THE SEA FLOOR

Water planet
SLO’S
 At the end of this units students should
learn :
 Define the physical characteristics of the

marine science in the sea

 Examine the importance of marine

ecosystems and coral reefs

Water planet
 Our water planet has large amount of liquid
water
 Oceans covers 71 % of the globe

 Oceans regulate climate and atmosphere

OCEAN BASINS
OCEAN BASINS
 Ocean basins are classified into 4 large
basins
 Pacific : is the deepest and largest ocean
 Atlantic ocean: It is larger than Indian ocean
 Indian ocean: it is larger than Arctic
 Arctic ocean: Which is smallest, shallowest

ocean
 These basins are inter connected when

viewed from the south pole

 There are number of shallow seas such as,
 Mediterranean sea, Gulf of Mexico, South

China sea are connected to the main ocean

basins
Other seas are,
 Red sea
 Caspian sea
 Baltic sea
 Persian gulf
The structure of the Earth
 The Earth is composed of three main layers,
 Core: it is the inner most layer and it is rich in

iron. It is made up of a solid inner core and a

liquid outer core
 Mantle: It is outside the earth’s core and

most of it is thought to be of solid, it is very

hot near the melting point of the rocks,
because of this it flows as liquid
 Crust: It is the outer most layer .
 The outer crust is :continental and
oceanic crust
 The oceanic crust makes up the sea floor and

it is consist of type of mineral called Basalt.

 The continental crust has rocks and most of

them are granite.
The structure of ocean basin
 The ocean basins have,
 1)Mid-ocean ridge : It is a continuous chain

of submarine volcanic mountains that runs

through all the ocean basins
 At regular interval it is displaced to one side.
Mid ocean ridge
Submarine volcanic eruption produces fresh
sea floor ( submarine volcano mountains )
 2) Trenches : The surveys of the sea floor
revealed the existence of deep depressions in
the sea floor called trenches
 These are deepest part of oceans, Mariana

trench is the deepest of all in Pacific ocean

 They are common in pacific ocean
Mariana Trench
Depth of Mariana trench
 3) sediments: The loose material like sand
and mud that settles to the bottom is
sediment
 The sediments are thicker and the rock of the

actual sea floor is older as they are farther

from the ridge

 4) Rifts: They are huge slabs of oceanic crust

separating at the mid ocean ridges creating
cracks in the crust
The geological provinces of the ocean
The sea floor is divided into two regions,
1) Continental margins :
It represents the submerged edges of the
continents
2) The deep sea floor :
The deep sea floor lies at a depth of 3000-
5000m . It has volcanic islands and submarine
volcanoes called seamounts. These are home to
tremendous variety of marine life.
Atlantic sea mount
Hydrothermal vents
 These are deep sea hot springs

 They are originated when sea water seeps

down through the cracks in the sea floor and
reaches up to hot mantle. It gets heated up
and forces out of cracks .
 This is rich in sulfides.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x
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 Critical thinking :
 Which oceans are growing, and which oceans are shrinking?
 These days, the Atlantic Ocean is growing at a rate of five
centimetres per year, as new sea floor is created by volcanic
activity along its mid-ocean ridge. On the other hand, the
much older Pacific Ocean is currently estimated to be
shrinking by two to three centimetres each year.

 Where will new oceans will form?

 Scientists say a new ocean will form in Africa as the continent
continues to split into two. The East African Rift system made
up the western and eastern continental rifts, and stretches
from the Afar region of Ethiopia down to Mozambique