00:00why is the pacific ocean so vast and landlocked what's the mystery the pacific ocean is super big
00:10so big that it covers more space than all the continents put together it's so deep and wide
00:16that there are many secrets hiding under the water but there's one mystery about it that might
00:22surprise you to learn about this mystery you should look carefully at a world map have you
00:29ever looked closely at the world map if you did you might have wondered why is the pacific ocean so
00:36vast compared to the other oceans stretching almost halfway around the globe have you ever
00:42wondered why the pacific ocean is so different from the other oceans if you look at a world map
00:48you'll see lots of land called continents on one side but why isn't there a huge land mass covering
00:55the big pacific ocean have you thought about why the pacific ocean is the biggest and feels kind of
01:01empty or why can it be more dangerous than other oceans if you want to know the answers keep watching
01:08the video until the end let's start if you look at the world map you'll notice most of the continents
01:16are on one side and on the other side there's an enormous expanse of blue the pacific ocean taking
01:23up almost an entire hemisphere have you ever wondered why there's only the pacific ocean on
01:29one side of the earth and all the land with continents on the other side it might seem a
01:34little strange right the pacific ocean isn't just a small body of water it's huge and makes up about
01:4130 percent of everything on earth even if you put all seven continents together they wouldn't be as big
01:48as the pacific ocean a long time ago all the continents were joined together in one big landmass
01:55covering almost 200 million square kilometers that special time is called pangea a long time ago there
02:04was a big supercontinent called pangea and around it was a giant ocean named panthalassa it was like a
02:11huge water world but then something changed the shape of the earth's land this change happened
02:19because the pieces of the earth's crust called tectonic plates started to move very slowly
02:25as they moved pangea began to break apart into different land pieces
02:31in 1912 a scientist named alfred wegener from germany came up with an idea called the continental drift theory
02:38he said that all the continents used to be connected and then slowly drifted apart
02:44at first many scientists didn't believe him but over time they realized he was right and his idea
02:51became accepted as the truth imagine all the continents on earth are like big puzzle pieces
02:58a long long time ago all these puzzle pieces were stuck together to make one giant land called pangea
03:05over many millions of years the puzzle pieces slowly moved apart and now we have the continents we see
03:12today but this movement doesn't stop every few million years the continents might move closer again
03:19and join together or break apart into even smaller pieces so when i mention names like pangea or panthalassa
03:27while talking about the pacific ocean it's because a long time ago all the land and oceans were connected
03:33differently and the earth's surface keeps changing over time hi friends do you know why the biggest ocean
03:41in the world feels so lonely it's because the continents the giant land pieces are slowly moving away from
03:48each other a long time ago about 4.5 billion years ago the earth started changing and the continents began
03:57to drift apart and come back together again scientists say this has happened three times before and it will
04:04happen again someday you might wonder how these huge land pieces can move all by themselves a scientist
04:12named wegener explained how this happens through his theory of continental drift which says the continents
04:18slowly shift over earth's surface carried by movements in the planet's underlying layers he explained
04:24that the reason continents sometimes break apart and then come back together is because of big pieces
04:30of the earth's surface called tectonic plates these plates move because of heat deep inside the earth
04:37sometimes the plates move apart from each other which is called a divergent boundary when this happens
04:44the land separates and water can fill the space between them the way these plates move can change over time
04:51this big body of water can be a huge ocean or a small sea because a new layer of rock called oceanic crust
04:59was made about 200 million years ago because of this the one big ocean that used to cover everything
05:06called panthalassa changed into the five oceans we see today so all the oceans are still connected as one
05:14big ocean friends this change happens very slowly so slowly that we don't see it happening
05:22for example africa is slowly splitting into two parts but we hardly notice it happening
05:29maybe someday a new big ocean will form in africa and it will be called the earth's sixth ocean
05:36friends there's another way the earth's crust moves called a convergent boundary
05:41that's when two big pieces of the earth's crust push toward each other
05:46when they do this they can make huge mountains
05:49the tallest and most famous example is the himalayas these mountains formed because the indian land
05:56pushed into the eurasian land this pushing is still happening today so the himalayas are getting a
06:03little taller each year about two centimeters the big pieces of the earth's crust called plates are
06:10slowly moving by tiny amounts just centimeters you might wonder why i'm talking about these plates and
06:17how they relate to the pacific ocean being so empty the way these plates move affects everything on earth
06:24the emptiness and size of the pacific ocean are mostly due to these moving plates
06:30under the ocean there's a huge plate called the pacific plate and it's always pushing against
06:35other plates around it most of the time this pushing happens at the edges of the ocean which
06:42are called tectonic plate boundaries imagine the earth's outer layer is made up of big pieces
06:48called plates like giant puzzle pieces these plates move very slowly just a tiny bit at a time only a
06:56few centimeters you might wonder why i'm talking about these plates and how they make the pacific ocean
07:02so big and empty well the way these plates move changes the shape of the earth the pacific ocean is so
07:11big and open because of these moving plates under the ocean there's a large plate called the pacific
07:17plate and it's always pushing against other plates around it most of the time this pushing happens at
07:24the edges of the ocean which are called mid-ocean ridges imagine a big rocky circle all around the pacific
07:32ocean made up of mountains and volcanoes that's called the ring of fire it's like a giant wall made
07:39of hot bubbling volcanoes and tall mountains this circle is about 400 kilometers long and 500 kilometers
07:47wide and it goes all around the ocean because so many huge pieces of earth's crust called tectonic plates
07:55bump into each other there it's the most active place on earth for earthquakes and volcanoes
08:01about three out of four volcanic eruptions and earthquakes happen in the ring of fire
08:07since japan is right inside this circle it often feels earthquakes and sees volcanic eruptions
08:13you might wonder why the pacific ocean feels calm and empty even though the pieces of the earth's crust
08:19there are moving around a lot scientists say there are two main reasons for this the first reason is
08:26called the ring of fire it's like a big border around the pacific ocean so even though the plates are
08:33moving new land isn't forming there underneath the ocean is a really big part of the earth's crust
08:40called the pacific plate this huge plate is always moving and pushing against other smaller plates
08:46nearby because it's so big and heavy it puts pressure on the smaller plates around it no there isn't a
08:54continent there because of how the earth's plates are arranged the second reason is inside the pacific
09:01plate itself usually under oceans many different pieces of the earth's crust bump into each other
09:08which can help form continents but under the pacific ocean there's only one big piece
09:14so continents don't form there the small islands that appear along the edges of this big plate are
09:20usually tiny and don't last forever sometimes they sink or change over time because of movement in the
09:28earth's crust and there are other reasons too like erosion volcanic activity and changes in sea level that
09:35reshaped the ocean floor the islands in the pacific ocean are very small and far away from each other
09:43because they are so spread out it's hard for big cities or many people to live and work there
09:49this is why the pacific ocean feels like a lonely place so friends after watching this tell me in the
09:57comments what you learned today and if you enjoyed the video thanks welcome to our channel disclaimer
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