Different Surfaces Of Oceans Floor

Most people are surprised to learn that just as the surface of the earth is not flat the surface of the ocean is not flat and that the surface of the sea changes at different rates around the globe.

Different surfaces of oceans floor.

Mid ocean ridges deep sea trenches and other features all rise sharply above or plunge deeply below the abyssal plains. Like dry land the ocean floor has various features including flat plains sharp mountains and rugged canyons fig. Plate tectonics and the ocean floor. However the lowest point in the world ocean is much deeper than the highest point on land.

This is called the arbitrary reference surface. Recall from the chapter on plate tectonics that the ocean floor is not flat. The mid ocean ridges are the most extensive fea tures of the earth s surface. The mid atlantic ridge for instance separates the north american plate from the eurasian plate and the south american plate from the african plate.

Ocean floor topography refers to the different forms in which the ocean floor bottom can exist. The ocean floor covers more than 70 percent of the planet s surface. Consisting of a nar row. Arbitrary reference surface is an estimated surface that is calculated to factor in the shape of the earth.

Another major structural feature of. There is plenty of light and heat within this layer although both decrease as the depth increases. Starting from land a trip across an ocean basin along the seafloor would begin with crossing the continental shelf. The ocean floor is continually being formed and destroyed.

Features of the ocean include the continental shelf slope and rise. The general shape of the earth is spherical but flattened out at the north and south pole. Features rising up from the ocean floor include seamounts volcanic islands and the mid oceanic ridges and rises. Ocean floor mid ocean ridges.

The ocean floor is called the abyssal plain. Not only is oceanic crust continually created at mid ocean ridges but it is also continually. Due to the differing depths of the ocean an approximation is made. For instance the absolute water level height is higher along the west coast of the united states than the east coast.

Pressure is also minimal and increases with depth. As scientific knowledge has advanced the capability to envisage these remote sites has increased significantly. Below the ocean floor there are a few small deeper areas called ocean trenches. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.

The east pacific rise is a mid ocean ridge that runs through the eastern pacific ocean and separates the pacific plate from the north american plate the cocos plate the nazca plate and the antarctic plate.