Pacific Ocean volume

Many hydrologic reservoirs can be further subdivided into smaller reservoirs, each with a characteristic turnover time. For example, water resides in the Pacific Ocean longer than in the Atlantic, and the oceans surface waters cycle much more quickly than the deep ocean. Similarly, groundwater near the surface is much more active than deep reservoirs, which may cycle over thousands or millions of years, and water frozen in the soil as permafrost. Typical range in turnover times for hydrospheric reservoirs on a hillslope scale (10-10 m) are shown in Table 6-4 (estimates from Falkenmark and Chapman, 1989). Depths are estimated as typical volume averaged over the watershed area. 

The area, volume and average depth of the ocean basins and some marginal seas are given in Table 10-1. The Pacific Ocean is the largest and contains more than one-half of the Earth s water. It also receives the least river water per area of the major oceans (Table 10-2). Paradoxically it is also the least salty (Table 10-3). The land area of the entire Earth is strongly skewed toward the northern hemisphere. 

Nitrate versus phosphate concentrations at 2500 m in the (a) Atlantic, (b) Indian, and (c) Pacific Oceans. Dissolved oxygen versus phosphate concentrations at 2500 m in the (d) Atlantic, (e) Indian, and (f) Pacific Oceans. The slopes of these lines represent the proportions by which these constituent concentrations are altered by the remineralization of POM in the deep sea. These data are replotted from Figure 10.1. Source From Conkright, M. E., et al. (2002). World Ocean Atlas 2001, Volume 4 Nutrients, NOAA Atlas NESDIS 52,... 

In the Pacific Ocean, most of the waters at 2500 m have a prefiormed phosphate concentration intermediate between NADW and AABW. Because preformed phosphate is a conservative tracer, it can be used to estimate the proportions of NADW and AABW present in the deep zones of the ocean basins. The average deep-water preformed phosphate concentration is 1.4 (jlM. This concentration would result from an equal-volume admixture of NADW and AABW. This conservative mixing estimate is based on the assumption that the preformed phosphate concentrations of the end-member water masses have remained constant over time scales at least as long as the mixing time of the ocean. 

Only occasionally has the N content of solid phase extracts been reported. At a site in the Atlantic Ocean the carbon to nitrogen ratio (C N) of XAD 8 and XAD 2 extracts fell in the range of 40-57 (57 0.9 and 41.1 3.3, respectively DrufFel et ai, 1992). In contrast, at the same site XAD 4, when used as the second resin in series with XAD 8 or XAD 2, extracted compounds with lower C N ratios - 19—24 (21.0 2.4). These values are only slighdy higher than ratios reported for total DOM (see below). McKnight and Aiken (1998) reported a C N value of 37 for DOM extracted by XAD 8 at one site in the Pacific Ocean at other sites in the N. Pacific Ocean XAD 2 was found to extract DOM with a C N ratio between 32 and 46.5 (Druffel et al, 1992 Meyers-Schulte and Hedges, 1986). Bronk (2002, Table III) compiled various literature values and arrived at an average C N ratio of 32.8 19.5 for total humic substances isolated from a variety of aqueous environments (see McCarthy and Bronk, this volume). 

In the Central North Pacific Ocean (CNPO) it has also been reported that phosphorus availabiHty limits N2 fixation and primary production (Karl et al, 2001 a,b) (but iron availability may also play a role as suggested by Wu et al (2000). Karl et al (2001a,b) contend that since the mid 1970s there has been an enhanced stratification in the CNPO and a decreased inorganic nutrient avadabihty which selects for diazotrophs and shifts from a N-hmited phytoplankton population to one that is either P or Fe Hmited (see Karl et al. Chapter 16, this volume). 

Figure 14.3. Particle size distribution, (a) Discrete and continuous cumulative particle size distribution, (b) Discrete and continuous particle size distribution, (c) Volume distribution plotted in accordance with equation 3. (d) Particle size distributions at four depths in a calcareous sediment from west equatorial Pacific Ocean, 1°6.0 S, 161 36.6 E, box core No. 136, water depth 3848 m. (From Lerman, 1979.)...

If you think that the value of Avogadro s number, 6 X 10, is too large to be useful to anyone but chemists, look up into the sky on a clear night. You may be able to see about 3000 stars with the naked eye, but the total number of stars swirhng around you in the known universe is approximately equal to Avogadro s number. Just think, the known universe contains approximately one mole of stars Ifou don t have to leave earth to encounter such large numbers. The water in the Pacific Ocean has a volume of about 6 X 10 mL and a mass of about 6 X 10 g. 

Smith, C.R. and Demopoulos, A.W.J. (2003) Ecology of the deep Pacific Ocean floor, in Ecosystems of the World, Volume 28, Ecosystems of the Deep Ocean (ed. P.A. Tyler), Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 179-218. 

The total volume of the Pacific Ocean is estimated to be 7.2 X 10 km. A medium-sized atomic bomb produces 1.0 X 10 J of energy upon explosion. Calculate the number of atomic bombs needed to release enough energy to raise the temperature of the water in the Pacific Ocean by 1°C. 

Riley, 1975). The 11 ions, except for iodine, compose more than 99.9% of salinity. Iodine is one of the most abundant micronutrients in seawater, with a total concentration of 5 X 10 to 6 X 10 g-l (0.4-0.5pM). Other micronutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus and many trace ions, are also contained therein. The three main oceans (i.e., the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans), including adjacent seas, occupy 70.8% of the earths surface (total sea area of 360.8 X 10 km ). Of the sea area, the ratio of the continental shelf (less than 200m deep), between 200 and 2000 m deep, and over 2000 m deep is 7.6, 8.5, and the remaining 83.9%, respectively. The total volume of seawater is 1.37 X 10 m (mean depth 3795 m) (Bowden, 1975). The ocean is thus a huge reservoir of iodine. 

Next, convert the volume of the Pacific Ocean to liters. 

The surface area and average depth of the Pacific Ocean are 1.8 X 10 km and 3.9 X 10 m, respectively. Calculate the volume of water in the ocean in liters. 

The complex interplay of deregulation, globalization, and technological change increased the international transmission capacities and traffic volumes for fiber optics carriers explosively. Between 1988 and 2003, for example, trans-Atlantic fiber optic cable capacity increased from 43,750 voice paths to 45.1 billion (103,000%), while across the Pacific Ocean, cable carriers capacity rose from 1,800 voice paths to 1.87 billion (an astonishing 1.6 billion percent). 

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