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120-889: In 1954, the County Sanitation District of Orange County began operating and took over the duties of the Orange County Joint Outfall Sewer (JOS), which was the sewage outfall system that extended into the Pacific Ocean . The name was changed from County Sanitation District of Orange County to Orange County Sanitation District or OCSD in 1998. In 2020, their corporate identity was changed from OCSD to OC SAN. At Plant No. 2 there are several facilities that operate to treat wastewater and dispose of solids. Wastewater enters into Plant No. 2 via five trunklines : Miller-Holder, Bushard, Coast, Districts 5 and 6, and Interplant. The District 5 and 6 trunkline connects to

240-408: A sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age. Both routes may have been taken, although the genetic evidences suggests a single founding population. The micro-satellite diversity and distributions specific to South American Indigenous peoples indicates that certain populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. A second migration occurred after

360-631: A central lagoon . Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Modern humans first reached the western Pacific in the Paleolithic , at around 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. Originating from a southern coastal human migration out of Africa, they reached East Asia , Mainland Southeast Asia , the Philippines, New Guinea , and then Australia by making the sea crossing of at least 80 kilometres (50 mi) between Sundaland and Sahul . It

480-558: A few hidden documents remain today, leaving modern historians with glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge. The first inhabitants migrated into the Americas from Asia. Habitation sites are known in Alaska and Yukon from at least 20,000 years ago, with suggested ages of up to 40,000 years. Beyond that, the specifics of the Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including

600-568: A landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America . When viewed as a single continent, the Americas or America is the 2nd largest continent right after Asia, and is the 3rd largest continent by population. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth 's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World . Along with their associated islands , the Americas cover 8% of Earth's total surface area and 28.4% of its land area. The topography

720-579: A large bin. Once full, the bin is transported to an offsite facility for disposal. Once through the barscreens, up to 7 main sewage pumps (commonly referred to as a MSP) located at the Headworks D pump the wastewater into up to six grit basins . The grit basins help settle out grit, which can damage equipment inject air through diffusers into the wastewater to freshen the water to decrease septicity and to help settle out grit material. Grit material consisting of inorganics, like eggshells, corn, and sand and dirt,

840-427: A million years, with the total spread of South American genera into North America far more limited in scope than the spread of North American genera into South America. There are 35 sovereign states in the Americas, as well as an autonomous country of Denmark , three overseas departments of France , three overseas collectivities of France, and one uninhabited territory of France, eight overseas territories of

960-480: A number of islands. The gaps in the archipelago of Central America filled in with material eroded off North America and South America, plus new land created by continued volcanism. By three million years ago, the continents of North America and South America were linked by the Isthmus of Panama , thereby forming the single landmass of the Americas. The Great American Interchange resulted in many species being spread across

1080-695: A series of rivers and streams that flow east with their terminus in the Atlantic Ocean, such as the Hudson River , Saint John River , and Savannah River . A similar instance arises with central Canadian rivers that drain into Hudson Bay ; the largest being the Churchill River . On the west coast of North America, the main rivers are the Colorado River , Columbia River , Yukon River , Fraser River , and Sacramento River . The Colorado River drains much of

1200-530: A shared population of flora and fauna around 2.5 million years ago, when continental drift brought the two continents into contact via the Isthmus of Panama . Initially, the exchange of biota was roughly equal, with North American genera migrating into South America in about the same proportions as South American genera migrated into North America. This exchange is known as the Great American Interchange . The exchange became lopsided after roughly

1320-682: A synonym). Latin America is typically contrasted with Anglo-America , where English, a Germanic language , is prevalent, and which comprises Canada (with the exception of Francophone Canada rooted in Latin Europe [France]—see Quebec and Acadia ) and the United States. Both countries are located in North America, with cultures deriving predominantly from British and other Germanic roots. The transatlantic slave trade brought millions of Africans to

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1440-453: A wide variety of indigenous religions, many of which can be categorized as animistic ; new age religions and many African and African-derived religions. Syncretic faiths can also be found throughout the Americas. Various languages are spoken in the Americas. Some are of European origin, others are spoken by indigenous peoples or are the mixture of various languages like the different creoles. The most widely spoken first language in

1560-471: Is 4,280 m (14,040 ft; 2,340 fathoms), putting the total water volume at roughly 710,000,000 km (170,000,000 cu mi). Due to the effects of plate tectonics , the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2.5 cm (1 in) per year on three sides, roughly averaging 0.52 km (0.20 sq mi) a year. By contrast, the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size. Along

