The Deep Oceans

Take-Away Points
1. The earth has two kinds of crust
2. Continents have thick, light, granitic crust,
Oceans have thin, dense, basaltic crust
3. How we probe the sea floor
4. Features on the sea floor and edges of
continents are products of plate tectonics
5. Submarine landslides are important on
continental margins
6. Deep ocean sediment comes from the
continents and marine organisms
 The Two-
Story Planet

1. The earth has two kinds of crust

 Earth Has Two Kinds of Crust

2. Continents have thick, light, granitic crust, Oceans have thin, dense, basaltic crust
 Continental and Oceanic Crust
Continental Crust (Granitic)
Residue of Long-Continued Partial Melting
Thick and Light
Ancient: > 2.5 b.y.
Oceanic Crust (Basaltic)
Derived Directly From Mantle
Thin and Dense
Young: < 200 m.y.

2. Continents have thick, light, granitic crust, Oceans have thin, dense, basaltic crust
Investigating the Sea Floor

Coring
Deep-Sea Drilling
Sonar
Seismic Refraction
Gravity Surveys
Magnetic Surveys

3. How we probe the sea floor

Piston Coring

3. How we probe the sea floor

 Deep Ocean Drilling
Project Mohole
Original Intent: Drill to Earths Mantle
Drill in Oceans where Crust is Thinnest
Hidden Agenda: Complete History of Oceans
Challenge: Replacing Drill Bits in 5 km of
Water
Plate Tectonics Showed that Mantle is
Exposed in a Number of Places
3. How we probe the sea floor
 Deep Ocean Drilling
Original Objective Abandoned
Renamed Deep Sea Drilling Program
Now Called Ocean Drilling Program

3. How we probe the sea floor

 Sonar

3. How we probe the sea floor

Seismic Refraction

3. How we probe the sea floor

 Makeup of Ocean Crust

4. Features on the sea floor and edges of continents are products of plate tectonics
Anatomy of a Mid-Ocean Ridge
 Continental Margins
Shelf
Slope
Rise
Active: Subduction Zones. Sometimes Called
Leading Edge
Passive: No Subduction. Sometimes Called
Rifted or Trailing Edge

4. Features on the sea floor and edges of continents are products of plate tectonics
 A Continental Margin

4. Features on the sea floor and edges of continents are products of plate tectonics
 Evolution of a Passive Margin

4. Features on the sea floor and edges of continents are products of plate tectonics
 Anatomy of a Passive Margin

4. Features on the sea floor and edges of continents are products of plate tectonics
 Features of the Deep Ocean
Mid-Ocean Ridges
Abyssal Plains
Fracture Zones
Oceanic Trenches
Seamounts
Submarine Canyons
Submarine Fans
4. Features on the sea floor and edges of continents are products of plate tectonics
 Crest of
the Mid-
Atlantic
Ridge

4. Features on the sea floor and edges of continents are products of plate tectonics
 Sea-Floor
Spreading,
Mid-Atlantic
Ridge

1. Features on the sea floor and edges of continents are products of plate tectonics
Turbidity Flows Grand Banks, 1929

5. Submarine landslides are important on continental margins

 Where Sediment Comes From

6. Deep ocean sediment comes from the continents and marine organisms
Atlantic Sediments
 Deep Ocean Sediments

6. Deep ocean sediment comes from the continents and marine organisms
 Take-Away Points
1. The earth has two kinds of crust
2. Continents have thick, light, granitic crust,
Oceans have thin, dense, basaltic crust
3. How we probe the sea floor
4. Features on the sea floor and edges of
continents are products of plate tectonics
5. Submarine landslides are important on
continental margins
6. Deep ocean sediment comes from the
continents and marine organisms