Northwest Pacific Basin

an ocean basin in the Pacific Ocean, bounded by the Kuril-Kamchatka, Japan, and Izu-Bonin trenches on the west and northwest, by the Emperor Seamount Chain and the Hawaiian Ridge on the northeast and east, and by the Marcus-Necker Rise in the south. Depths generally range between 5,000 and 6,000 m, with a maximum depth of 7,374 m. The Shatsky Rise, with its peak at a depth of 1,962 m, is located in the central part of the basin. The rise was named in honor of the Soviet geologist N. S. Shatskii. The Zenkevich Swell, named in honor of the Soviet biologist L. A. Zenkevich, extends along the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. The floor of the basin is a hilly abyssal plain, covered with a thin layer of sediment 200 to 300 m thick.