A north-south subbottom acoustic profile made in the central Pacific Ocean shows that the first layer (unconsolidated and semiconsolidated sediments) increases in thickness from less than 200 meters at about 14 degrees N to more than 600 meters near the equator. Two major faults, one of which lies on the extension of the Clipperton fracture zone, have produced vertical separations of about 400 meters in the base of the first layer.