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Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift
Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift

... (c) Basalt is carried horizontally away from the ridge crest where the ____________ youngest rock is found. (d) Sea floor is continually destroyed by subduction into the mantle at the oceanic trenches ...
Earthquake California - Berkeley County Schools
Earthquake California - Berkeley County Schools

... Many rift valleys have been found underwater, along the large ridges that run throughout the ocean. These mid-ocean ridges are formed as tectonic plates move away from one another at divergent plate boundaries. As the plates separate, molten rock from the Earth’s interior may well up and harden as i ...
Chapter 22.4: Plate Tectonics
Chapter 22.4: Plate Tectonics

... • Convection currents of soft rock in the mantle cause the plates floating on top to move. • Convection currents are powered by differences in the temperatures within Earth’s interior – Magma near core heats up, expands, and rises because it is less dense – Magma closer to crust, cools, becomes dens ...
Lesson Overview - MrPetersenScience
Lesson Overview - MrPetersenScience

... When the benthic zone is below the photic zone, ____________________ autotrophs are the only primary producers. ...
Fore-arc basin
Fore-arc basin

... may be a shallow marine platform or an emergent region of older rocks. In continental arcs, the basement is continental crust standing a few kms above sea level. Volcanoes in island arcs are usually 1 - 2 km above sea level. Volcano elevation in continental arcs is strongly influenced by continental ...
plate tectonics webquest
plate tectonics webquest

... Now take the Plates and Boundaries Challenge. Record your score here ______________________________ Move on to “Slip, Slide, Collide” Look at the images and READ. What happens at plate boundaries? Click on “See what happens at different plate boundaries” Read about convergent boundaries. What type o ...
Plate Tectonics II: Transform Faults, Subduction Zones, and Ho
Plate Tectonics II: Transform Faults, Subduction Zones, and Ho

... b. Of the plate boundaries you identified above, which has the deepest earthquakes? c. Along western South America, what is the position of the earthquakes with respect to the trenches? d. What major types of geologic features are common in subduction zones? e. What geologic events are common at sub ...
When the Earth Moves: Sea Floor Spreading and Plate Tectonics
When the Earth Moves: Sea Floor Spreading and Plate Tectonics

... timescale of reversals by measuring the magnetic directions in lava flows on land and determining their ages by radioactive methods. It was a painstaking process, but by 1966 researchers had charted the reversal timescale for the past 3.5 million years. At sea, meanwhile, researchers were finding an ...
Plate Tectonics Internet Scavenger Hunt - wikifuller
Plate Tectonics Internet Scavenger Hunt - wikifuller

... 1. Alfred Wegener could not explain what caused the continents to move. It is now believed that _____ currents inside Earth cause plates to move. a. Hot magma c. Convection currents b. downward vertical d. none of the above F. Click on the “Converging Plates” and navigate through the slides to answe ...
On the depth of oceanic earthquakes - Archimer
On the depth of oceanic earthquakes - Archimer

... isotherms in very young crust. In addition, the strong tendency for the intra-plate earthquakes in the Indian Ocean to be located on or near fracture zones suggests that these processes are most important at fracture zones. Hydrothermal circulation, for instance, could be one such process. Seawater ...
CLASS SET - Plate tectonics reading packet
CLASS SET - Plate tectonics reading packet

... each other, or grind past one another. There are three types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform plate interactions. Divergent plate boundary The divergent boundary (define) represents two plates moving away or separating from each other, hence the term divergent. At this type ...
The Ocean floor Foldable Notes
The Ocean floor Foldable Notes

... 8. The Mid-Ocean Ridge System • A long chain of undersea mountains that form along the floor of the major oceans. • Form where tectonic plates pull apart. • The heat from rising magma that fills the rift valley causes the crust on either side of the rift valley to expand which forms the ridges. ...
GEOS 110 Fall 2011 Test 2 Study Guide Test cover`s Chapters: 5
GEOS 110 Fall 2011 Test 2 Study Guide Test cover`s Chapters: 5

... 77. What kinds of geological processes happen at divergent versus convergent boundaries? 78. What do black smokers have to tell us about massive sulfide ore deposits or about biological evolution? 79. What is the basis of the life web at the bottom of the sea? 80. What do you suspect that East Afric ...
GEOS 110 Fall 2013 Test 2 Study Guide
GEOS 110 Fall 2013 Test 2 Study Guide

... 77. What kinds of geological processes happen at divergent versus convergent boundaries? 78. What do black smokers have to tell us about massive sulfide ore deposits or about biological evolution? 79. What is the basis of the life web at the bottom of the sea? 80. What do you suspect that East Afric ...
Unit 3 Lesson 1 Geological History
Unit 3 Lesson 1 Geological History

... continents were moving through the earth's crust, like icebreakers plowing through ice sheets, and that centrifugal and tidal forces were responsible for moving the continents. Wegener overestimated the rate of continental movement. He suggested that North America and Europe were moving apart at ove ...
Aquatic and Marine Biomes
Aquatic and Marine Biomes

