Download Subsurface Topography/ ocean Floor Features

Subsurface Topography
Ocean Floor Features
Continental Shelf
The gently sloping section of the continental
margin located between the shoreline and the
continental slope.
Continental Slope
• The steeply inclined section of the continental
margin located between the continental rise
and the continental shelf.
Continental Rise
• The gently sloping section of the continental
margin located between the continental slope
and the abyssal plain.
Abyssal Plain
• A large, flat, almost level area of the deepocean basin.
Seamount
• A submerged mountain on the ocean floor
that is at least 1,000 meters high and that
has a volcanic origin.
Volcanic Island
• A seamount that has grown above water
level.
Mid Ocean Ridge
• Mountain chains that form where tectonic
plates pull apart. Magma rises to fill the
space and new ocean crust is formed
Trench
1. These deep cracks in the ocean floor are formed
when the denser oceanic plate slides beneath the
less dense continental plate.
•
Sonar
• Acronym for Sound Navigation and Ranging.
Used to determine the depth of the ocean.
Guyot
• AKA- Tablemount, An isolated under water
seamount at least 900m tall with a flat top
over 200m below the surface of the ocean.
Atoll
• Coral Atoll, a ring shaped coral reef
including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon,
partially or completely. Often sitting atop an
extinct seamount or volcano
Island
• Sub-continental land surrounded by water
Submarine Canyon
• A steep-sided valley cut into the sea floor of
the continental slope
Rift Valley
• A crack in the ocean floor where magma
rises and cools.
Continental slope
Continental
Shelf
Volcanic island
Seamount
Continental rise
Continental
shelf
Continental slope
Abyssal plain
mid-ocean ridge
Rift valley
trench