ow from the Asian land mass back to the ocean

_#_Terrain: surface in the northern Pacific dominated by a clockwise,
warm water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) and in the southern
Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool water gyre; sea ice occurs in the
Bering Sea and
Sea of Okhotsk during winter and reaches maximum northern extent from
Antarctica in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is
dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is
dissected by deep trenches; the world's greatest depth is 10,924 meters
in the Marianas Trench

_#_Natural resources: oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand
and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish

_#_Environment: endangered marine species include the dugong, sea
lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine
Sea and South China Sea; dotted with low coral islands and rugged
volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean; subject to tropical
cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most
frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form
south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to
October (most common in August and September); southern shipping lanes
subject to icebergs from Antarctica; occasional El Nino phenomenon
occurs off the coast of Peru when the trade winds slacken and the warm
Equatorial Countercurrent moves south, which kills the plankton that is
the primary food source for anchovies; consequently, the anchovies move
to better feeding grounds, causing resident marine birds to starve by the
thousands because of their lost food source

_#_Note: the major choke points are the Bering Strait, Panama
Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the
Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean;
ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to
May and in extreme south from May to October; persistent fog in the
northern Pacific from June to December is a hazard to shipping;
surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity
sometimes referred to as the Pacific Ring of Fire

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world
economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch.
It provides cheap sea transportation between East and West, extensive
fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, an