Sea stacks, beaches, sea cliffs, lagoons, shore faces, wave cut. The topography of the ocean floor is as diverse as that of continents. Download file to see previous pages it is these basins that are of most interest when studying the topology of the ocean floor, as they differ greatly from the features of the surrounding landmasses garrison, oceanography. The ocean floor is flat, except where islands protrude above the surface. The ocean floor has far more varied topography than the land areas, with higher and longer. These notes will also be useful for other competitive exams like banking po, ssc, state civil services exams and so on. In this chapter, you will learn how scientists gather data about the depth of the ocean floor and how these data are displayed to indicate the shape of earths ocean basins. Given the importance of very smallscale features in determining the pathways of major ocean currents, accurate representation of sea floor topography is crucial when doing high horizontal resolution ocean modeling. Arctic ocean topography of the ocean floor britannica.
The ocean floor worksheets unit atlantic ocean floor topography lab 4th edition classical conversation science worksheets with chapter the ocean floor. Ocean floor and its features geography notes for upsc ncert notes on important topics for the upsc civil services exam. These studies revealed the presence of two important topographic features of the ocean floor. Seamounts rise more than a kilometer from the ocean floor and are remnants of oceanic ridge volcanoes. Together they contain the overwhelming majority of all water on the planet and have an average depth of almost 4 km about 2. Sensitivity of seafloor bathymetry to climatedriven. Ocean trenches are long, narrow, steepsided depressions found on the ocean floor that contain the greatest depths in the ocean 11,000 meters western pacific. The ocean floor is literally the floor of the ocean. Trenches form at the sites of plate convergence where one moving plate descends beneath another and plunges back into the mantle. Unfortunately, most of todays topographic databases do not adequately resolve smallscale features. But despite their name, these plains are not uniformly flat.
Study the maps the world ocean floor map, the pacific ocean map, and the midatlantic ridge map and refer to your textbook as needed to answer the following questions. What is the ocean depth if the signal time of return is 5. Eighth grade lesson topographic maps lab betterlesson. The topographic studies involved measuring the depth to the sea floor. University of california pdf describing sea floor spreading and effect of earths magnetic field. Describe the major topographic forms of ocean basins. The group with the most points at the end is the winning group. Morphology of ocean floor and plate tectonics eolss. The landscape of the ocean floor is much like what you see on land, just way more dramatic and without all that life. The most prominent topographic features on earth are abyssal hills found on the bottom of the ocean floor. Topographic features map features that define elevation information, which often is called thirddimension or z values. Sunlight does not penetrate to the sea floor, making these deep, dark ecosystems less productive than those along the continental shelf. At ocean depths that are intersected by topography, currents steer around major topographic features. The ship is equipped with high tech depth sounding equipment.
Bathymetric mapping is a major part of many of the oe expeditions since our understanding of the ocean. You are charting a line from cape cod, massachusetts on the north american. They are very similar to topographic maps in their. This rarely seen view of the islands really illustrates how the base of the islands is actually far below the sea floor, and the islands almost literally shoot up from the otherwise flat ocean bottom. At depths of over 10,000 feet and covering 70% of the ocean floor, abyssal plains are the largest habitat on earth. Ocean basin, any of several vast submarine regions that collectively cover nearly threequarters of earths surface. Among the new features theyre now able to detect, sandwell says, are thousands of previously unknown seamounts between and 2000 meters tall dotting the ocean floor. Bathymetric maps are like topographic maps except they show land formations that are underwater. This is a great way to get your students out of their chairs and on their feet to learn about the ocean floor. In addition, particularly at high latitudes, where the ocean is weakly strati. List of submarine topographical features wikipedia. Trenches are a distinctive morphological feature of plate boundaries. Name three topographic features found on the ocean floor. Ocean topography is the study of the ocean floor and the features of which.
Trenches are found in all oceans with the exception of the arctic ocean and. Ocean floor topography involves the study of ocean bottom features, including the outer continental shelf, continental slopes and ocean waves desktops. Pdf all major oceans and seas vary in their sizes, shape, depth, areal extension and in all other aspects like temperature, density, salinity and. What types of technology are used to study the ocean floor. Arctic ocean arctic ocean topography of the ocean floor. Hsess22 analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to earths surface can create feedbacks that. Develop a model to illustrate how earths internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and oceanfloor features. Since only largescale topo graphic features of the sea floor are expected to steer largescale circulation, topography was smoothed to. They used a model that combines magma supply and the mechanical response of the crust. They are the deepest parts of the ocean floor, and they define one of the most important natural boundaries on the earths solid surface.
