Download Ocean Floor Characteristics

Ocean Floor Features
Beth Roland
Eighth Grade Science
Regions of the Ocean Floor
• 2 Major Regions
– Continental Margin – consists of the
continental crust (shallow end of the pool!)
• Continental shelf- begins at the shore line and
slopes gently to the open ocean. (surface to a
depth of 200 m)
• Continental slope- steep slope that begins with the
continental shelf and ends at the ocean floor (200
m – 4,000m)
• Continental rise-base of the continental slope.
Consists of piles of sediment.
Regions of the Ocean Floor
• Deep-ocean basin is made of the oceanic
crust (deep end of the pool!)
– Abyssal plain- broadest and flattest section of the
deep ocean basin. Home to many unique life
forms which are adapted to survival in its cold,
high pressure, and dark conditions
– Mid-ocean ridges- underwater mountain chains
formed where tectonic plates pull apart from one
another.
• Pulling creates cracks or rift zones. Magma will fill
open spaces causing the sides to expand and create
ridges
Regions of the Ocean Floor
– Rift Valley-forms between the ridges of
mountains.
– Ocean Trenches- Huge cracks in the deep
ocean basin that form when one oceanic plate
is pushed beneath a continental or other
oceanic plate.
– Seamounts- individual mountains made of
volcanic material that are formed where
magma pushes through tectonic plates. Can
build up above land and would become a
volcanic island.
Continental Margin and Deep Ocean Basin
Mid-ocean Ridge
Bathymetric Profile