which is caught in the Antarctic waters, has increased most noticeably.

A brief review of biological resources shows that the Pacific Ocean is the largest modern supplier of fish and seafood. Unjustified restrictions of some capitalist countries in their exclusive economic zones reduce the possibility of rational use of the biological wealth of these areas, which negatively affects economic activity in the ocean.