Ocean Floor Features

1
Ocean Floor Features

• When we look across the ocean, we see miles and
  miles of water. However, if we were to look
  under all this water, we would see many
  geological features that look very similar to
  those found on land.

2
Features of the Ocean Floor We Will Be Studying

• Continental Shelf
• Continental Slope
• Continental Rise
• Abyssal Plain
• Ocean Trench
• Ocean Volcano

3
The ocean waters usually meet the continent at
the beach.
4
Continental Margin

• Extension of the continent, but underwater.
• Includes continental shelf, continental slope,
  and continental rise.
• Ocean floor does not officially begin until the
  end of the continental rise.

5
Continental Shelf

• Gradually sloping edge of the continent that
  reaches into the ocean. Can be thought of as the
  underwater section of the beach.
• Some continental shelves are short and some, like
  the one pictured here, are very wide.

6
Continental Slope Continental Rise

• The continental slope is the steep slope down to
  the ocean floor.

• The continental rise is where the continent
  finally meets the ocean floor.

7
Abyssal Plain

• Flat smooth surface of the ocean floor that is
  made mostly of sediment from the surface of the
  water and runoff from the continent.
• Because the abyssal plain is so deep under the
  ocean, no sunlight gets there. It is very dark,
  and very cold.

8
Ocean Trench

• Rips in the ocean floor that are deeper than the
  abyssal plain.
• Usually occurs when an oceanic plate moves under
  a continental plate.
• The deepest spots on Earth are found in ocean
  trenches.

9
Ocean Volcano

• A mountain on the ocean floor that has hot
  flowing magma.
• When the magma reaches the top of the mountain
  and cools, the mountain gets bigger and may form
  an island at the surface in the ocean.