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Tokelau

(Encyclopedia)Tokelau tōkəlouˈ, tōkĕläˈo͞o [key] formerly Union Islands, island group (2015 est. pop. 1,500), c.5 sq mi (c.12 sq km), S Pacific, a self-administering territory of New Zealand. It is composed...

shearwater

(Encyclopedia)shearwater, common name for members of the family Procellariidae, gull-like sea birds related to the petrel and the albatross and including the fulmar. Shearwaters are found on unfrozen saltwaters all...

Irazú

(Encyclopedia)Irazú ēräso͞oˈ [key], active volcano, c.11,260 ft (3,430 m) high, central Costa Rica, E of San José. A massive volcano, Irazú erupted in 1723, destroying Cartago, and since then it has erupted ...

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, 582,578 sq mi (1,508,870 sq km), in the Pacific Ocean surrounding the NW Hawaiian Islands, c.270 mi (435 km) NW of Oahu; est. 2006 as Northwestern Hawaiia...

El Niño–Southern Oscillation

(Encyclopedia)El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) ĕl nēnˈyō [key], large-scale climatic fluctuation of the tropical Pacific Ocean and the overlying atmosphere. The El Niño [Span.,=the child] is the South Am...

Mariana Trench

(Encyclopedia)Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench, mârˌēănˈəz [key], elongated depression on the Pacific Ocean floor, 210 mi (338 km) SW of Guam. It is the deepest known depression on the earth's surface, havin...

Inland Sea

(Encyclopedia)Inland Sea, Jap. Seto-naikai, arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.3,670 sq mi (9,510 sq km), S Japan, between Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu islands. It is linked to the Sea of Japan by a narrow channel. The sha...

Biobío

(Encyclopedia)Biobío bēˈō– [key], river, c.240 mi (390 km) long, rising in the Andes of central Chile and flowing NW to the Pacific Ocean near Concepción. It forms a natural divide between middle and souther...

Buenaventura

(Encyclopedia)Buenaventura bwāˌnävānto͞oˈrä [key], city (2020 est. pop. 451,000), W Colombia, a port on the Pacific ...

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