Suruga Bay (駿河湾, ''Suruga-wan'') is a bay on the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five 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 the contine ...
coast of
Honshū in
Shizuoka Prefecture,
Japan. It is situated north of a straight line from
Omaezaki Point to Irōzaki Point at the tip of the
Izu Peninsula and surrounded by Honshū to the southwest and west and the Izu Peninsula to the east.
Geology
Suruga Bay is a place of contrasts. Japan's loftiest peak,
Mount Fuji at , rises from the depth of the
Suruga Trough
The is a trough that lies off the coast of Suruga Bay in Japan, forming part of the Nankai Trough, the latter being responsible the source of many large earthquakes in Japan's history. Both mark the boundary of the Philippine Sea Plate subductin ...
running up the middle of the bay, which makes it Japan's deepest. Numerous rivers—especially the major
Fuji Fuji may refer to:
Places China
* Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan
Japan
* Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan
* Fuji River
* Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture
* Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefec ...
, the
Ōi, and
Abe
Abe or ABE may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Shinzo Abe (1954–2022), former Prime Minister of Japan
* Abe (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
* Abe (surname), a list of people a ...
rivers—empty into its western portion, giving that area of the bay a seabed rich in
submarine canyon
A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley cut into the seabed of the continental slope, sometimes extending well onto the continental shelf, having nearly vertical walls, and occasionally having canyon wall heights of up to 5 km, from c ...
s and other geographical features, whereas at the bay's easternmost end, only the
Kano River
The is an A class river in Shizuoka Prefecture of central Japan. It is long and has a watershed of .
The Kano River originates from Mount Amagi in central Izu Peninsula and follows a generally northern path into Suruga Bay at Numazu
is ...
empties into a pocket called Uchiura-wan at
Numazu, Shizuoka
is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 189,486 in 91,986 households, and a population density of 1,014 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Numazu is at the nor ...
, where the
Izu Peninsula connects to
Honshu
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island se ...
, giving the water greater transparency and leaving the seabed largely flat except for a number of small rocky islands, some joined to the mainland by
tombolo
A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island becom ...
s. This seabed variety coincides with coastline differences as well: The western and central sections of the Suruga Bay coastline, roughly from
Shizuoka to Numazu, are characterized by sandy beaches such as those at Yuigahama and Tagonoura, whereas the eastern and northeastern stretches from Numazu down the southwestern coast of the Izu Peninsula to Irōzaki, are generally rocky.The bay is open to the
Philippine Sea/
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five 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 the contin ...
to the south, but is mostly protected from oceanic waves by Izu Peninsula. This, coupled with the seabed and water characteristics mentioned above, results in conditions favorable to fishing, sailing, windsurfing, swimming
and research on deep-sea organisms. An undersea plateau at the bay's southwest end, known as Senoumi, is especially well known as a rich fishing ground.
Suruga Bay was formed by
tectonic
Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...
subduction of the
Philippine Sea Plate
The Philippine Sea Plate or the Philippine Plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part o ...
and the
Eurasian Plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent and ...
at the
Suruga Trough
The is a trough that lies off the coast of Suruga Bay in Japan, forming part of the Nankai Trough, the latter being responsible the source of many large earthquakes in Japan's history. Both mark the boundary of the Philippine Sea Plate subductin ...
, making it a source of considerable
seismic activity
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
, and giving the bay its extreme depth.
Environmental pollution
Ever since the post-war industrial boom of Japan, the bay has suffered from severe industrial pollution. By 1970, local paper mills produced so much that the small
city of Fuji (1970 pop. 180,000) produced of waste water every day – equivalent to the daily sewage of Tokyo at the time (1970 pop. 9 million). The sulphur-laden sludge was so thick that it threatened to block the harbour, requiring dredging that severely damaged the marine life. Protests from local citizens and fishermen in the area put pressure on the government to take action. Despite subsequent regulations, surveys of local sea life in the mid-2010s continue to show intense
PCB and
PBDE
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, are a class of organobromine compounds that are used as flame retardants. Like other brominated flame retardants, PBDEs have been used in a wide array of products, including building materials, electronics, ...
contamination.
The pollution of Suruga Bay became so infamous that it featured in the 1971 film ''
Godzilla vs. Hedorah''. The name of the titular monster is derived from ''hedoro'', the Japanese word for 'mud', and the creature fed off heavy pollution in the bay.
Transport
Suruga Bay can be reached by car from
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
via Numazu in two to five hours depending on traffic conditions on the
Tōmei Expressway
The is a national expressway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is designated as E1 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering", because it parallels ...
or in Numazu.
References
External links
{{Authority control
Bays of Japan
Landforms of Shizuoka Prefecture