Be sure students understand that each data point represents the depth of water at the location described by the geographic coordinates. To plot the profile of the ocean floor and identify its topographical features. This essay will briefly discuss several types of the features of the deep ocean basins and some of their implications for the science and study of oceanography. Detailed depth contours provide the size, shape and distribution of underwater features. Describe the major topographic features of the ocean basin. Morphology of sea floor, continental margins, midocean ridges, deep sea. Multibeam sonar mapping the deepocean floor 78 the noaa ship okeanos explorer education materials collection oceanexplorernoaagov system during the indexsatal 2010 expedition. Ocean floor topography the study of numerous landforms that exist on or below the earth. This study is extensive, and it has been established that the ocean floor has similar features of mountains and valleys as on the earth. The important features are the extensive continental shelves less than 250 m deep pink. Ocean floor topography features flashcards quizlet.
The first group to answer correctly receives a point. Seafloor topography and ocean circulation the oceanography. Topographic steering ocean currents cannot pass through ridges or seamounts. The topography of an area could refer to the surface shapes and features themselves, or a description especially their depiction in maps topography is a field of geoscience and planetary science and is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief but also natural and artificial features, and even local. Sea floor topography and ocean circulation introduction. Imaging the sea floor usgs publications repository. Topographic data usually are compiled from aerial photographs at relatively large scales and high levels of positional accuracy topographic feature. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Manmade features such as roads, dams, and cities may also be included. Ocean floor features national oceanic and atmospheric. On the basis of bathymetry and other studies, the morphology of ocean basins include. Be very careful when interpreting this diagram and others like it, because in order to show the various features clearly the vertical axis is.
Surprisingly fine scale details are evident in observations of near shore depths. Ocean floor topography and features of the ocean floor. You are a research vessel with the purpose of mapping the topography of the ocean floor across the atlantic ocean. Ocean currents cannot pass through ridges or seamounts. Seamounts and guyots are common, widespread features of the sea floor. Topography is the study of the shape and features of land surfaces. Explore the worlds most detailed map of the seafloor. Explorations after 1950 revealed the true complex nature of the ocean floor. The outer rocky layer of the earth includes about a dozen large sections called tectonic plates that are arranged like a spherical jig. Topographytopography is the study of earths surface shape and features. The model explains observations of hill spacing around midocean ridges. Continental drift, sea floor spreading and plate tectonics. Topography often records the various elevations of an area using a topographical map. Ocean floor topography worksheet answers floor roma.
Bathymetry, the shape of the ocean floor, is largely a result of a process called plate tectonics. Various features are located along the continental margins and ocean basin floor. Bottom topography several outstanding topographic features distinguish the atlantic ocean from the pacific and indian oceans. G4 u8 l2 lesson 2 into the deep national oceanic and. Topographical features topography studies the elevation and location of landforms. From the late 19th century, when the norwegian explorer fridtjof nansen first discovered an ocean in the central arctic, until the middle of the 20th century, it was believed that the arctic ocean was a single large basin. These features typically include natural formations such as mountains, rivers, lakes, and valleys. Each group will write their answer on the white board and hold it up for the teacher to see. The data table shows a record of the depth of the atlantic ocean measured by a research vessel travelling on course due east along 39on latitude. Ranging in height and diameter, these hills are much larger than the hills we see on land.
Bathymetric maps also called charts are topo graphic maps of the bottom features of a lake, bay or ocean. A bathymetric bath ih meh trihk map, like the one shown in figure 2, is a map of the bottom of the ocean showing the contours of the ocean floor and its geologic features. Bathymetric maps represent the ocean depth as a function of. Be careful when interpreting this diagram and others like it, because in order to show the various features clearly the vertical axis is exaggerated, in this case by about 200 times. Deep sea discoveries that show huge ancient cities exist on the ocean floor duration. The elevation features of the ocean floorshelves, slopes, rises, plains, ridges, and trenches. Suppose you took a trip across the atlantic ocean and were able to check the depth of the water under your boat at regular intervals. A topographic profile of the pacific ocean floor between japan and british columbia is shown in figure 18. Multiple choice questions related to ocean floor topographic map features and plate tectonics. If you are looking for more resources concerning energy, take a look at our big unit bundles.
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