CAGAYAN RIVER

The Cagayan River, also known as the Rio Grande de Cagayan, is the longest river in
the Philippines and the largest river by discharge volume of water (followed by Rio Grande de
Mindanao). It has a total length of approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi) and a drainage
basin covering 27,753 square kilometres (10,715 sq mi). It is located in the Cagayan Valley region
in northeastern part of Luzon Island and traverses the provinces of Nueva
Vizcaya, Quirino, Isabela and Cagayan.
MINDORO STRAIT

The Mindoro Strait (Filipino: Kipot ng Mindoro) is one of the straits connecting the South China
Sea with the Sulu Sea in the Philippines. It separates Mindoro Island from Busuanga Island (one
of the Calamian Islands of Palawan Province). Located between the two islands is the Apo Reef,
the largest coral reef system in the Philippines. The reef divides the strait into the Apo East Pass
and the Apo West Pass.[3]

The Mindoro Strait is part of an alternate route for ships passing between
the Indian and Pacific oceans and a common one for those exceeding the Malaccamax size and
therefore being incapable of using the Strait of Malacca.

Modern bathymetric soundings have shown that the centers of the Mindoro Strait and the Sibutu
Passage are both deep enough that they probably existed during the last ice age, thus contradicting
the favored H. Otley Beyer's theory that the first settlers of the Philippines came through land
bridges around that period. If verified, the earliest people of the country would have needed boats
to cross the open sea to reach the islands.
BABUYAN CHANNEL

Babuyan Islands, island group of the Philippines that is a northerly extension of the Philippine
archipelago. The Babuyan Islands lie in the Luzon Strait, south of the Batan Islands and Balintang
Channel. They lie 20 miles (32 km) north of Luzon across the Babuyan Channel. With a total area
of 230 square miles (600 square km), they comprise 24 volcanic-coralline islands, the chief of
which are Babuyan, Camiguin, Calayan, Fuga, and Dalupiri. The inhabitants are fishermen and
farmers with strong cultural ties to Luzon. The lack of arable lands and the prevalence of strong
winds discourage the cultivation of rice or corn (maize). Instead, root crops, particularly sweet
potatoes, are widely grown, and the surplus supports a small livestock industry. Calayan is the
largest town and only port with regular interisland shipping service from Aparri and Manila, but
this link is frequently broken from September to February during the typhoon season. Cattle, hogs,
goats, and lumber are exported.
LEYTE GULF

Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the
Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte
in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao Island, separated from Leyte by the Surigao Strait.
Dinagat Island partly encloses the gulf to the southeast, and the small Homonhon Island and Suluan
Island, sit astride the eastern entrance to the Gulf. It is approximately 130 km (81 mi) north-south,
and 60 km (37 mi) east-west.

Several municipalities are situated on the coast of the gulf: Balangiga, Giporlos, Guiuan, Lawaan,
Mercedes, Quinapondan and Salcedo. There are also eleven marine reserves in the gulf region.

Leyte Gulf was also the scene of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which extends to Surigao Strait during
the Battle of Surigao Strait, the largest naval battle of World War II and started the end of Japanese
occupation in the Philippines.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan stirred up a storm surge in Leyte Gulf, resulting to massive loss of lives,
agricultural land and property along Leyte's shores.
TAAL LAKE

Taal Lake, formerly known as Bombón Lake, is a freshwater lake in the province of Batangas,
on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The lake fills Taal Caldera, a large
volcanic caldera formed by very large eruptions between 500,000 and 100,000 years ago. It is the
country's third largest lake after Laguna de Bay and Lake Lanao. Volcano Island, the location
of Taal Volcano's historical eruptions and responsible for the lake's sulfuric content, lies near the
center of the lake. There is a crater lake on Volcano Island. Known as the Yellow Lake or the Main
Crater Lake,[4] it contains its own small island, Vulcan Point. Vulcan Point was thought to be the
largest third order island in the world but Treasure Island (Ontario) is much bigger and is thought
to be the world largest, and is also on a freshwater lake.
PHILIPPINE SEA

