Is The Ocean Floor Flat

Like even the flattest grasslands the world s oceans have varied elevations.

Is the ocean floor flat.

For instance the absolute water level height is higher along the west coast of the united states than the east coast. Regions of the ocean floor can be distinguished by topographical margins e g. A series of volcanic ridges cuts through all the oceans. Bathymetry the shape of the ocean floor is largely a result of a process called plate tectonics the outer rocky layer of the earth includes about a dozen large sections called tectonic plates that are arranged like a spherical jig saw puzzle floating on top of the earth s hot flowing mantle.

Deep ocean troughs occur in places where one of the earth s plates is being pulled down beneath another and destroyed. The ocean floor or seabed refers to earth s top most layer of thin basalt rock that is submerged beneath seawater. We re aren t just talking about the ocean floor but the actual surface of the ocean. Mountains plains channels canyons exposed rocks and sediment covered areas.

Tides and ocean currents. The ocean floor has the same general character as the land areas of the world. The difference is sea level is caused by two major factors. Other articles where ocean floor is discussed.

These ridges mark the sites where the earth s surface plates are being created. The ocean basins are characterized not only by lying in deep water the ocean floor averages about 4km below sea level but also by being underlain by a thin layer of crust. Plate tectonics and the ocean floor. The globe isn t flat and neither are the world s oceans.

Most people are surprised to learn that just as the surface of the earth is not flat the surface of the ocean is not flat and that the surface of the sea changes at different rates around the globe. The smooth flat regions that make up 40 of the ocean floor are the abyssal plain. Seabed topography is flat where sedimentation is heavy and covers the tectonic features. Exploration of the seafloor and the earth s crust.

On average oceanic crust is only 6 to 7km thick compared to 35 to 40km for con tinental crust. The lack of weathering and erosion in most areas however allows geological processes to be seen more clearly on. The process that continually adds new material to the ocean floor is seafloor spreading and the continental slope. Land erosion sediments brought mainly by rivers.

Running through all the world s oceans is a continuous mountain range called the mid ocean ridge submarine ridge in figure 14 23. Sediments comes from various sources.