Explain The Topography Of The Ocean Floor
Earthquakes exist on the ocean floor as well.
Explain the topography of the ocean floor. This map shows a part of the sea floor. Very little of the sea floor is older than 150 million years. Identify the following features. This is because the oldest sea floor is subducted under other plates and replaces by new surfaces.
Explain what graded bedding is and how it forms. For example in the pacific ocean the oceanic crust dives beneath the continental crust. Due to this continuous seafloor spreading occurs and makes atlantic ocean floor to be connected to other continental crust making the ocean gets wider over the time. The under water topography maps have been developed by the study of ocean floor topography.
This study is extensive and it has been established that the ocean floor has similar features of mountains and valleys as on the earth. Exercise 18 1 visualizing sea floor topography. Explain the meaning of topography of the ocean floor the geophysical features of the ocean floor what marks the true edge of the continent and divides the ocean floor into 2 provinces. The magnetism of mid ocean ridges helped scientists first identify the process of seafloor spreading in the early 20th century.
Ocean floor topography involves the study of ocean bottom features including the outer continental shelf continental slopes and ocean waves desktops. Subduction and sea floor spreading are processes that could alter the size and form of the ocean. Scientists use the magnetic polarity of the sea floor to determine the age. For instance the atlantic ocean is believed to be expanding because of its few trenches.
Different parts of the oceans are different. Seafloor topography is as assorted as that of the continents. Precision depth recorder pdr uses high frequency sound waves to measure ocean depth. A a continental shelf b a continental slope c a spreading ridge d a subduction zone with a deep trench e an abyssal plain and f some isolated seamounts.
Basalt the once molten rock that makes up most new oceanic crust is a fairly magnetic substance and scientists began using magnetometers to measure the magnetism of the ocean floor in the 1950s what they discovered was that the magnetism of the ocean floor around. The tectonic plates are constantly in motion and new surfaces are always being created. A method of mapping the topography of the ocean floor along a strip up to 60 km. Back in 1977 a very interesting discovery was made on the deep ocean floor where no light penetrates.
Plate tectonics and the ocean floor.