The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and northeast of the Philippines occupying an estimated
surface area of 5 million square kilometres (2 million square miles).[1] The Philippine Sea Plate
forms the floor of the sea, which forms a portion of the western North Pacific Ocean.[2] It is
bordered by the Philippine archipelago (Luzon, Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao) on the
southwest; Halmahera, Morotai, Palau, Yap, and Ulithi (of the Carolines) on the southeast; the
Marianas, including Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, on the east; the Bonin and Iwo Jima on the
northeast; the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyūshū on the north; the Ryukyu Islands
on the northwest; and Taiwan in the west.

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.
ESTUARY

An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams
flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.

Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are
subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to
riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The mixing of sea water and fresh
water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries
among the most productive natural habitats in the world.

Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or
glacially scoured valleys when the sea level began to rise about 10,000–12,000 years ago. Estuaries
are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation
patterns. They can have many different names, such as bays, harbors, lagoons, inlets, or sounds,
although some of these water bodies do not strictly meet the above definition of an estuary and
may be fully saline.

The banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about
60% of the world's population living along estuaries and the coast.[citation needed] As a result,
many estuaries suffer degradation from a variety of factors including: sedimentation from soil
erosion from deforestation, overgrazing, and other poor farming practices; overfishing; drainage
and filling of wetlands; eutrophication due to excessive nutrients from sewage and animal wastes;
pollutants including heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, radionuclides and hydrocarbons
from sewage inputs; and diking or damming for flood control or water diversion.
POLYNYA
A polynya /pəˈlɪnjə/ is an area of open water surrounded by sea iceIt is now used as geographical
term for an area of unfrozen sea within the ice pack. It is a loanword from Russian: полынья
(polynya) Russian pronunciation: [pəɫɨˈnʲja], which refers to a natural ice hole, and was adopted in
the 19th century by polar explorers to describe navigable portions of the sea. In past decades, for
example, some polynyas, such as the Weddell Polynya, have lasted over multiple winters (1974–
1976).

Some polynyas, such as the North Water Polynya between Canada and Greenland occur seasonally
at the same time and place each year. Because animals can adapt their life strategies to this
regularity, these types of polynyas are of special ecological research significance. In winter, marine
mammals such as walruses, narwhals and belugas that do not migrate south, remain there. In
spring, the thin or absent ice cover allows light in, through the surface layer as soon as the winter
night ends, which triggers the early blooming of microalgae that are at the basis of the marine food
chain.
PACIFIC OCEAN
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic
Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south
and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in area (as defined with an Antarctic
southern border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers
about 46% of Earth's water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger
than all of Earth's land area combined.[1] The centers of both the Water Hemisphere and the
Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific
Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while
straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. Its mean depth is 4,000 meters
(13,000 feet)[3]. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world,
reaching a depth of 10,911 meters (35,797 feet). The western Pacific has many peripheral seas.

Though the peoples of Asia and Oceania have traveled the Pacific Ocean since prehistoric times,
the eastern Pacific was first sighted by Europeans in the early 16th century when Spanish explorer
Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and discovered the great "southern
sea" which he named Mar del Sur (in Spanish). The ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese
explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he
encountered favorable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both
Portuguese and Spanish means "peaceful sea.
MANILA BAY
Manila Bay is a natural harbour which serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines.
Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce
and trade between the Philippines and its neighbouring countries, becoming the gateway for socio-
economic development even prior to Spanish occupation. With an area of 1,994 km2 (769.9 sq
mi), and a coastline of 190 km (118.1 mi), Manila Bay is situated in the western part of Luzon and
is bounded by Cavite and Metro Manila on the east, Bulacan and Pampanga on the north, and
Bataan on the west and northwest. Manila Bay drains approximately 17,000 km2 (6,563.7 sq mi)
of watershed area, with the Pampanga River contributing about 49% of the freshwater influx. With
an average depth of 17 m (55.8 ft), it is estimated to have a total volume of 28.9 billion cubic
metres (28.9 cubic km). Entrance to the bay is 19 km (11.8 mi) wide and expands to a width of 48
km (29.8 mi). However, width of the bay varies from 22 km (13.7 mi) at its mouth and expanding
to 60 km (37.3 mi) at its widest point.
SCARBOROUGH SHOAL
Scarborough Shoal forms a triangle-shaped chain of reefs and rocks with a perimeter of 46 km (29
mi). It covers an area of 150 km2 (58 sq mi), including an inner lagoon. The shoal's highest point,
South Rock, is 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) above sea-level at high tide. Located north of its clarification
needed] is a channel, approximately 370 m (1,214 ft) wide and 9–11 m (30–36 ft) deep, leading
into the lagoon. Several other coral rocks encircle the lagoon, forming a large atoll.