1680-510: Is dominated by the American Cordillera , a long chain of mountains that runs the length of the west coast. The flatter eastern side of the Americas is dominated by large river basins, such as the Amazon , St. Lawrence River – Great Lakes , Mississippi , and La Plata basins. Since the Americas extend 14,000 km (8,700 mi) from north to south, the climate and ecology vary widely, from

1800-464: Is generally quite flat. Similarly, the north-east of South America is covered by the flat Amazon basin . The Brazilian Highlands on the east coast are fairly smooth but show some variations in landform, while farther south the Gran Chaco and Pampas are broad lowlands . The climate of the Americas varies significantly from region to region. Tropical rainforest climate occurs in the latitudes of

1920-441: Is injected into the wastewater to increase sludge settling in the primary clarifiers. Bleach (NaOCL) may also be added into A, B, and/or C splitter boxes to work to assist in sludge settling. The splitter boxes are used to control the amount of flow, measured in millions of gallons per day (MGD), that flows into the three distribution boxes, which further separate wastewater for treatment in primary clarifiers. Wastewater flows from

2040-491: Is not known with any certainty what level of maritime technology was used by these groups – the presumption is that they used large bamboo rafts which may have been equipped with some sort of sail. The reduction in favourable winds for a crossing to Sahul after 58,000 B.P. fits with the dating of the settlement of Australia, with no later migrations in the prehistoric period. The seafaring abilities of pre-Austronesian residents of Island South-east Asia are confirmed by

2160-423: Is removed from wastewater to prevent damage to pumps and disruption of other processes like sludge digestion by consuming unnecessary space. The grit is dewatered in up to two grit classifiers before it is dropped into a hauling bin. Like the screenings, the grit is transported to an offsite facility for disposal. From the grit basins, the wastewater flows into three splitter boxes where ferric chloride (FeCl 3 )

2280-666: Is that of the Mississippi , covering the second largest watershed on the planet. The Mississippi-Missouri river system drains most of 31 states of the United States, most of the Great Plains , and large areas between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. This river is the fourth longest in the world and tenth most powerful in the world . In North America, to the east of the Appalachian Mountains , there are no major rivers but rather

2400-598: Is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions . It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica ) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of

2520-474: The Amazon , American cloud forests , southeastern Florida and Darién Gap . In the Rocky Mountains and Andes , dry and continental climates are observed. Often the higher altitudes of these mountains are snow-capped. Southeastern North America is well known for its occurrence of tornadoes and hurricanes , of which the vast majority of tornadoes occur in the United States' Tornado Alley , as well as in

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2640-620: The Americas , although evidence for this remains inconclusive. The first contact of European navigators with the western edge of the Pacific Ocean was made by the Portuguese expeditions of António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão , via the Lesser Sunda Islands , to the Maluku Islands , in 1512, and with Jorge Álvares 's expedition to southern China in 1513, both ordered by Afonso de Albuquerque from Malacca . The eastern side of

2760-424: The Americas , more than 25,000 islands, large and small, rise above the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Multiple islands were the shells of former active volcanoes that have lain dormant for thousands of years. Close to the equator, without vast areas of blue ocean, are a dot of atolls that have over intervals of time been formed by seamounts as a result of tiny coral islands strung in a ring within surroundings of

2880-684: The Arctic small tool tradition , a broad cultural entity that developed along the Alaska Peninsula , around Bristol Bay , and on the eastern shores of the Bering Strait c.  2500 BCE moved into North America. The Arctic small tool tradition, a Paleo-Eskimo culture branched off into two cultural variants, including the Pre-Dorset , and the Independence traditions of Greenland. The descendants of

3000-462: The Bering Sea in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60°S (older definitions extend it to Antarctica 's Ross Sea ), the Pacific reaches its greatest east–west width at about 5°N latitude , where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia  – halfway around the world, and more than five times

3120-675: The Boothia Peninsula in northern Canada and Cape Froward in Chilean Patagonia , is roughly 14,000 km (8,700 mi). The mainland's most westerly point is the end of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska; Attu Island , further off the Alaskan coast to the west, is considered the westernmost point of the Americas. Ponta do Seixas in northeastern Brazil forms the easternmost extremity of

3240-636: The Columbian exchange and inaugurated a period of exploration , conquest, and colonization whose effects and consequences persist to the present. The Spanish presence involved the enslavement of large numbers of the indigenous population of America. Diseases introduced from Europe and West Africa devastated the indigenous peoples , and the European powers colonized the Americas . Mass emigration from Europe , including large numbers of indentured servants , and importation of African slaves largely replaced

