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- The Pacific Ocean or Mare Pacificum, meaning “peaceful sea,” was dubbed so by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520 after his treacherous journey to find the “Spice Islands”, now known as the Malaku Islands in eastern Indonesia. They were known as the “Spice Islands” because of their nutmeg and clove trees.
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Jan 13, 2022 · The Pacific Ocean or Mare Pacificum, meaning “peaceful sea,” was dubbed so by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520 after his treacherous journey to find the “Spice Islands”, now known as the Malaku Islands in eastern Indonesia.
Oct 18, 2023 · Explorer Ferdinand Magellan named the Pacific Ocean in the 16th century. Covering approximately 155 million square kilometers (59 million square miles) and containing more than half of the free water on Earth, the Pacific is by far the largest of the world's ocean basins. In 1519, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, in the employ of Spain ...
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The Pacific ocean sea floor comprises two major zones, distinguished by the type of primary rock in each: The Central Pacific Basin characterized by mafic igneous rock and the submerged continental margins characterized by felsic igneous rock. Geologists identify the narrow zone of transition between these two zones as the andesite line. It follows...
The largest landmass entirely within the Pacific Ocean is the island of New Guinea—the second largest island in the world. Almost all of the smaller islands of the Pacific lie between 30°N and 30°S, extending from Southeast Asia to Easter Island; the rest of the Pacific Basin is almost entirely submerged. The great triangle of Polynesia, connecting...
During the summer, the heating of air masses over tropical Asia in summer initiates a low-pressure system which is associated with rain-bearing winds called monsoons. This low pressure system becomes the focus of trade winds in both hemispheres. In winter, cooling of the continent results in the development of the Asian high-pressure system, which ...
Early exploration and settlement
Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific during prehistoric times, most notably those of the Austronesians (specifically, the Polynesians), from the Asian edge of the ocean to Tahiti, and then to Hawaii and New Zealand, and much later, to Easter Island. The earliest migrants arrived in Melanesia, and from there gradually moved northward to eastern Micronesia and eastward into Polynesia. These voyages, by means of large sailing canoes, appear to have begun between 3,000 and 4,000 yea...
European exploration
European exploration of the Pacific during the sixteenth century can be divided into three phases: Spanish and Portuguese; Dutch; and English and French.
Seventeen independent states are located in the Pacific: Australia, Fiji, Japan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Republic of China (Taiwan), Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Eleven of these nations have achieved full independence since 1960. The Northern Marian...
The exploitation of the Pacific's mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean's great depths. In shallow waters of the continental shelves off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, petroleum and natural gas are extracted, and pearls are harvested along the coasts of Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines, although...
Marine pollution is a generic term for the harmful entry into the ocean of chemicals or particles. The biggest culprits are rivers that empty into the Ocean, bringing with them the many chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture as well as waste from livestock and humans. The excess of oxygen depleting chemicals in the water leads to hypoxia and ...
Barkley, Richard A. Oceanographic Atlas of the Pacific Ocean.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1968.Blue Horizons: Paradise Isles of the Pacific.Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1985. ISBN 0-87044-544-8Cameron, Ian. Lost Paradise: The Exploration of the Pacific. Topsfield, Mass.: Salem House, 1987. ISBN 0-88162-275-3Couper, A. D. (ed.) Development and Social Change in the Pacific Islands. London: Routledge, 1989. ISBN 0-415-00917-0It is also the deepest ocean, with an average depth of 12,080 feet. The name “Pacific” comes from the Latin word “pacificus,” which means peaceful. The ocean was named by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, who called it “Mar Pacifico” because of its calmness.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a mare clausum – a sea closed to other naval powers. As the only known entrance from the Atlantic, the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent the entrance of non-Spanish ships.
Feb 28, 2024 · According to an original account of the voyage by an Italian named Pigafetta, who was among the adventurers, Magellan gave the entrance to what Pigafetta calls "the South Sea" the Latin name Mare Pacificum. The U.S. Pacific Northwest is so called by 1889.
beautiful calm ocean with favorable winds and named it the peaceful sea— or Mare pacificum—today’s Pacific Ocean. Little did Magellan know that surrounding the Earth’s largest and deepest ocean basin are nearly a thousand volcanoes along nearly continuous earthquake-prone subduction zones and transform faults.
