Ocean Floor Features

The gradual slope end of a continent that goes under the ocean -average width is 40miles - shallow, usually less than a few 100ft

continental slope extends from the continental shelf down to the ocean floor (like a drop off)

4 degrees

a wide, gentle incline from the abyssal plain to a continental slope, this is created by deposition

flat seafloor areas, typically around 1000 to 2000ft below sea level - make up about 70% of the seafloor - largest habitat on Earth

areas where tectonic plates seperate -found in the middle of basins -lava rises to fill the gap, and new floor is created -they look like underwater mountain ranges -average is 8000ft

deepest parts of the oceans -form when 2 tectonic plates collide, the denser one will subduct (go under the other) - the plate that subducted will melt in the mantle and become destroyed

are active volcanoes beneath the ocean -when the growing volcano hasn’t reached the surface yet we call it a seamount -when it reaches the surface we cal;l it a island

Maunakea in Hawaii

Davidson Seamont

was thought at first that the seafloor was flat, but a woman scientist named Marie Tharp created maps of the ocean floor by analyzing sound profiles - discovered the Mid-Ocean Ridge and published 1st complete world map of ocean floor (1977)

scientist compared her maps to earthquake ones, it supported the theory of continental shift

scuba, submersibles, sonar

are underwater geysers -water seeps through ocean fissures and is heated by magma

chemosythesis

Intertidal, Neritic, Open Ocean, Benthic

Photic, Dysphotic, Aphotic

place where the ocean meets the land between high and low tides -animals that live here have adaptations to survive exposure to air, and attaching themselves to rocks so they are not washed away

where water becomes deeper, but is still over the continental shelf -where coral, seaweed, dolphins, sea turtles, and fish live in this zone - where humans fish and use for recreational use