The shoal is about 198 kilometres (123 mi) west of Subic Bay. To the east of the shoal is the 5,000–
6,000 m (16,000–20,000 ft) deep Manila Trench. The nearest landmass is Palauig, Zambales on
Luzon island in the Philippines, 220 km (137 mi) due east.
INLET
In sea coasts, the term "inlet" usually refers to the actual connection between a bay and the ocean
and is often called an "entrance" or a recession in the shore of a sea, lake, or river. A certain kind
of inlet created by glaciation is a fjord, typically but not always in mountainous coastlines and also
in montane lakes.

Complexes of large inlets or fjords may be called sounds, e.g., Puget Sound, Howe Sound,
Karmsund (sund is Scandinavian for "sound"). Some fjord-type inlets are called canals, e.g.,
Portland Canal, Lynn Canal, Hood Canal, and some are channels, e.g., Dean Channel and Douglas
Channel.

Tidal amplitude, wave intensity, and wave direction are all factors that influence sediment flux in
inlets.

On low slope sandy coastlines, inlets often separate barrier islands and can form as the result of
storm events. Alongshore sediment transport can cause inlets to close if the action of tidal currents
flowing through an inlet do not flush accumulated sediment out of the inlet.
ARCTIC OCEAN
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. The International
Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call
it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea, classifying it a Mediterranean Sea or an
estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also seen as the northernmost part of the all-encompassing
World Ocean.

Located mostly in the Arctic north polar region in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere, the
Arctic Ocean is almost completely surrounded by Eurasia and North America. It is partly covered
by sea ice throughout the year and almost completely in winter. The Arctic Ocean's surface
temperature and salinity vary seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes; its salinity is the lowest
on average of the five major oceans, due to low evaporation, heavy fresh water inflow from rivers
and streams, and limited connection and outflow to surrounding oceanic waters with higher
salinities. The summer shrinking of the ice has been quoted at 50%. The US National Snow and
Ice Data Center (NSIDC) uses satellite data to provide a daily record of Arctic sea ice cover and
the rate of melting compared to an average period and specific past years.
INDIAN OCEAN
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2
(27,240,000 sq mi) (approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface). It is bounded by Asia
on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on the south by the Southern
Ocean or, depending on definition, by Antarctica.

The borders of the Indian Ocean, as delineated by the International Hydrographic Organization in
1953 included the Southern Ocean but not the marginal seas along the northern rim, but in 2000
the IHO delimited the Southern Ocean separately, which removed waters south of 60°S from the
Indian Ocean, but included the northern marginal seas.[7][8] Meridionally, the Indian Ocean is
delimited from the Atlantic Ocean by the 20° east meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas,
and from the Pacific Ocean by the meridian of 146°49'E, running south from the southernmost
point of Tasmania. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean (including marginal seas) is
approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf.
ATLANTIC OCEAN
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's oceans, with an area of about 106,460,000
square kilometers (41,100,000 square miles). It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth's
surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area. It separates the "Old World" from the "New
World".

The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between
Europe and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. As one component of the
interconnected global ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean
in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south (other
definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica). The Equatorial Counter
Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean at about 8°N.
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