Compare Ocean Floor To Landforms

The under water topography maps have been developed by the study of ocean floor topography.

Compare ocean floor to landforms.

Ocean floor topography involves the study of ocean bottom features including the outer continental shelf continental slopes and ocean waves desktops. Continental shelf the ocean floor along the coast of a continent that is covered by shallow water and gradually slopes down continental slope the sharp slope at the end of the continental shelfmid ocean ridge underwater mountain rangesrift zone underwater volcanic activity that adds mountains to either side of the mid ocean ridge rift a narrow trench in the center of the highest part of the. This is where the water in the ocean starts to get really deep. Wikipedia define landform as a landform is a natural feature of the solid surface of the earth or other planetary body landforms together make up a given terrain and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography.

The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur. 5 3 3 compare continental and oceanic landforms. The term landform also can be applied to related features that occur on the floor of the earth s ocean basins as for example seamounts mid oceanic ridges and submarine canyons. Seamount these are volcanic mountains not formed on the mid ocean ridge.

The transition from land to sea begins at the continental shelf a gently sloping submerged extension of the continent. Continental shelf 300 feet continental slope 300 10 000 feet abyssal plain 10 000 feet abyssal hill 3 000 feet up from the abyssal plain seamount 6 000 feet. It is composed of continental rocks and has a very gentle slope. Some of the land is located above earth s water and some is located below the oceans.

Continental landform any conspicuous topographic feature on the largest land areas of the earth familiar examples are mountains including volcanic cones plateaus and valleys. Continental slope the steep slope where the contintental shelf drops to the bottom of the ocean floor. Earth is made of solid land. The continental shelf continental slope deep sea floors and trenches or canyons belong to landforms of second order at the ocean floor.

Explain how landforms above the oceans are similar to those found below the oceans. The ocean floor from the coastal portion of the continents up to an average depth of 185 metres is generally known as the continental shelf. Some of the land is located above earth s water and some is located below the oceans. Earth is made of solid land.

This is not the deepest part of the ocean though. This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level. This study is extensive and it has been established that the ocean floor has similar features of mountains and valleys as on the earth. However there are similarities and differences between the landforms found on the continents and those found on the ocean floor.