What S On The Ocean Floor

In recent years satellite images show a very clear mapping of the seabed and are used extensively in the study and exploration of the ocean floor.

What s on the ocean floor. In fact scientists have mapped more of the surface of the moon mars and venus than the surface of our ocean. Seabed contains several hundred years worth of cobalt and nickel. The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur. Not too many people have gone to the floor of the ocean as it requires special diving equipment.

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

This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level. The ocean floor is literally the floor of the ocean. The ocean floor is a mysterious place that marine geologists and oceanographers have struggled to fully grasp. It is the bottom of the ocean when you dive.

Continental shelf 300 feet continental slope 300 10 000 feet abyssal plain 10 000 feet abyssal hill 3 000 feet up from the abyssal plain seamount 6 000 feet. Mountains plains channels canyons exposed rocks and sediment covered areas. The ocean floor has the same general character as the land areas of the world. Other articles where ocean floor is discussed.

The blobfish first discovered off the coast of australia is an example because of the extreme pressure these fish have evolved a gelatinous texture of flesh with a density slightly less than sea water.