3360-506: The Headworks facility into three distribution boxes. The wastewater flows from each distribution box into designated primary clarifiers. The distribution of the wastewater is as follows: "A" distribution box dispenses water to D, E, F, and G primary clarifiers, "B" distribution box dispenses water to H, I, J, K, and L primary clarifiers, and "C" distribution box dispenses water to M, N, O, P, and Q primary clarifiers. The sludge that settles out to

3480-491: The Latin version of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci 's first name. The feminine form America was originally used to refer to the newly discovered continent, which is why it was accorded with the feminine names of the other continents: Asia , Africa , and Europa . Since the 1950s, however, North America and South America have generally been considered by English speakers as separate continents, and taken together are called

3600-476: The Pacific War ; however, by the end of that war, Japan was defeated and the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. The Japanese-ruled Northern Mariana Islands came under the control of the United States. Since the end of World War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states . The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. It may be further subdivided by

3720-507: The Quaternary glaciation . These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats , they migrated down the Pacific coast to South America. Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by

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3840-659: The Sirena Deep , is also located in the Mariana Trench. The western Pacific has many major marginal seas , including the Philippine Sea , South China Sea , East China Sea , Sea of Japan , Sea of Okhotsk , Bering Sea , Gulf of Alaska , Gulf of California , Mar de Grau , Tasman Sea , and the Coral Sea . In the early 16th century , Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and sighted

3960-693: The Southern Hemisphere . The North Equatorial Current , driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds , turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current . Turning eastward at about 45°N , the Kuroshio forks and some water moves northward as the Aleutian Current , while the rest turns southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms

4080-680: The Southern Rockies and parts of the Basin and Range Province . The river flows approximately 1,450 miles (2,330 km) into the Gulf of California , during which over time it has carved out natural phenomena such as the Grand Canyon and created phenomena such as the Salton Sea . The Columbia is a large river, 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, in central western North America and is the most powerful river on

4200-683: The Southwest Pacific around Oceania . The Pacific Ocean's mean depth is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench , located in the northwestern Pacific, is the deepest known point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,928 meters (35,853 feet). The Pacific also contains the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere , the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench , at 10,823 meters (35,509 feet). The third deepest point on Earth,

4320-662: The Strait of Magellan to the Philippines , the explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful; however, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many tropical storms batter the islands of the Pacific. The lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes . Tsunamis , caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed entire towns. The Martin Waldseemüller map of 1507

4440-642: The United Kingdom , three constituent countries of the Netherlands , three public bodies of the Netherlands, two unincorporated territories of the United States , and one uninhabited territory of the United States. In 2021 the total population of the Americas was about 1.03 billion people, divided as follows: There are three urban centers that each hold titles for being the largest population area based on

4560-772: The Western Hemisphere . The Southern Pacific Ocean harbors the Southeast Indian Ridge crossing from south of Australia turning into the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (north of the South Pole ) and merges with another ridge (south of South America) to form the East Pacific Rise which also connects with another ridge (south of North America) which overlooks the Juan de Fuca Ridge . For most of Magellan's voyage from

4680-654: The World Ocean and the hydrosphere covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area, larger than its entire land area (148,000,000 km (57,000,000 sq mi)). The centers of both the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere , as well as the oceanic pole of inaccessibility , are in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean circulation (caused by the Coriolis effect ) subdivides it into two largely independent volumes of water that meet at

4800-566: The crab claw sail ) – it is likely that the progressive development of these technologies were related to the later steps of settlement into Near and Remote Oceania. Starting at around 2200 BCE, Austronesians sailed southwards to settle the Philippines . From, probably, the Bismarck Archipelago they crossed the western Pacific to reach the Marianas Islands by 1500 BCE, as well as Palau and Yap by 1000 BCE. They were

4920-929: The equator , the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean (or more loosely the South Seas ). The Pacific Ocean can also be informally divided by the International Date Line into the East Pacific and the West Pacific , which allows it to be further divided into four quadrants, namely the Northeast Pacific off the coasts of North America , the Southeast Pacific off South America , Northwest Pacific off Far Eastern / Pacific Asia , and

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5040-934: The American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization during the Early Modern period . The term Pre-Columbian is used especially often in the context of the great indigenous civilizations of the Americas , such as those of Mesoamerica ( Olmec , Toltec , Teotihuacano , Zapotec , Mixtec , Aztec , Maya ) and the Andean civilizations ( Inca , Moche , Chavín , Muisca , Cañari ). Many pre-Columbian civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks which included permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and complex societal hierarchies . Some of these civilizations had long faded by

5160-440: The Americas , or more rarely America . When conceived as a unitary continent, the form is generally the continent of America in the singular. However, without a clarifying context, singular America in English commonly refers to the United States of America . The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on

