Neptune's Needle

China. (area; c.1,000,000 sq miles), W arm of the Pacific Ocean, bet. the SE Asian mainland and Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo. Connected with the East China Sea by the Taiwan Strait and with the Pacific Ocean by the Luzon Strait. The gulfs of Tonkin and Thailand are its chief embayments. The SW part of the sea from the Gulf of Thailand to the Java Sea is an enormous submerged plain called the Sunda Platform; water is generally shallow (less than 200 ft.) throughout this vast area. In contrast, the NE part of the sea is a deep basin, reaching depths of up to c.18,000 ft. The Pearl, Red, Mekong, and Chao Phraya are the largest rivers flowing into the sea. Many isls. dot the sea, which is a region subject to violent typhoons.

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Compiler

Peter Richards