Download South Pacific Ocean - Alvarado High School

Hunter, Joel, Dane, Marisa, Edgar, Mace
South Pacific
Ocean
Where and what is the South Pacific Ocean?
The Pacific Ocean is the
largest of the Earth’s oceanic
divisions.
The Southern Pacific ocean
is the area of the Pacific that
is south of the equator.
Pocked by hundreds of
islands.
Located between the
Americas, Asia, Australia,
and Antarctica
Size of the ocean
The Pacific Ocean is 165 million sq. miles.
Thats a lot of water.
Dominant currents
● Humboldt Current (Peru Current): a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows
north along the west coast of South America.
● South Equatorial Current: is a significant ocean current in the Pacific, Atlantic,
and Indian Ocean that flows east-to-west between the equator and about 20
degrees south.
● Antarctic Circumpolar Current: is an ocean current that flows clockwise from
west to east around Antarctica
Fishing In The South Pacific
In contrast to the coastal fisheries offshore fishing is dominated by large industrialscale vessels. Approximately 1,500 of these vessels operate off the Pacific Island
countries, mainly using purse seine, longline, and pole-and-line to catch fish.
Coastal fisheries harvest a very diverse range of finfish, invertebrates and algae.
Top 3 deadliest animals in the South
Sea Snakes- Found in the pacific and Indian oceans. Closely related to the land
Based Cobras and kraits it is little surprise that many sea snakes are highly
venomous.
Saltwater Crocodiles-The saltwater crocodile is no stranger to the pages of Planet
Deadly. Lethal on both land and sea, this behemoth is the largest species of extant
reptile and a living throwback to the dinosaurs
Sharks-Not too many surprises here then! As one of the ocean’s apex predators
sharks are generally well equipped to inflict serious injury;
South Pacific Islands
Fiji
Samoa
Tahiti
Marshall Islands
Hawaii
Australia
Temperature Ranges
The ocean temperatures in the North Pacific tend to be
warmer than those in the South Pacific. This seems strange
because the surface waters in the South Pacific are definitely
warmer. However, because the ratio of land to sea area is
greater in the North Pacific, the cumulative amount of cold
deep water is less. In other words, the average temperature
of waters in the North Pacific is warmer because there are
more coastal areas. Also, the deep currents coming up from
Antarctica into the South Pacific bring intensely cold waters
with them.
Questions
1. What does “Pacific” mean?: Explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 called its waters "mar
pacifico" which means peaceful sea. Peaceful.
2. How big is the Pacific Ocean?: The Pacific is the biggest ocean on earth and covers more
than 30% of the earth’s surface. Big.
3. How much land could fit inside the Pacific Ocean?: The size of the Pacific Ocean is
bigger than the total size of the landmass of all the continents together. All of it.
4. How deep does it get in the Pacific?: The Marianas Trench, the deepest point on Earth
(11,034m at its deepest point), is in the Pacific. This is deeper than the height of Mt. Everest. Deep.
5. Is there a natural wonder in the Pacific?: The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia,
is the world’s largest reef. Yes.
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