5280-421: The Americas began with the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. The first Spanish settlement in the Americas was La Isabela in northern Hispaniola . This town was abandoned shortly after in favor of Santo Domingo de Guzmán , founded in 1496, the oldest American city of European foundation. This was the base from which the Spanish monarchy administered its new colonies and their expansion. Santo Domingo

5400-409: The Americas is Spanish , followed by English and Portuguese . The dominant language of Latin America is Spanish, though the most populous nation in Latin America, Brazil , speaks Portuguese . Small enclaves of French -, Dutch - and English-speaking regions also exist in Latin America, notably in French Guiana , Suriname , and Belize and Guyana respectively. Haitian Creole is dominant in

5520-421: The Americas is made up of the descendants of four large ethnic groups and their combinations. The majority of the population lives in Latin America , named for its predominant cultures, rooted in Latin Europe (including the two dominant languages, Spanish and Portuguese , both Romance languages ), more specifically in the Iberian nations of Portugal and Spain (hence the use of the term Ibero-America as

5640-438: The Americas, such as the cougar , porcupine , opossums , armadillos , and hummingbirds . The geography of the western Americas is dominated by the American Cordillera , with the Andes running along the west coast of South America and the Rocky Mountains and other North American Cordillera ranges running along the western side of North America. The 2,300-kilometer-long (1,400 mi) Appalachian Mountains run along

5760-438: The Americas. Migration continued as people moved to the Americas fleeing religious persecution or seeking economic opportunities. Millions of individuals were forcibly transported to the Americas as slaves , prisoners or indentured servants . Decolonization of the Americas began with the American Revolution and the Haitian Revolution in the late 1700s. This was followed by numerous Latin American wars of independence in

5880-427: The Atlantic Ocean. The Mackenzie River is the largest in Canada and drains 1,805,200 square kilometers (697,000 sq mi). The largest river basin in South America is that of the Amazon , which has the highest volume flow of any river on Earth. The second largest watershed of South America is that of the Paraná River , which covers about 2.5 million km . North America and South America began to develop

6000-414: The Atlantic, the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent the entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western side of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines . The 18th century marked the beginning of major exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands , such as the First Kamchatka expedition and the Great Northern Expedition , led by

6120-405: The Atlantic. The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. A petrologic boundary, it separates the deeper, mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins. The andesite line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc , along

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6240-497: The Caribbean began to achieve peaceful independence well after World War II . Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago became independent in 1962, and Guyana and Barbados both achieved independence in 1966. In the 1970s, the Bahamas , Grenada , Dominica , St. Lucia , and St. Vincent and the Grenadines all became independent of the United Kingdom, and Suriname became independent of the Netherlands. Belize , Antigua and Barbuda , and Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence from

6360-433: The Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current . The climate patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres generally mirror each other. The trade winds in the southern and eastern Pacific are remarkably steady while conditions in the North Pacific are far more varied with, for example, cold winter temperatures on

6480-595: The Coast trunkline at a vortex structure within the plant. Once inside Plant No. 2, the flow is measured. The trunklines connect into a common discharge channel located at the Headworks D facility. The wastewater flows through up to six bar screens , which scrape out large material, like rags and sanitary products, and drop the material into two sluiceways that transport the screening into respective washer compactors. The washer compactors help remove organics, which are odor causing and take up space in hauling bins. The washed screenings are then transported via screw conveyors to

6600-499: The Danish-born Russian navy officer Vitus Bering . Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest , reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and colonized Polynesia , and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii , and the North American Pacific Northwest . In 1768, Pierre-Antoine Véron , a young astronomer accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of exploration, established

6720-463: The Hudson River Valley, and what later became New Jersey. The spread of new diseases brought by Europeans and African slaves killed many of the inhabitants of North America and South America, with a general population crash of Native Americans occurring in the mid-16th century, often well ahead of European contact. One of the most devastating diseases was smallpox . European immigrants were often part of state-sponsored attempts to found colonies in

6840-498: The Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions encountered the Caroline Islands , the Aru Islands , and Papua New Guinea . In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan. In 1564, five Spanish ships carrying 379 soldiers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi , and colonized the Philippines and Mariana Islands . For the remainder of the 16th century, Spain maintained military and mercantile control, with ships sailing from Mexico and Peru across

6960-496: The Norse colonies and Europe was maintained, as James Watson Curran states: From 985 to 1410, Greenland was in touch with the world. Then silence. In 1492 the Vatican noted that no news of that country "at the end of the world" had been received for 80 years, and the bishopric of the colony was offered to a certain ecclesiastic if he would go and "restore Christianity" there. He didn't go. Although there had been previous trans-oceanic contact , large-scale European colonization of

