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为什么太平洋这么大？
查看任何世界地图，您会发现太平洋是最大的海洋。但是它是怎么这么大的呢？
来源:LiveScienceThe Pacific Ocean is by far the world's largest ocean, more than five times wider than our moon. But why is the Pacific so big?
more than five times wider than our moon覆盖了约6300万平方英里（1.63亿平方公里）（超过地球表面的30％以上），世界上所有的大陆都可以安装在太平洋盆地内部。 NOAA指出，该地球上最深的水体也是地球上最深的水体，太平洋占地一半以上，在玛丽安娜（Mariana）沟渠深处的挑战者深处延伸至36,000英尺（11,000米）的深度。
63 million square miles National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Challenger Deep in the Mariana TrenchThe predecessor of the Pacific Ocean was Panthalassa, or the Panthalassic Ocean, which was once Earth's only ocean. This world-spanning superocean existed when all of Earth's continental land was united in the supercontinent Pangaea.
Panthalassa supercontinent Pangaea“ Panthalassa是原始太平洋，”坦佩亚利桑那州立大学海洋期货学院创始董事Susanne Neuer告诉Live Science。 "The Pacific is essentially what remains of Panthalassa."
Susanne NeuerOceans and continents past and present rest on top of tectonic plates, the giant slabs of rock that make up Earth's rigid outer shell. These plates are regularly on the move, sometimes colliding into each other, sometimes pulling apart from one another. About 230 million years ago, such motions led Pangaea to start breaking up.
tectonic plates“变成北美和欧亚大陆的东西开始远离南美，非洲，南极和澳大利亚，”纽约宾厄姆顿大学地球科学助理教授Adriane Lam告诉Live Science。
Adriane LamRelated: Do the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean mix?
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