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Study Guide Answers
Study Guide Answers

... When subduction occurs (point D above) what happens to the oceanic crust as it moves under the continental crust? Oceanic crust is denser so when it converges with the continental plate causes subduction. The oceanic plate melts and convection currents recycle it back to point A 5. What is the main ...
Plate Tectonics - Northwest ISD Moodle
Plate Tectonics - Northwest ISD Moodle

... Greek for “all Earth” -Could we use today’s maps 50,000 years from now? Why or Why not? ...
File
File

... the deepest parts of the ocean. • Most trenches are located along the margins of the Pacific Ocean, where many exceed 10 km (6 miles) in depth. ...
Chapter 1 Study Guide – Plate Tectonics
Chapter 1 Study Guide – Plate Tectonics

... What are the three main layers of the Earth and what are they made up of? a. crust – a layer of solid rock that includes both dry land and ocean floor b. mantle – very hot rock that is solid c. core – made mostly of iron and nickel. It has a liquid outer core and a solid inner core ...
Ocean-Continent Convergent Plate Boundaries Quiz
Ocean-Continent Convergent Plate Boundaries Quiz

... How is subduction important in the rock cycle? The oceanic crust brings rock back to the mantle when it collides and sinks under the continental crust and turn it back into magma. The magma may erupt through a volcano or cool beneath the surface turning the magma into igneous rock. ...
Earth`s Interior
Earth`s Interior

... proposed as a hypothesis in the early 1960s, though it was based on the theory of continental drift. –Continental drift stated that the continents drifted over the crust. ...
Plate Boundaries Diagram Type of boundary and motion at
Plate Boundaries Diagram Type of boundary and motion at

... Type of boundary and motion at boundary ...
9.2 – Sea Floor Spreading
9.2 – Sea Floor Spreading

... (80 km) per day. (average of 25 miles per year) •In the last 150 years, the pole has wandered a total of about 685 miles •The last time the poles switched was 780,000 years ago, and it's happened about 400 times in 330 million years ...
NAME: DATE: PERIOD:
NAME: DATE: PERIOD:

... Earth’s core contains iron and nickel, making it a giant magnet. ...
Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics

... 17) The __________________ Trench is the largest Deep Ocean Trench on Earth measuring up to 7 miles deep and 1,500 miles long. a) Mariana b) Mid Atlantic c) East Pacific d) Subduction Zone ...
Chapter 7 Vocabulary List
Chapter 7 Vocabulary List

... zone of weak material exists below the depths of about 100 kilometers and in some region extends as deep as 700 kilometers. The rock within this zone is easily deformed. 2. Continental drift theory- A theory that originally proposed that the continents are rafted about. It has essentially been repla ...
Lec 5
Lec 5

... meeting of these two plates before and after their collision. The reference points (small squares) show the amount of uplift of an imaginary point in the Earth's crust during this mountain-building process. ...
isostasy - UMSL.edu
isostasy - UMSL.edu

... Continental Crust is thicker and has a lower density than Oceanic Crust. Therefore, it floats higher and has a deeper "root" than Oceanic Crust. This phenomenon can be compared with the behavior of floating wood blocks, all with the same density (see figure). The thicker blocks stand higher but have ...
Rock Cycle Questions and Short Story
Rock Cycle Questions and Short Story

... down the side of a mountain and landed in a shallow ocean where they were buried for millions of years. 3. A river carried little sand grains and mud to the ocean where they were buried for millions of years. 4. A volcano erupted molten material across a rift valley. 5. Two tectonic plates converged ...
Sea-Floor Spreading
Sea-Floor Spreading

... shaped rocks has showed that molten material has erupted again and again. Oceanic rocks shows that Earth’s magnetic poles have reversed; iron bits lined up in the opposite direction. Drilling into the sea floor shows the youngest rock closer to the mid-ocean ridge; the older rock are farther away. ...
Falcon Focus
Falcon Focus

... Falcon Focus ...
Earthquakes at Sea
Earthquakes at Sea

... are in the ocean, so many earthquakes occur in the oceanic crust that forms the seafloor. This is especially true around the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific has many deep ocean trenches along the edges of its ocean basin. Ocean trenches form where one tectonic plate is sliding, or subducting, beneath ano ...
3-2 Earth`s Spreading Ocean Floor
3-2 Earth`s Spreading Ocean Floor

... lithospheric plate magma asthenosphere ...
Across Down - Crossword Labs
Across Down - Crossword Labs

... 3. The ____ ocean is the largest and has the greatest average depth. ...
Hydrothermal vent glossary: elementary
Hydrothermal vent glossary: elementary

... us and a 400-mile (643 km) ridge of mountains running northsouth along a rift in the ocean's crust. It was named for a Spanish sailor said to have sailed the waters in 1592. Molten, mobile, rock material, deep under the earth's crust, about 2200°f (1204°c), made up of silicates, water and gases in s ...
Untitled - Crossword Labs
Untitled - Crossword Labs

... include continental margins, mid-ocean ridges, and ocean _____ floor. ...
Life on the sea floor - National Oceanography Centre
Life on the sea floor - National Oceanography Centre

... heated in the rocks below. These vents are most often found along mid ocean ridges where the plates of the Earth’s crust are slowly being pulled apart and molten lava from below forms new crust. The first hydrothermal vent was discovered in 1977 near the Galapagos Islands. Hydrothermal vents may see ...
Constraints on the evolution of oceanic lithosphere from surface
Constraints on the evolution of oceanic lithosphere from surface

... model has been used extensively to describe the evolution of oceanic lithosphere and is able to predict the observed age-dependent trend of seafloor topography. Various global and basin-wide seismic models also suggest that the seismic properties of oceanic lithosphere vary as a function of age. How ...
Chapter 3 Plate Tectonics Study Guide – Test Friday Oct 21
Chapter 3 Plate Tectonics Study Guide – Test Friday Oct 21

... Convergent boundary between two continental plates produces… ...
Continental Drift and Seafloor Spreading
Continental Drift and Seafloor Spreading

... 4. Tropical plant fossils that were found on an island in Artic Ocean! (Scratches in rocks made by glaciers in South Africa) The continental drift theory was NOT accepted because Wegener could not explain HOW the continents were moving/drifted apart. ...
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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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