2.

Marine:

Main idea: The sea floor is divided into two main regions- the continental margin and the deep-sea floor.

Key questions:

1: The three main regions of continental margin are the continental shelf, continental slope, and
continental rise.

2: The deep-sea floor consists of mid ocean ridges, hydrothermal vents, mud volcanoes, sea mountains,
canyons, cold seeps, and many others.

Dive-in!

The deepest portion of the earth is the Mariana Trench. The two deepest spot are at 10,994m and
10,809m deep. There is some living organisms there, this includes microorganisms, sea cucumbers,
clams, and shrimp like invertebrates. The Mariana trench is a large portion of the ocean which is
protected as part of a marine sanctuary.

Vocab:

World Ocean: a concept that is used to indicate that all oceans on earth are interconnected.

Continental rise: the gentle sloping is at the base of the continental slope.

Passive continental margin: Located at the “trailing edge”, of a continent and as a result shows little
geological activity.

Guyot: a flat-topped seamount

Black smoker: a chimney-like accumulation of mineral deposits that is found at hydrothermal vents.

Continental margin: edge of a continent; the zone between a continent and the deep sea floor.

Submarine canyon: a narrow, deep depression in the continental shelf formed by the erosion of rivers or
glaciers before the shelf was submerged.

Abyssal plain: nearly flat region of the deep-sea floor

Central Rift: a depression in the mid ocean Ridge

Continental shelf: the shallow gently sloping section of the continental margin that extends from the
shore to the point where the slope gets steeper.

Shelf break: the section of the continental shelf where the slope abruptly becomes steeper, usually at
the depth of 120-200 m

Abyssal hills: topographic feature of the deep ocean floor

Hydrothermal vents: a deep-sea hot spring where heated seawater forces its way up through the crust

Continental slope: The steeper, seaward section of the continental margin

Active continental margin is colliding with another plate and as a result is geologically active.

Seamounts: a submarine volcano in the abyssal plain

Sulfides: one of the minerals that is abundant in the hot water that seeps through hydrothermal vents

Section Review:

1: The continental is a gentle sloping, shallow portion of the ocean floor adjacent to the continents. The
continental slope is a steady sloping region that contains the continental shelf to the deep ocean floor.
The continental rise is a gently sloping region found at the base of the continental slope.

2: They form through a process including volcanic activity and the circulation of seawater.