1. Ocean Topography

2. Continental Margins Contains 8% of the oceans surface area
1. Continental Shelf – meters deep.
Contains 8% of the oceans surface area
Biologically richest part of the ocean
Contain submarine canyons – canyons eroded by glaciers which channel sediments to the ocean floor
Continental Margins
2. Shelf Break – meters deep (slope gets steep!)
3. Continental slope – ( meters) descends all the way to the deep sea floor.
4. Continental Rise – consists of a thick layer of sediments which accumulate in a deposit called a deep sea fan.

3. Deep Ocean Basins Abyssal Plain – deep sea floor 3,000-5,000 meters
Contains seamounts - underwater volcanoes with a pointy top
Contains guyots (tablemounts) - flat topped seamounts that were once volcanic islands that eroded and sunk.
Trenches – where the ocean plate descends into the continental plate. (subduction zone) converging boundary
Example – Mariana Trench – deepest place in the ocean 11,022 meters. Found in the Western Pacific (Compare to Grand Canyon at 1.6 km)

4. Mid Ocean Ridge
Mid ocean ridge – Formed where plates are diverging (moving apart). Molten rock from the mantle pushes up the ocean crust.
BUT…the plates are pulling apart at the ridge so this forms a rift valley in the middle of the ridge.