DEPTH OF THE OCEAN 41 



the main ocean by the barrier of the Kurile 

 Islands, the channels between which do not 

 exceed 500 fathoms in depth. A considerable 

 portion of this sea has depths over 1000 

 fathoms with a maximum depth of 1843 

 fathoms. The Bering Sea is very shallow 

 towards the east, but a large part of the 

 western portion has depths between 2000 

 and 2200 fathoms, and the greatest depth is 

 2936 fathoms. It is separated from the Pacific 

 by the long chain of the Aleutian Islands, 

 which are the emerged portions of a continuous 

 volcanic ridge running from the peninsula of 

 Kamchatka to that of Alaska. The depth 

 over this ridge for the greater part of its 

 length does not exceed 500 fathoms, but in 

 the widest channel, that between Bering Island 

 and Attu Island, the depth increases to 1996 

 fathoms. 



Depth of the Pacific Ocean. — The eastern 

 portion of the Pacific Ocean is characterised 

 by great uniformity of depth, mostly exceed- 

 ing 2000 fathoms, with a few volcanic islands 

 and only a few small deeps. The Western 

 Pacific is in complete contrast to the eastern 

 portion, with numerous small volcanic and 

 coral islands as well as continental islands 

 like New Zealand, New Guinea and Japan, 

 and with large areas less than 2000 fathoms 

 in depth alternating with large deeps exceeding 



