• 21 Aug, 2019

• By, Wikipedia

The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the largest sea in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million square kilometers (2×10^ sq mi). The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its western border is the first island chain to the west, comprising the Ryukyu Islands in the northwest and Taiwan in the west. Its southwestern border comprises the Philippine islands of Luzon, Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao. Its northern border comprises the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyūshū. Its eastern border is the second island chain to the east, comprising the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the northeast, the Mariana Islands (including Guam, Saipan, and Tinian) in the due east, and Halmahera, Palau, Yap and Ulithi (of the Caroline Islands) in the southeast. Its southern border is Indonesia's Morotai Island.

The sea has a complex and diverse undersea relief. The floor is formed into a structural basin by a series of geologic faults and fracture zones. Island arcs, which are actually extended ridges protruding above the ocean surface due to plate tectonic activity in the area, enclose the Philippine Sea to the north, east and south. The Philippine archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, and the Marianas are examples. Another prominent feature of the Philippine Sea is the presence of deep sea trenches, among them the Philippine Trench and the Mariana Trench, containing the deepest point on the planet.

Geography

Location

The Philippine Sea has the Philippines and Taiwan to the west, Japan to the north, the Marianas to the east and Palau to the south. Adjacent seas include the Celebes Sea which is separated by Mindanao and smaller islands to the south, the South China Sea which is separated by Philippines, and the East China Sea which is separated by the Ryukyu Islands.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Philippine Sea as "that area of the North Pacific Ocean off the Eastern coasts of the Philippine Islands", bounded as follows:

On the west. By the eastern limits of the East Indian Archipelago, South China Sea and East China Sea.

On the north. By the southeast coast of Kyushu, the southern and eastern limits of the Inland Sea and the south coast of Honshu Island.

On the east. By the ridge joining Japan to the Bonin, Volcano and Ladrone (Mariana) Islands, all these being included in the Philippine Sea.

On the south. By a line joining Guam, Yap, Pelew (Palau) and Halmahera Islands.

Taiwan

Japan

Palau

Federated States of Micronesia

Northern Mariana Islands

The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the Philippine Sea. It subducts under the Philippine Mobile Belt which carries most of the Philippine archipelago and eastern Taiwan. Between the two plates is the Philippine Trench.

The Philippine Sea has a marine territorial scope of over 679,800 square kilometers (262,500 sq mi), and an EEZ of 2.2 million km. Attributed to an extensive vicariance and island integrations, the Philippines contains the highest number of marine species per unit area relative to the countries within the Indo-Malay-Philippines Archipelago, and has been identified as the epicenter of marine biodiversity. With its inclusion in the Coral Triangle, the Philippine Sea encompasses over 3,212 fish species, 486 coral species, 800 seaweed species, and 820 benthic algae species, wherein the Verde Island Passage is dubbed as "the center of the center of marine fish biodiversity". Within its territory, thirty-three endemic species of fish have been identified, including the blue-spotted angelfish (Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus) and the sea catfish (Arius manillensis). The Philippine marine territory has also become a breeding and feeding ground for endangered marine species, such as the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the dugong (Dugong dugon), and the megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios). Within the South China Sea, Philippine scientists have discovered an abundant amount of marine life and species that have the potential to be biomedical advances for the Philippines as well.

The Coral Triangle (also called the Indo-Malayan Triangle) is considered to be the global center of marine biodiversity. Its total oceanic area is approximately 2 million square kilometers. It encompasses the tropical waters of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. The Philippine islands, which lie at its apex, make up 300,000 square kilometers (120,000 sq mi) of it. The part of the Coral Triangle's coral reef area that lies within the Philippines ranges from 10,750 square kilometers (4,150 sq mi) to 33,500 square kilometers (12,900 sq mi). It contains over 500 species of scleractinian or stony corals, and at least 12 endemic coral species.

The Coral Triangle contains 75% of the world's coral species (around 600 species). It is home to over 2000 types of reef fish, and six of the world's seven species of marine turtles (the hawksbill, loggerhead, leatherback, green turtle, olive ridley, and sea turtle). There is no single causal explanation for the unusually high biodiversity found in the Coral Triangle, but most researchers have attributed it to geological factors such as plate tectonics.

The Philippine Sea provides or supports the livelihoods of 120 million people, and is a source of food for the Philippine coastal communities and for millions more people worldwide. Whale-shark tourism in the Coral Triangle also provides a steady source of income for the surrounding community. The marine resources in the Coral Triangle have a high economic value, not only in the Philippines, but across the globe. The countries surrounding the Coral Triangle work to provide their people with technical assistance and other resources needed to promote conservation, sustainability, biodiversity, food security, sources of livelihood, and economic development.

Climate change is affecting the coastal ecosystem found in the Coral Triangle. It is contributing to rising sea levels and ocean acidification, thus endangering marine animals like fish and turtles. This has a negative effect on local sources of livelihood, such as fishing and tourism. It is also making the waters warmer, which endangers corals. Warmer water causes corals to absorb more carbon dioxide. This alters the water's pH balance, making it acidic, a condition to which the corals are not adapted, and in which they are ill-equipped to survive.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2008)

The Philippine Sea hosts an exotic marine ecosystem. There are 421 of the 577 known species of corals in coastal waters, including 19 seagrass species and 30 species of mangrove, both of which contribute nutrients to coral systems. The Philippines also consists of 20 percent of the shellfish globally. Sea turtles, sharks, moray eels, octopuses, and sea snakes, along with numerous species of fish such as tuna can commonly be observed. Additionally, the Philippine Sea serves as spawning ground for Japanese eel, tuna, and different whale species.