7080-525: The Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism . The Ring of Fire is named after the several hundred active volcanoes that sit above the various subduction zones. The Pacific Ocean is the only ocean which is mostly bounded by subduction zones. Only the central part of the North American coast and the Antarctic and Australian coasts have no nearby subduction zones. Americas The Americas , sometimes collectively called America , known initially as India Nova , are

7200-429: The Pacific Ocean to the Philippines via Guam , and establishing the Spanish East Indies . The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries, linking Manila and Acapulco , in one of the longest trade routes in history. Spanish expeditions also arrived at Tuvalu , the Marquesas , the Cook Islands , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , the Marshalls and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. Later, in

7320-399: The Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea , Coral Sea , East China Sea (East Sea), Philippine Sea , Sea of Japan , South China Sea (South Sea), Sulu Sea , Tasman Sea , and Yellow Sea (West Sea of Korea). The Indonesian Seaway (including the Strait of Malacca and Torres Strait ) joins the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to

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7440-402: The Pacific in recorded history. They were part of a Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands that would eventually result in the first world circumnavigation . Magellan called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful") because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn , the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until

7560-540: The Philippines already in 7000 BCE. Additional earlier migrations into Insular Southeast Asia, associated with Austroasiatic-speakers from Mainland Southeast Asia, are estimated to have taken place already in 15000 BCE. At around 1300 to 1200 BCE, a branch of the Austronesian migrations known as the Lapita culture reached the Bismarck Archipelago , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , Fiji , and New Caledonia . From there, they settled Tonga and Samoa by 900 to 800 BCE. Some also back-migrated northwards in 200 BCE to settle

7680-455: The Pre-Dorset cultural group, the Dorset culture was displaced by the final migrants from the Bering sea coast line, the Thule people (the ancestors of modern Inuit ), by 1000  CE . Around the same time as the Inuit migrated into Greenland, Viking settlers began arriving in Greenland in 982 and Vinland shortly thereafter, establishing a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows , near the northernmost tip of Newfoundland . Contact between

7800-517: The United Kingdom in the 1980s. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere . The northernmost point of the Americas is Kaffeklubben Island , which is the most northerly point of land on Earth. The southernmost undisputed point is Águila Islet , although the Antarctic islands of Southern Thule are sometimes taken into account. The mainland of the Americas is the world's longest north-to-south landmass. The distance between its two polar extremities, Murchison Promontory on

7920-421: The United Kingdom, starting with the Balfour Declaration of 1926 , Statute of Westminster 1931 , and ending with the patriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982. The Dominion of Newfoundland similarly achieved independence under the Balfour Declaration and Statute of Westminster, but relinquished self-rule in 1934. It was subsequently confederated with Canada in 1949. The remaining European colonies in

8040-496: The United States, and more specifically in the US state of Colorado . The highest peaks of the Americas are located in the Andes , with Aconcagua of Argentina being the highest; in North America Denali (Mount McKinley) in the US state of Alaska is the tallest. Between its coastal mountain ranges, North America has vast flat areas. The Interior Plains spread over much of the continent, with low relief. The Canadian Shield covers almost 5 million km of North America and

8160-528: The United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard; HMS Challenger during the 1870s; the USS Tuscarora (1873–76); and the German Gazelle (1874–76). In Oceania, France obtained a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853, respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro negotiated

8280-433: The West Coast of the Americas. In the far northwest of North America, the Yukon drains much of the Alaskan peninsula and flows 1,980 miles (3,190 km) from parts of Yukon and the Northwest Territory to the Pacific. Draining to the Arctic Ocean of Canada, the Mackenzie River drains waters from the Arctic Great Lakes of Arctic Canada, as opposed to the Saint-Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes of Southern Canada into

8400-416: The andesite line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville , Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under

8520-408: The andesite line. Within the closed loop of the andesite line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Pacific basin. Here basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the andesite line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and

8640-521: The arctic tundra of Northern Canada , Greenland , and Alaska , to the tropical rainforests in Central America and South America. Humans first settled the Americas from Asia between 20,000 and 16,000 years ago. A second migration of Na-Dene speakers followed later from Asia. The subsequent migration of the Inuit into the neoarctic c.  3500 BCE completed what is generally regarded as

8760-574: The arctic, icing from October to May can present a hazard for shipping while persistent fog occurs from June to December. A climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months. The Westerlies and associated jet stream within the Mid-Latitudes can be particularly strong, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the temperature difference between

