Page 460 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

458 THE PACIFIC OCEAN

The Bering Sea PACIFIC OCEAN D3 for about half of the total US fish
and shellfish catch. Harbor seals
Bering Sea and gray whales also take advantage of
these productive waters. In contrast to
And Gulf of Alaska AREA 890,000 square miles (2.3 million square km) the deep ocean basin beneath the
MAXIMUM DEPTH 20,021 ft (6,102 m) southwestern half of the sea, the broad
THE COLD, STORMY SUBPOLAR SEAS of the North Pacific are INFLOWS Pacific Ocean; Yukon, Anadyr’ rivers continental shelf in the northwest
highly productive, supporting a rich fishery. Geologically, the area is very shallow. Much of this area
The Bering Sea is named after a formed a land bridge during the
is dominated by a subduction zone, and the area’s volcanoes and Danish navigator in the Russian last ice age, when sea levels were
earthquakes pose an ever-present danger. Navy, who explored the area in up to 390 ft (120 m) lower than they
1741. It lies between mainland Asia are today. This route was ice-free for
and North America, and is bounded extended periods, allowing several
PACIFIC OCEAN
by the Aleutian Islands to the south species, including humans, to migrate
Aleutian Trench and linked to the Arctic Ocean in from Asia to North America on foot
the north by the narrow Bering for the first time.
LENGTH 2,000 miles (3,200 km) Strait. There is a flow of cold
MAXIMUM DEPTH 26,600 ft (8,100 m) Arctic water south through this
strait, feeding a counterclockwise
RATE OF CLOSURE 3 in (8 cm) per year
circulation. The main freshwater
The Bering Sea is bounded to the SEALS IN THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS input is the Yukon River, which
south by the Aleutian Islands. On has deposited an extensive delta
the Pacific side of the islands lies the where the contact is between ocean at its mouth. The Bering Sea
Aleutian Trench, marking where the crust and continental crust. The largest is one of the world’s richest
Pacific Plate is plunging beneath volcanic event of the 20th century was fisheries, helping Alaska account
the North American Plate. It is this the eruption of Mount Katmai on
subduction zone that gives rise to the Alaskan Peninsula in 1912. This THE BERING STRAIT
the volcanic arc of islands, the most boundary can also produce powerful This satellite image shows ice from
northerly link in the Pacific Ring of earthquakes such as the event that the Chukchi Sea streaming south
Fire. The trench continues to the east, destroyed part of Anchorage in 1964. through the Bering Strait.

A B C D E F
160˚E 170˚E Arctic Circle 170˚W
150˚E 180˚
60˚N
Chukchi Sea Goodhope
Bay
Chukotskiy
Anadyr’
Poluostrov
1 Anadyr’ Bering Strait Seward
RUSSIAN Gulf of Peninsula
FEDERA TION Anadyr Nome
Chirikof
Mys Chukotskiy
Basin
Sea of Okhotsk Khatyrka Norton Norton
Sound
Plain
Ossora 12m Mys Navarin Saint Lawrence
Island
Karaginsky Zaliv Olyutorskiy Mys Olyutorskiy (39ft) (95ft)
29m
Zaliv
Kamchatka Peninsula Kamchatka Saint Matthew
Ostrov
2 Karaginskiy Hooper
Bay
Basin
Kamchatka
Island
Ust’-Kamchatsk
635m
Canyon
Kamchatskiy Mys Sivuchiy (2,083ft) S h i r s h o v R i d g e Pervenets Nunivak Etolin Strait
Zaliv Ostrov Island Kuskokwim
Petropavlovsk- Kronotskiy Beringa Mednyy 20m Bay
Kamchatskiy Seamount Aleutian (66ft)
Kamchatka
Zaliv Ber ing Sea Cape Newenham
Mys Terrace 7,864m Komandorskiye Basin
Ostrova
Shipunskiy
(25,802ft) 4,024m
Ostrov (13,203ft)
Mednyy Pribilof
3 50˚N Kurile Trench Obruchev Rise (108ft) Attu Seamount Plateau (36ft) (20,021ft) Islands (66ft) (203ft)
6,102m
20m
ATLAS OF THE OCEANS 4 160˚E Northwest (6,093ft) Emperor Seamounts A l e u t i a n R i s e Agattu Islands Basin Rat Islands Bowers Ridge Island A l e u t i a n I s l a n d s Umnak Harbor Unalaska Davidson
62m
Ulm
Bowers
11m
33m
Bowers
Bowers
Attu
Bank
Unimak
Near
Island
Island
False
Pass
Plateau
Umnak Bering Canyon
Island
Takoma
Dutch
Bank
Reef
Amchitka Pass
Island
Kiska
Tanaga
Amukta Pass
Atka
Fox Islands
Island
Island
Atka
Pacific
Island
Amchitka
1,857m
Island
Basin
Andreanof Islands
A l e u t i a n Tr e n ch
7,314m
(19,975ft)
A 6,088m B 170˚E C 180˚ D E 170˚W (23,997ft) F