... The deepest part of the ocean is the abyssal zone, which is at depths of 4000 m or greater. The abyssal zone ([link]) is very cold and has very high pressure, high oxygen content, and low nutrient content. There are a variety of invertebrates and fishes found in this zone, but the abyssal zone does ...
Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics

... Magnetic reversals show that the ocean is spreading from the middle with its symmetrical patterns of magnetic reversals. The seafloor gets older as you move from the midocean ridge outward which shows that new crust forms in the middle and is destroyed on the outside. ...
Plate Tectonics and Sea Floor Spreading
Plate Tectonics and Sea Floor Spreading

... spreading is a recycling process. New crust is created at the mid-ocean ridge. Old crust is pushed back into deep-sea trenches. This process is called subduction. Much of it melts into the mantle. This keeps the earth from growing larger. There is evidence to prove this theory. Scientists studied ro ...
Earth`s Structure quiz 1 study guide
Earth`s Structure quiz 1 study guide

... a. Activity depends upon the types of crust that meet b. More dense oceanic plate slides under less dense continental plate or another oceanic plate – subduction zone, some crust is destroyed c. Two continental plates converge, both plates buckle and push up into mountain ranges; 3. Transform Bounda ...


... spreading centers, rising magma at vent sites heats and alters seawater percolating through the ocean crust. The hydrothermal fluid emerging from the seafloor is super hot and contains high concentrations of metals and dissolved gases. Some of these are greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), ...
Understanding Plate Motions - My Science Class / FrontPage
Understanding Plate Motions - My Science Class / FrontPage

... The Himalayan mountain range dramatically demonstrates one of the most visible and spectacular consequences of plate tectonics. When two continents meet head-on, neither is subducted because the continental rocks are relatively light and, like two colliding icebergs, resist downward motion. Instead, ...
Theory of Plate Tectonics: Mechanism 1
Theory of Plate Tectonics: Mechanism 1

... (pushing). ...
PLATE TECTONICS online
PLATE TECTONICS online

... We can determine how fast plates are moving (plate velocities) in 2 ways. A RELATIVE plate velocity can be determined looking at the ages of the oceanic crust and its distance from the mid ocean ridge. We call this “relative motion” because both plates on either side of the mid ocean ridge are movin ...
A Q A G E O G R A P H Y
A Q A G E O G R A P H Y

... expanded crust forms a ridge. The central part of the ridge may feature a central valley where a section of crust has subsided into the magma below. The split in the crust provides a low pressure zone where the more liquid lavas can erupt to form submarine volcanoes. If these eruptions persist, volc ...
Chapter 7 Study Guide Plate Tectonics What is the major evidence
Chapter 7 Study Guide Plate Tectonics What is the major evidence

... What is the major evidence that sea-floor spreading creates new lithosphere? Explain your answer. If scientists were able to drill through the Earth’s crust, would it be better to drill through oceanic crust or continental crust? Explain your answer. Tectonic plates forming a transform boundary may ...
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Abyssal plain



An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 m. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface. They are among the flattest, smoothest and least explored regions on Earth. Abyssal plains are key geologic elements of oceanic basins (the other elements being an elevated mid-ocean ridge and flanking abyssal hills). In addition to these elements, active oceanic basins (those that are associated with a moving plate tectonic boundary) also typically include an oceanic trench and a subduction zone.Abyssal plains were not recognized as distinct physiographic features of the sea floor until the late 1940s and, until very recently, none had been studied on a systematic basis. They are poorly preserved in the sedimentary record, because they tend to be consumed by the subduction process. The creation of the abyssal plain is the end result of spreading of the seafloor (plate tectonics) and melting of the lower oceanic crust. Magma rises from above the asthenosphere (a layer of the upper mantle) and as this basaltic material reaches the surface at mid-ocean ridges it forms new oceanic crust. This is constantly pulled sideways by spreading of the seafloor. Abyssal plains result from the blanketing of an originally uneven surface of oceanic crust by fine-grained sediments, mainly clay and silt. Much of this sediment is deposited by turbidity currents that have been channelled from the continental margins along submarine canyons down into deeper water. The remainder of the sediment is composed chiefly of pelagic sediments. Metallic nodules are common in some areas of the plains, with varying concentrations of metals, including manganese, iron, nickel, cobalt, and copper. These nodules may provide a significant resource for future mining ventures.Owing in part to their vast size, abyssal plains are currently believed to be a major reservoir of biodiversity. The abyss also exerts significant influence upon ocean carbon cycling, dissolution of calcium carbonate, and atmospheric CO2 concentrations over timescales of 100–1000 years. The structure and function of abyssal ecosystems are strongly influenced by the rate of flux of food to the seafloor and the composition of the material that settles. Factors such as climate change, fishing practices, and ocean fertilization are expected to have a substantial effect on patterns of primary production in the euphotic zone. This will undoubtedly impact the flux of organic material to the abyss in a similar manner and thus have a profound effect on the structure, function and diversity of abyssal ecosystems.
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