8880-564: The base of a counter-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea . Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current . The South Equatorial Current , flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea , turns east at about 50°S , and joins the main westerly circulation of the South Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current . As it approaches

9000-460: The bottom of the clarifiers and the scum that is removed from the top of the clarifiers is then pumped to one of two sludge blending facility tanks, where it is mixed before being pumped to anaerobic digesters. 33°41′33″N 117°56′23″W  /  33.69243115576001°N 117.939745447467°W  / 33.69243115576001; -117.939745447467 Pacific Ocean Main five oceans division: Further subdivision: The Pacific Ocean

9120-535: The dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. Widespread habitation of the Americas occurred after the Late Glacial Maximum , from 16,000 to 13,000 years ago. The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered during

9240-455: The diameter of the Moon. Its geographic center is in eastern Kiribati south of Kiritimati , just west from Starbuck Island at 4°58′S 158°45′W  /  4.97°S 158.75°W  / -4.97; -158.75 . The lowest known point on Earth – the Mariana Trench  – lies 10,911 m (35,797  ft ; 5,966 fathoms ) below sea level. Its average depth

9360-402: The difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest; however, each particular basin has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while September is the most active month. November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active. The Pacific hosts the two most active tropical cyclone basins , which are

9480-658: The early 1800s. Between 1811 and 1825, Paraguay , Argentina , Chile , Gran Colombia , the United Provinces of Central America , Mexico , Brazil , Peru , and Bolivia gained independence from Spain and Portugal in armed revolutions. After the Dominican Republic won independence from Haiti , it was re-annexed by Spain in 1861, but reclaimed its independence in 1865 at the conclusion of the Dominican Restoration War . The last violent episode of decolonization

9600-544: The east and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast. Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea , the world's second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago , the Solomon Islands , Santa Cruz , Vanuatu , Fiji and New Caledonia . The largest area, Polynesia , stretching from Hawaii in

9720-630: The east coast of North America from Alabama to Newfoundland . North of the Appalachians, the Arctic Cordillera runs along the eastern coast of Canada. The largest mountain ranges are the Andes and Rocky Mountains . The Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range reach similar altitudes as the Rocky Mountains , but are significantly smaller. In North America, the greatest number of fourteeners are in

9840-493: The east coast of Russia contrasting with the milder weather off British Columbia during the winter months due to the preferred flow of ocean currents . In the tropical and subtropical Pacific, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather conditions. To determine the phase of ENSO, the most recent three-month sea surface temperature average for the area approximately 3,000 km (1,900 mi) to

9960-634: The eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula , the Kuril Islands , Japan, the Mariana Islands , the Solomon Islands , and New Zealand's North Island . The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand lie outside

10080-558: The eighteenth century. Magellan stopped at one uninhabited Pacific island before stopping at Guam in March 1521. Although Magellan himself died in the Philippines in 1521, Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano led the remains of the expedition back to Spain across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope , completing the first world circumnavigation in 1522. Sailing around and east of

10200-634: The equator into northern (North Pacific) and southern (South Pacific) portions. It extends from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north. The Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately one-third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 165,200,000 km (63,800,000 sq mi) – larger than Earth's entire landmass combined, 150,000,000 km (58,000,000 sq mi). Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 mi) from

10320-585: The equator, which can have a salinity as low as 34 parts per thousand, is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. The lowest counts of less than 32 parts per thousand are found in the far north as less evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific gyre ) and counter-clockwise in

10440-586: The first completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in Cape York Peninsula , and Abel Janszoon Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and arrived at Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642. 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

10560-631: The first half of the 16th century, Spanish colonists conducted raids throughout the Caribbean Basin , bringing captives from Central America, northern South America, and Florida back to Hispaniola and other Spanish settlements. France, led by Jacques Cartier and Giovanni da Verrazzano , focused primarily on North America. English explorations of the Americas were led by Giovanni Caboto and Sir Walter Raleigh . The Dutch in New Netherland confined their operations to Manhattan Island, Long Island,

10680-469: The first humans to reach Remote Oceania , and the first to cross vast distances of open water. They also continued spreading southwards and settling the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia , reaching Indonesia and Malaysia by 1500 BCE, and further west to Madagascar and the Comoros in the Indian Ocean by around 500 CE. More recently, it is suggested that Austronesians expanded already earlier, arriving in

10800-523: The great "Southern Sea" which he named Mar del Sur (in Spanish). Afterwards, the ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favorable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico , which in Portuguese means 'peaceful sea'. Top large seas: Across the continents of Asia, Australia and

