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Ocean Floor Features Underwater canyon • A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley on the sea floor (often found near the mouth of a river) http://vimeo.co m/5566788 Underwater mountain http://www.kidcrosswords.com/ kidoutdoors/where%20to%20go /underwater_mountains.htm An underwater mountain rises from the ocean floor and has a peaked or flattopped summit below the surface of the sea. Underwater mountain range • A series of mountain ranges on the ocean floor, more than 84,000 kilometers (52,000 miles) in length Shallow sea • It's the ocean next door, i.e., the shallow seas that the vast majority of ocean life calls home. Shallow seas are rich with coral reefs, mangrove swamps, kelp forests and sea-grass plains, and include open waters off icy islands, thick with penguins, krill and whales. • These waters are also where whales come to give birth and suckle their young. Whether it's humpbacks off the Hawaiian Islands or gray whales off the coast of Baja California, shallow bays and the waters near islands provide shelter for some of the most impressive marine mammals found anywhere on the planet. Continental shelf • The shallow underwater plain that is a Continent's real outer edge. The continental shelf slants from the shore's low-tide line to the continental slope, a cliff that plunges abruptly to the deep Ocean floor. The shelf can be a few miles wide to over 200 miles (322 km), reaching a typical depth of 450 feet (137 m). It collects most of the sand, silts and other sediments that rivers carry to the sea. The eastern continental shelf of the United States is over three times as wide as that on the West Coast. Island chain • A string of islands Underwater plain http://www.scienceandthesea.org/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Ite mid=10 An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor. They are among the flattest, smoothest and least explored regions on Earth. Hydrothermal vent http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/vents/inde x.html • Hydrothermal vents form in places where there is volcanic activity, such as along the Mid-Ocean Ridge. Water seeps through cracks in the seafloor and is heated by molten rock deep below the ocean crust to as high as 400°C. The hot fluid rises to the surface and gushes out of the vent openings. This hydrothermal fluid carries with it dissolved metals and other chemicals from deep beneath the ocean floor. http://www.scienceandthesea.org/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=106&Ite mid=10