What are the bathymetric features of the ocean floor?

What are the bathymetric features of the ocean floor?

Bathymetric features such as the continental shelf and seamounts interact with ocean currents and winds to produce regions of upwelling, where nutrient-rich waters are brought to the surface. This nutrient-rich water supports high levels of primary production by phytoplankton, which in turn attracts larger organisms.

What occupies the largest part of ocean basins?

Covering approximately 63 million square miles and containing more than half of the free water on Earth, the Pacific is by far the largest of the world’s ocean basins. All of the world’s continents could fit into the Pacific basin.

What are the major features of the deep ocean basin?

Deep-Ocean Basins. Deep-ocean basins cover the greatest portion of the Earth’s surface. Geographic features associated with deep-ocean basins include trenches, abyssal plains, ocean ridges and rises, and submarine mountainous regions.

What is the largest geological feature in the ocean?

oceanic ridges
oceanic ridge, any of several continuous submarine mountain chains rising from the ocean floor. Individually, oceanic ridges are the largest features in ocean basins.

What are common to all features of ocean basins structure?

Ocean basins are the part of Earth’s surface that extends seaward from the continental margins. Yet, they all contain certain common features such as oceanic ridges, trenches, and fracture zones and cracks, abyssal plains and hills, seamounts and guyots. …

What is the deepest part of the ocean?

the Mariana Trench
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. Challenger Deep is approximately 36,200 feet deep.

What is a bathymetric feature?

Bathymetry is the study of the “beds” or “floors” of water bodies, including the ocean, rivers, streams, and lakes. In the same way that topographic maps represent the three-dimensional features (or relief) of overland terrain, bathymetric maps illustrate the land that lies underwater.

Do ocean basins have the same physical features?

Do all ocean basins have the same physical features? All ocean basins contain certain primary features: mid-ocean ridges, abyssal (pronounced ah-BISS-ul) plains, trenches, and seamounts. Perhaps the most impressive features found on all ocean basins are long, continuous volcanic mountain ranges called mid-ocean ridges.

What are the common to all features of ocean basin structure?

The ocean basins constitute one of the two major topographic features of Earth’s surface, the other being the continents. Yet, they all contain certain common features such as oceanic ridges, trenches, and fracture zones and cracks, abyssal plains and hills, seamounts and guyots.

Why are there ocean basins?

The ocean basins are formed when the continents break apart and the magma from the mantle starts to fill the space. The ocean floor is created as the magma cools and the plates move around on the surface of the Earth.

What is bathymetry in oceanography?

Bathymetry is the measurement of depth of water in oceans, seas, or lakes. How is bathymetry represented in the Ocean Tracks map? The bathymetry data layer shows the features on the ocean floor that you would see if you drained away all of the water.

What are the characteristics of a typical ocean basin?

For example, the bathymetric profile (or cross-section) of the North Atlantic Ocean basin in Figure 3- 1 has many features of a typical ocean basins which is bordered by a continental marginat the ocean’s edge. Starting at the coast, there is a slight deepening of the sea floor as we cross the

What is the difference between topographic and bathymetric?

In the same way that topographic maps represent the three-dimensional features (or relief) of overland terrain, bathymetric maps illustrate the land that lies underwater. Variations in sea-floor relief may be depicted by color and contour lines called depth contours or isobaths.

What are the two basins of the Arctic Ocean?

It divides the Arctic Ocean into two major basins: the Eurasian Basin on the Eurasian side of the ridge and the Amerasian Basin on the North American side. It rises over 3000 meters above the floors of these basins and at its highest point is about 954 meters below sea level. It was discovered by Russian scientists in 1948.