10920-439: The incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations. By 1900 nearly all Pacific islands were in control of Britain, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Chile. Although the United States gained control of Guam and the Philippines from Spain in 1898, Japan controlled most of the western Pacific by 1914 and occupied many other islands during

11040-570: The indigenous peoples in much of the Americas. Decolonization of the Americas began with the American Revolution in the 1770s and largely ended with the Spanish–American War in the late 1890s. Currently, almost all of the population of the Americas resides in independent countries; however, the legacy of the colonization and settlement by Europeans is that the Americas share many common cultural traits, most notably Christianity and

11160-512: The initial peopling of the Americas; Na Dene speakers found predominantly in North American groups at varying genetic rates with the highest frequency found among the Athabaskans at 42% derive from this second wave. Linguists and biologists have reached a similar conclusion based on analysis of Amerindian language groups and ABO blood group system distributions. Then the people of

11280-533: The islands in the world. There are about 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be divided into three main groups known as Micronesia , Melanesia and Polynesia . Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the International Date Line , includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the center, the Marshall Islands to

11400-730: The islands of eastern Micronesia (including the Carolines , the Marshall Islands , and Kiribati ), mixing with earlier Austronesian migrations in the region. This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion into Polynesia until around 700 CE when there was another surge of island exploration. They reached the Cook Islands , Tahiti , and the Marquesas by 700 CE; Hawaiʻi by 900 CE; Rapa Nui by 1000 CE; and finally New Zealand by 1200 CE. Austronesians may have also reached as far as

11520-585: The mainland, while Nordostrundingen , in Greenland, is the most easterly point of the continental shelf. South America broke off from the west of the supercontinent Gondwana around 135 million years ago, forming its own continent. Around 15 million years ago, the collision of the Caribbean Plate and the Pacific Plate resulted in the emergence of a series of volcanoes along the border that created

11640-585: The north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu , Tokelau , Samoa , Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Islands , Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center, and the Marquesas Islands , Tuamotu , Mangareva Islands , and Easter Island to the east. Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside

11760-603: The northern Philippines , but also earlier groups associated with Austroasiatic-speakers , resulting in the modern peoples of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania. A later seaborne migration is the Neolithic Austronesian expansion of the Austronesian peoples . Austronesians originated from the island of Taiwan c.  3000 –1500 BCE. They are associated with distinctive maritime sailing technologies (notably outrigger boats , catamarans , lashed-lug boats, and

11880-557: The northwestern Pacific and the eastern Pacific. Pacific hurricanes form south of Mexico, sometimes striking the western Mexican coast and occasionally the Southwestern United States between June and October, while typhoons forming in the northwestern Pacific moving into southeast and east Asia from May to December. Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin , where they occasionally impact island nations. In

12000-399: The ocean was encountered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached a new ocean. He named it Mar del Sur ("Sea of the South" or "South Sea" ) because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. In 1520, navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first to cross

12120-549: The ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia . The volume of the Pacific Ocean, representing about 50.1 percent of

12240-569: The quest for Terra Australis ("the [great] Southern Land"), Spanish explorations in the 17th century, such as the expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós , arrived at the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos, and sailed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres . Dutch explorers, sailing around southern Africa, also engaged in exploration and trade; Willem Janszoon , made

12360-511: The settlement by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas . The first known European settlement in the Americas was by the Norse explorer Leif Erikson . However, the colonization never became permanent and was later abandoned. The Spanish voyages of Christopher Columbus from 1492 to 1504 resulted in permanent contact with European (and subsequently, other Old World ) powers, which eventually led to

12480-500: The settlement of Buka by 32,000 B.P. and Manus by 25,000 B.P. Journeys of 180 kilometres (110 mi) and 230 kilometres (140 mi) are involved, respectively. The descendants of these migrations today are the Negritos , Melanesians , and Indigenous Australians . Their populations in maritime Southeast Asia , coastal New Guinea , and Island Melanesia later intermarried with the incoming Austronesian settlers from Taiwan and

12600-500: The southeast of Hawaii is computed, and if the region is more than 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) above or below normal for that period, then an El Niño or La Niña is considered in progress. In the tropical western Pacific, the monsoon and the related wet season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian landmass. Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer, when

12720-546: The southerly Dixie Alley in the North American late-winter and early spring seasons. Often parts of the Caribbean are exposed to the violent effects of hurricanes. These weather systems are formed by the collision of dry, cool air from Canada and wet, warm air from the Atlantic. With coastal mountains and interior plains, the Americas have several large river basins that drain the continents. The largest river basin in North America

