Features of the ocean include the continental shelf, slope, and rise . The ocean floor is called the abyssal plain
What are features of seafloor?
While the ocean has an average depth of 2.3 miles, the shape and depth of the seafloor is complex. Some features, like canyons and seamounts , might look familiar, while others, such as hydrothermal vents and methane seeps, are unique to the deep.
What are three features of the ocean floor?
Features of the ocean include the continental shelf, slope, and rise . The ocean floor is called the abyssal plain. Below the ocean floor, there are a few small deeper areas called ocean trenches. Features rising up from the ocean floor include seamounts, volcanic islands and the mid-oceanic ridges and rises.
What are the special features at the bottom of the ocean?
The bottom of the deep sea has several features that contribute to the diversity of this habitat. The main features are mid-oceanic ridges, hydrothermal vents, mud volcanoes, seamounts, canyons and cold seeps . Carcasses of large animals also contribute to habitat diversity.
What are the four parts of ocean floor?
slope, the continental rise, the abyssal plain, and ocean trenches . The continental shelf is that shallow part of the ocean floor that begins at the shoreline and gently slopes underwater to an average depth of about 430 feet.
What color is the ocean floor?
Most of the light that is reflected by clear, open ocean water is blue , while the red portion of sunlight is quickly absorbed near the surface. Therefore, very deep water with no reflections off the sea floor appears dark navy blue.
What are the most prominent features on the ocean floor?
Though hidden beneath the ocean surface, the global mid-ocean ridge system is the most prominent topographic feature on the surface of our planet.
What are the six main features of the ocean floor?
Features of the ocean floor include the continental shelf and slope, abyssal plain, trenches, seamounts, and the mid-ocean ridge . The ocean floor is rich in resources.
Where does seafloor spreading occur?
Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries . As tectonic plates slowly move away from each other, heat from the mantle's convection currents makes the crust more plastic and less dense. The less-dense material rises, often forming a mountain or elevated area of the seafloor.
What is the most important topographic feature of the ocean floor?
The important features are the extensive continental shelves less than 250 m deep (pink); the vast deep ocean plains between 4,000 and 6,000 m deep (light and dark blue); the mid-Atlantic ridge, in many areas shallower than 3,000 m; and the deep ocean trench north of Puerto Rico (8,600 m).
Can satellites see underwater?
Satellites can “see the sea” in ways that are otherwise impossible . The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) is the first of NOAA's next generation of geostationary weather satellites. Among the many missions of this satellite, it will collect ocean and climate data.
What is on the deepest ocean floor?
The average depth of the ocean is about 12,100 feet . The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam.
What is a deep cut in the ocean floor called?
trench . narrow deep cuts in the ocean floor.
What part of the ocean is 5200 m?
With maximum depth exceeding 17,000 feet (5,200 m), the seafloor's most distinctive feature is the Tasman Basin .
Why the sea is blue?
The ocean is blue because water absorbs colors in the red part of the light spectrum . Like a filter, this leaves behind colors in the blue part of the light spectrum for us to see. The ocean may also take on green, red, or other hues as light bounces off of floating sediments and particles in the water.
Why is the ocean blue and not purple?
The ocean is blue because of the way it absorbs sunlight , according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). ... But ocean water appears bluer the farther you travel down the water column. The water molecules absorb infrared, red and ultraviolet light first, and then yellow, green and violet.
