The Ocean The Ocean is the main depository for nearly all the earths H2O in Liquid form. The Earths oceans cover most of the Earths surface from the lowest point to sea level. The ocean is also made up of several chemical elements such as hydrogen and oxygen. The ocean water is 96.5% pure water and dissolved solids make up about 3.5% of the ocean

The Deep Sea The bottom of the ocean is divided into three major areas: the continental shelf, continental slope and the deep ocean basin. Continental shelf: the continental shelf extends underwater to each of the major land masses. It is the part of the continent that is submerged under water. The shelf has similar features to the land we live on such as canyons, ridges, and hills. The size of the shelf varies though. In some areas it can be virtually non-existent but else were it can extend for several hundred miles. The continental shells average distance is about 64 kilometers. The shelf ends at a depth of about two hundred meters (660 ft), giving way to the continental slope which is about 3700 meters, to the deep ocean basin. Here, the ocean floor deepens sharply and its features again resemble those on land, only on a much larger scale, with great-plains and mountains.

The Mid-Ocean Ridge The Mid-Ocean Ridge marks the areas where the Earth's crustal plates are moving apart. It is one of the most geologically active areas on Earth. It is where new seafloor is being born, giving rise to hydrothermal vents and volcanoes. The mid-ocean ridges of the world are connected and form a single global mid-oceanic ridge system that is part of every ocean, making the mid-oceanic ridge system the longest mountain range in the world, with a total length of about 60,000 km.

Plate Tectonics In the 1960's the unifying theory of plate tectonics was proposed to explain many regional and global geologic phenomena, including drifting continents, spreading seafloors, and the worldwide distribution of mountains, earthquakes, and volcanoes. According to the plate tectonic model, the Earth's outer crust is a mosaic of gigantic continental and oceanic crustal plates, all of which are in motion relative to each other. Over hundreds of millions of years, these plates have collided with each other to form deep trenches and they are periodically broken along the rift zones by processes acting deep within the Earth's mantle so that the huge fragments then spread away from each other. Marine geologists are making major contributions to this new explanation of the Earth's history by studying the trenches and spreading zones, most of which lie beneath the oceans.

Bibliography JQ75oC&pg=PA330&lpg=PA330&dq=primary+components+of+the+ocean+floo r&source=bl&ots=4SXXGQEBDa&sig=BAvIwaR14hBR9pDT0DKjxihqvYA&hl=e n&ei=v0O4TK62HoOglAf_0ZCHDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum =1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=primary%20components%20of%20th e%20ocean%20floor&f=false JQ75oC&pg=PA330&lpg=PA330&dq=primary+components+of+the+ocean+floo r&source=bl&ots=4SXXGQEBDa&sig=BAvIwaR14hBR9pDT0DKjxihqvYA&hl=e n&ei=v0O4TK62HoOglAf_0ZCHDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum =1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=primary%20components%20of%20th e%20ocean%20floor&f=false