12840-466: The territories of the Americas under the colonial rule of European powers. In South America, Portugal played a significant role in the trafficking of enslaved Africans, with estimates suggesting that around 40% of all Africans forcibly brought to the Americas were taken to Brazil alone, to work primarily in sugar cane plantations, mining, and agricultural endeavors. In North America, the British Empire

12960-471: The three main demographic concepts: In accordance with these definitions, the three largest population centers in the Americas are: Mexico City , anchor to the largest metropolitan area in the Americas; New York City, anchor to the largest urban area in the Americas; and São Paulo, the largest city proper in the Americas. All three cities maintain Alpha classification and large scale influence. The population of

13080-524: The time of the first permanent European arrivals ( c.  late 15th –early 16th centuries), and are known only through archeological investigations. Others were contemporary with this period, and are also known from historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya, had their own written records. However, most Europeans of the time viewed such texts as pagan, and much was destroyed in Christian pyres. Only

13200-786: The tropics and Antarctica, which records the coldest temperature readings on the planet. In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy and cloudy conditions associated with extratropical cyclones riding the jet stream, it is usual to refer to the Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of latitude. The ocean was first mapped by Abraham Ortelius ; he called it Maris Pacifici following Ferdinand Magellan 's description of it as "a pacific sea" during his circumnavigation from 1519 to 1522. To Magellan, it seemed much more calm (pacific) than

13320-663: The use of West European languages: primarily Spanish , English , Portuguese , French , and, to a lesser extent, Dutch . The Americas are home to more than a billion inhabitants, two-thirds of whom reside in the United States , Brazil , and Mexico . It is home to eight megacities ( metropolitan areas with 10 million inhabitants or more): Greater Mexico City (21.2 million), São Paulo (21.2 million), New York City (19.7 million), Los Angeles (18.8 million), Buenos Aires (15.6 million), Rio de Janeiro (13.0 million), Bogotá (10.4 million), and Lima (10.1 million). The name "America"

13440-566: The west, and Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean . As the Pacific straddles the 180th meridian , the West Pacific (or western Pacific , near Asia) is in the Eastern Hemisphere , while the East Pacific (or eastern Pacific , near the Americas) is in

13560-525: The width of the Pacific with precision for the first time in history. One of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by European powers, and later Japan and

13680-434: The world's oceanic water, has been estimated at some 714 million cubic kilometers (171 million cubic miles). Surface water temperatures in the Pacific can vary from −1.4 °C (29.5 °F), the freezing point of seawater, in the poleward areas to about 30 °C (86 °F) near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally, reaching a maximum of 37 parts per thousand in the southeastern area. The water near

13800-492: Was first recorded in 1507. A two-dimensional globe created by Martin Waldseemüller was the earliest recorded use of the term. The name was also used (together with the related term Amerigen ) in the Cosmographiae Introductio , apparently written by Matthias Ringmann , in reference to South America. It was applied to both North and South America by Gerardus Mercator in 1538. "America" derives from Americus ,

13920-500: Was heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade, with the establishment of colonies such as Virginia, where enslaved Africans were primarily used as labor in tobacco plantations and later in other agricultural and domestic sectors. This system perpetuated for centuries, shaping the socio-economic landscape of all nations of the hemisphere. After the Haitian Revolution led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines , which started in 1791 and

14040-556: Was subject to frequent raids by English and French pirates . On the continent, Panama City on the Pacific coast of Central America, founded on August 15, 1519, played an important role, being the base for the Spanish conquest of South America. Conquistador Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón established San Miguel de Guadalupe , the first European settlement in what is now the United States , on the Pee Dee River in South Carolina . During

14160-572: Was the Cuban War of Independence which became the Spanish–American War , which resulted in the independence of Cuba in 1898, and the transfer of sovereignty over Puerto Rico from Spain to the United States. Peaceful decolonization began with the United States's purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803, Florida from Spain in 1819, of Alaska from Russia in 1867, and the Danish West Indies from Denmark in 1916. Canada became independent of

14280-572: Was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. Later, the Diogo Ribeiro map of 1529 was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size. (Inhabited dependent territories are denoted by the asterisk (*), with names of the corresponding sovereign states in round brackets. Associated states in the Realm of New Zealand are denoted by the hash sign (#).) Territories with no permanent civilian population. The Pacific Ocean has most of

14400-500: Was the only successful slave revolt in history, the world's first black republic was established. It started with the massacre of the white population, between 3,000 and 5,000 white men and women of all ages were killed. Dessalines declared: — Dessalines, first president of the Republic of Haiti, 1804 The most prevalent faiths in the Americas are as follows: Other faiths include Buddhism ; Hinduism ; Sikhism ; Baháʼí Faith ;

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