Download Topography of the Ocean Floor Notes

Continental Margin
The edge of the continent, comprised of:
Continental Shelf
Continental Slope
Continental Rise
Continental Shelf
Gently sloping part of the continent that
is underwater
Continental Slope
The steep decline from the continental shelf
to the ocean floor
Continental Rise
A mound of sediments at the bottom of
the continental slope
Turbidity Currents – An underwater
mudslide of sediments
Submarine Canyon – A deep, eroded area in
the continental slope carved out by turbidity
currents
Abyssal Plain
Flat area on the ocean floor, covered by
a thick layer of sediment
Mid-Ocean Ridges
• Long underwater mountain chain
• Produced by sea floor spreading at
divergent plate boundaries
Rift Valley
A deep undersea valley, located along the
center of the mid-ocean ridge
Seamounts
• Underwater mountains, usually volcanic.
• The biggest mtn. on earth is Mauna Loa
(Hawaii).
• Build-up underwater (over a hot spot), &
when they break the ocean surface they
turn into islands.
• Start to “deflate” & sink as the crust carries
it away from the hot spot.
Atolls
Ring-shaped coral reef, encircling a shallow
lagoon
Trenches
• Long, narrow, deep depression of the
subduction
sea floor caused by __________
Marianas
• Deepest place on Earth - ________
Trench - 7 miles deep
Guyots
Flat-topped seamounts, formed from erosion
above the sea surface
Seamount/Volcanic Island
Guyot