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Features of the Ocean Floor

Features of the Ocean Floor. Ms. Bridgeland 6 th Grade . Features of the Ocean Floor. What do you think the Ocean Floor looks like? Raise your hand if you think that it is flat? Raise your hand if you think that it is uneven ?.

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Features of the Ocean Floor

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  1. Features of the Ocean Floor Ms. Bridgeland 6th Grade

  2. Features of the Ocean Floor • What do you think the Ocean Floor looks like? • Raise your hand if you think that it is flat? • Raise your hand if you think that it is uneven?

  3. It is a surprise to many that theocean floor looks like this….

  4. Features of the Ocean Floor continental shelf –shallow area of ocean floor continental slope-steep edge of the continental shelf abyssal plain-smooth, flat region of the ocean floor mid-ocean ridge-range of mountains that passes through all of Earth’s oceans

  5. In Shallow Water: • Continental shelf • Continental slope: end of shelf and beginning of slope marks where continental rock ends & oceanic rock begins • Think of Nemo… “The drop-off!”

  6. In Open Ocean: • Abyssal Plain: thick layers of sediment lie here, formed by remains of dead organisms • Mid-Ocean Ridge: mountain range along both sides of a central valley –this chain runs through all the oceans in the world • Remember this is where sea-floor spreading occurs magma erupts here and produces new ocean floor

  7. Continental Shelf

  8. Continental Shelf *Still considered to be part of the continents (continental rock) *Average width is 40 miles (65 km), but width varies ex. in parts of California = less than 1 km ex. along northern coast of Siberia = 1,290 km (800 miles) *only about 7% of the entire ocean floor

  9. Continental Slope • Drops down at a sharp angle • Marks the true edge of a continent, transition from continental crust to oceanic crust • Extends from edge of continental shelf to the abyssal plain (between 100 -3,200 meters (330 -10,500 feet) • Most Pacific slopes are steeper than Atlantic slopes • About 8.5% of ocean floor is made up of continental slopes

  10. Abyssal Plain • The smooth, nearly flat region of the ocean floor • Has thick layers of sediment, formed by the remains of dead organisms from the surface • Remember: FLAT REGION

  11. Abyssal Plain

  12. Mid-ocean ridge • A continuous range of mountains that winds around the Earth • Formed by plate tectonics • Passes through all of Earth’s oceans • Nearly 80,000 kilometers long • Longest mountain range on earth • Consists of many peaks along both sides of a central valley • Some mountains along the ridge reach above sea level, forming island groups (ex. Azores islands in Portugal)

  13. Azores Islands –part of the mountains that make up the mid-ocean ridge

  14. Mid-ocean ridge is several times longer than the Andes

  15. Mid-Ocean Ridge

  16. Seafloor Spreading happens at the Mid-Ocean Ridge • Plates “diverge” or move apart • Along the ridge, magma (lava) squeezes up through the cracks, and as it hardens, it adds a new strip of rock to the ocean floor

  17. Trench: A deep, steep-sided canyon or “hole” in the ocean floor

  18. Mariana Trench • The deepest trench in the world and the deepest part of the world’s ocean • Mariana Trench is more than five times as long as the Grand Canyon

  19. Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall

  20. Trenchesare formed by Converging Plates • When plates are pushed together, one plate sinks under the other

  21. Converging Plates

  22. Features of the ocean floor: Volcanic Islands

  23. Volcanic Islands: • Appear on the abyssal plain • When they erupt, they create mountains whose peaks break the surface of the ocean • When lava cools, islands are formed

  24. Volcanic Islands: Galapagos Islands (west of continental Ecuador)

  25. Volcanic activity causes Galapagos Islands to have a unique climate with unique animals that live nowhere else in the world • http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/galapagos-unique-animals-lex

  26. Volcanic Islands

  27. Volcanic Islands

  28. Seamounts • Mountains whose peaks do not break the surface of the ocean water, and thus are NOT islands • Still formed by volcanic activity

  29. Seamounts • Provide habitats for organisms • Nutrients are carried upwards toward the sunlit surface, providing food for creatures like corals, fish, & crustaceans

  30. Seamounts

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