Page 202 - NS-2 Textbook

MARITIME GEOGRAPHY 197

Suez, and along the east coast of Africa and around the are the classic South Sea islands of waving palms and
Cape of Good Hope. The other major sea-lane is past Sin- white beaches. Many other South Sea islands, however,
gapore at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, through the especially in the Southwest Pacific, are deadly jungles
Strait of Malacca, and across the Indian Ocean to Suez. ·with disease, stifling heat, incessant rains, and fe,Y nat-
The Strait of Malacca is a main route between Asia and tITal resources.
Europe, and is the route Japanese oil tankers follow from Minerals. Not much mining is done in the Pacific yet,
the Persian Gulf to Japan. 11,is strait is one of the key but many large mineral deposits have been located in
strategic choke points of navigation in the world. coastal areas and on the ocean floor. Some tin is mined
In the spring of 1998 much apprehension over nu- off the Indonesian island of Sumatra; iron ore has been
clear weapons proliferation in the region arose 'ivhen mined for years off Japan; and mineral sands (titanium,
India and Pakistan each exploded nuclear test devices. zircon, and monazite) are lnined off the coast of Queens-
11,ere followed a period of escalating tension between land, Australia. There are small working oil fields be-
the two nations that might have led to a regional nuclear tween Australia and Tasmania and off New Zealand's
war but for Alnerican intervention in conjunction ,vith North Island. Other oil drilling is taking place off the
the United Nations. The issue of nuclear nonproliferation coast of southern California and in the Cook Inlet of
continues to be a nlajor concern in the area. Alaska. Phosphates are mined along the coasts of Chile,
In the late 1990s the issue of support of terrorist ac- Peru, and Baja California in Mexico.
tivities in this region became of great concern, particu- There are vast fields of manganese chunks in much
larly in regard to Afghanistan. Bordered by Pakistan to of the Pacific. An especially heavy belt extends from Baja
the south and east, Iran to the west, and in the north and California to Hawaii, and from there to the islands of
northeast by Russia and China, this poverty-stricken and Palau and northward to Japan. It is estimated that this
rugged country became the adopted home of one of the area, nearly 1.35 million square miles, is literally paved
foremost terrorist organizations of modern tinles, led by with manganese! A number of companies are working to
a wealthy exiled Saudi Arabian named Osama bin find a cheap ,",val' to mine this vast tUldersea resource.
Laden. In the fall of 2001 the cOlmtry became the scene of Fishing. The annual catch of fish and shellfish from
Operation Enduring Freedom, in which U.S. and allied the Pacific greatly exceeds that taken in any other ocean.
military forces joined with Afghan rebels to rid the coun- More than half of all the world's catch of marine fish,
try of bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist organization and the shellfish, and crustaceans (crabs and lobsters) comes from
repressive Taliban govermnent that supported him. the Pacific each year.
Principal navies of nations around the Indian Ocean Most fisheries are located within 150 miles of the
are those of South Africa, India, and Australia. Pakistan coasts. The exception to this is \trna fishing, which is car-
has a small but efficient navy. The French also have a ried on throughout the high seas. 11,ere are large fisheries
naval force in the ocean, based at Reunion, to protect for cod, pollock, flounder, rockfish, sea bass, and red
their hldian Ocean interests. snapper all over the Asiatic continental shelf-in the east-
ern Bering, Okhotsk (O-k6tsk'), Japan, and Yellow and
South China Seas. Fisheries for sardines and anchovies lie
PACIFIC OCEAN
off Peru, California, northern Japan, and Korea. Pollock
Covering nearly one-third of Earth's surface, the Pacific and salmon are fished in the Gulf of Alaska and off the
Ocean is by far the largest of the world's oceans. It cov- coasts of Washington and Oregon states.
ers an area of 64,000,000 square nllies ,'vith an average There are velY important fisheries for shrimp, crabs,
depth of 14,050 feet. The deepest part of the ocean is the lobsters, and squid in the waters across the northern Pa-
Marianas Trench, which at 36,161 feet at its maxinlum cific. Giant shrinlp, called prawns, are caught in the Yel-
depth is also the deepest spot on Earth. low and South China Seas, off northern Australia, and in
The western half of the Pacific sea floor is complex, the Gulf of Alaska. The largest of all crabs, the Alaskan
with thousands of volcanic peaks, trenches, ridges, and king crab, is taken in the Gulf of Alaska along the Aleu-
submarine plateaus. Many of the volcanoes are no longer tian (A-I60'-shan) Islands and in the Sea of Okhotsk.
active and are in various stages of erosion from sea and These huge crabs sometimes grow to more than three
weather action. 11,e tops of these volcanic peaks are the feet from claw to tail. Huge lobsters are caught around
beautiful Pacific islands one dreams about. There are most of the islands of the Pacific.
many coral reefs, which teem with colorful marine life. Ports and Naval Bases. The most impressive tlling
The most famous and largest reef is the Great Barrier about the geography of the Pacific is its size. Some exam-
Reef, which nrns more than 1,250 miles along the coast of ples: the distance from the Panama Canal to Yokohama
northeastern Australia. (Yo-ka-hii' -mal, Japan, is 7,680 miles, and to Singapore
The Hawaiian Islands and the Society Islands, which (Slng'-ga-por), 10,529 miles; from San Francisco to Manila,
include Tahiti and Bora Bora, are beautiful places. They Philippines, 6,299 miles, to Melbourne, Australia, 6,970, to