Journey to Bottom of the Ocean

We will begin our journey where land meets the ocean. Do you know where we are? Yes. At the beach. Beaches are the fastest changing part of the ocean. They change with every wave. Back to Map

Topography Topography is the science of drawing land showing its shape and features

Continental Shelf Continental Slope Mid-Ocean Ridge Rift Valley Abyssal Plain Guyot Seamounts Ocean Trench

Click on a feature to go there or click next to continue with the journey Rift Valley

Continent A continent is a large landmass. Asia Africa North America South America Antarctica Europe Australia A continent is a large landmass. There are seven continents on the Earth Back to Map

Continental Shelf The edge of each continent slopes down from the shore into the ocean. The part of the continent located under water is known as the CONTINENTAL SHELF. The continental shelf is rich in resources such as marine life, minerals and oil. For this reason, countries around the world claim the bordering continental shelf as part of their territories. Back to Map

Continental Slope The CONTINENTAL SLOPE is a steep slope that connects the continental shelf to the bottom of the ocean floor. Back to Map

Mid Ocean Ridge The MID OCEAN RIDGE is a series of mountain ranges on the ocean floor. They are more than 84,000 kilometers (52,000 miles) in length and they extend through the North and South of the Atlantic ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific ocean. According to the theory of plate tectonics, volcanic rock is added to the sea floor as the mid-ocean ridge spreads apart. Back to Map

Mid-Atlantic Ridge Back to Map

Abyssal Plain ABYSSAL PLAINS are the big, flat areas of the deep ocean floor. They are the flattest, most featureless areas on Earth. These flat abyssal plains occur at depths of over 6,500 ft (1,980 m) below sea level. Back to Map

Guyots Guyots are seamounts that have flat tops because of wave erosion The seamount becomes submerged to form a Guyot Seamount rises above water Erosion by waves flattens the top of the mount Back to Map

Seamounts SEAMOUNTS are undersea volcanic mountains rising from the bottom of the sea that do not break the water's surface Seamounts are usually isolated and cone-shaped, often volcanic in origin. Smaller volcanoes are called sea knolls, and flat-topped seamounts are called guyots. Back to Map

Ocean Trench An OCEAN TRENCH is a narrow, v-shaped hole in the ocean floor. Trenches form at subduction zones at convergent boundaries Trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean, and the lowest points on Earth. The Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean at 7 miles below the surface, is located in the Mariana Trench (in the western Pacific ocean) Back to Map

The Challenger Deep Back to Map

Rift Valley A RIFT VALLEY is formed where two parts of the ocean floor pull apart from one another creating a deep valley. Rifts are the opposite of mountain ranges like the Alps or the Himalayas where the plates push together to create a mountain. Back to Map

Compare continental and oceanic landforms Continental Landform Canyon Valley Volcanic mountain Mountain Range Low hills or plains Plateau Oceanic landform Trench Rift Seamount Mid-ocean ridge Abyssal plains Guyot

Sources Back to Map http://www.utdallas.edu/~pujana/oceans/guyot.html http://www.enotes.com/earth-science/abyssal-plains http://www.answers.com http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4ADBF_enUS279US280&q=ocean+trench+pictures http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02galapagos/logs/jun04/jun04.html Back to Map