Paombong High School Inc.

SY 2019-2020

Written
Report
In
Earth Science
(The Oceanic Basin and The Wilson Cycle)

Submitted by:
San Juan, John Lei
Sta. Maria, Athom Jhay
Amar, Ara Bella
Aquino, Janah Marie
Submitted to:
Mr. Emmanuel F. Hernandez
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Learning Competencies:
1. Identify what is an oceanic basin.
2. Discuss the structures of the oceanic basin.
3. Identify and explain the structures of the oceanic basin.
4. Describe or explain what Wilson Cycle is.

Oceanic Basin
 Regions that are below sea level.
 These areas hold the majority of our world’s ocean.
 This includes the continental shelf, abyssal plain, mid-ocean ridge and other formations
that may exist on the seafloor.
 The abyssal plain that lies between higher formations such as a continental shelf and
mid-ocean ridge.

Structure of the oceanic basin

c- features of continental margins

o- features of deep ocean basin

 Continental Shelf c
-
A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an
area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea.
 Continental Slope c
- Also known as the continental margin.
- One of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-
ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The slope between the outer edge of the
continental shelf and the deep ocean floor.
- No erosion happening.

 Continental Rise c
-The continental rise is an underwater feature found between the continental
slope and the abyssal plain. This feature can be found all around the world, and
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it represents the final stage in the boundary between continents and the deepest
part of the ocean.
 Abyssal Plain o
-An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found
at depths between 3,000 metres and 6,000 metres. Lying generally between the
foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than
50% of the Earth’s surface.
- Animals in this zone include anglerfish, deep sea jellyfish, deep sea shrimp,
cookiecutter shark, tripod fish, and abyssal octopus also known as the dumbo
octopus. The animals that live in this zone will eat anything since food is very
scarce this deep down in the ocean.

 Oceanic Trench o
- Oceanic trenches are topographic depressions of the sea floor, relatively
narrow in width, but very long. These oceanographic features are the deepest
parts of the ocean floor.
- The Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the deepest known point in
Earth's oceans. It is 10,994 meters (36,070 feet) below sea level with an
estimated vertical accuracy of 40 meters.
 Volcanic Islands o
-They are large volcanoes erupted on the seafloor whose tops have emerged
above sea level. Volcanic islands and seamounts (submerged volcanoes) range
in tectonic stability from intermediate or unstable in areas where volcanism is
active (like Hawaii and Reunion) to stable in areas of extinct volcanism (such
as Easter Island).

 Submarine Ridge o
- Elongated steep-sided elevation of ocean and sea floors.
- Some peaks often rise above sea level to form islands.
 Guyots o
- Seamounts or islands but was eroded the top of the mountain by water.
 Atoll o
- A ring-shaped coral reef, island, or series of islets.
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- Surrounds a body of water called a lagoon. Sometimes, atolls and lagoons

protect a central island. Channels between islets connect a lagoon to the open
ocean or sea. Atolls develop with underwater volcanoes, called seamounts.

Two types of an Oceanic Basin

 Active
o With a lot of new structures being created and shaped.
o Undergo change mainly due to plate tectonic.

 Inactive
o Surface is slow to change and does little more than to collect sediments.
Example: Gulf of Mexico; slow depositing of sand and sediments (Main change).

How are Oceanic Basins Formed?

An ocean basin is formed when water has covered a large portion of the Earth’s crust. In
the distant past, this may have happened when there was an increase in available water, or a fall
of landmass. Over a long period of time, an oceanic basin can be created by the spreading of the
seafloor and the movement of tectonic plates. The Atlantic Ocean Basin as it exists today was
created over millions of years, as the continents of Europe, Africa and America separated, riding
on tectonic plates.

Famous Oceanic Basins

o Atlantic Ocean Basin
o Indian Ocean Basin
o Arctic Ocean Basin
o Pacific Ocean Basin
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- A model where a continent rifts, forms an ocean basin in-between, and

then begins a process of convergence that leads to the collision of the two plates and closure of
the ocean.
- Named after its originator John Tuzo Wilson.
- It has been suggested that Wilson cycles on Earth started about 3 Ga
(gigaanum) (3 billion years) ago in the Archean Eon of Earth's history.
- Takes about 500 million years to complete.
- A Wilson cycle is not the same as a supercontinent cycle, which is the
break-up of one supercontinent and the development of another and takes place on a global scale.
The Wilson cycle rarely synchronizes with the timing of a supercontinent cycle. However,
supercontinent cycles and Wilson cycles were both involved in the creation
of Pangaea and Rodinia (meaning "to give birth", is the name of a supercontinent. It had most or
all of Earth's landmass when the Neoproterozoic era began. It existed between 1.1 billion and
750 million years ago).

There are six separate stages of the Wilson cycle:

1. Embryonic- Thick continental crust blocks the flow of heat, and there is a
change in convection currents of the asthenosphere (the soft plastic layer
on which the continental and ocean plates 'float'). There is an upwelling of
magma, which causes continental rifting to begin. The East African rift
valley system is an example of this process.
2. Youth- The rift expands as magma continues to rise to the surface and
creates new crust, and water fills the young ocean basin, creating a 'linear
ocean' like the modern Red Sea.
3. Adolescence- Our new ocean grows wider begins to age. The passive
boundaries between the continent and the oceans are
accumulating sediment from the erosion of the continents. The Atlantic
Ocean is one such maturing ocean basin.
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4. Maturity: The weight of accumulating sediments at the margin where

continental crust meets the ocean basin causes depression of the ocean
crust. Eventually, a subduction zone is formed, where the thinner, dense
ocean crust slips below the continental crust. See Pacific Ocean as an
example of this stage in ocean development.
5. Old Age: Accretionary wedges are formed as sediments are scraped off
the subducting ocean crust which creates a tectonic crest which can form
offshore island arcs. The ocean basin continues to narrow. This terminal
stage of development is exemplified by the Mediterranean Sea.
6. Death: All of the oceanic crust that separated the two masses of
continental crust has been subducted, and the continents collide. This
collision causes a mountain range to form along the collision- a suture.
Examples of this type of landform are abundant, and include the Indus-
Yarlung Zangbo suture in the Himalayas where India collided with Asia,
and the Ural mountains which mark the collision of the Asian landmass
with Europe.