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THE OCEAN FLOOR

Cristita Oclares
Laudette Tuquero
Lesly Manlangit
N.S.G. 1 (Physical and Earth Science)
Manuel I. Torio

THE OCEAN FLOOR

The depressed portions of the earths crust containing the waters of the world are called
ocean basins. As land dwellers, we may fall into the error of thinking that the ocean basins are
water-filled hollows in the normally dry surface of the planet. Just the reverse is true. The ocean
floor is the true surface of the earth. The continents are really great islands raised above the sea
floor by the internal forces of the earth.
Geologists have long sought an explanation for the existence of the continents and of
the ocean basins. Amore recent theory of the origin of the continents connects them with zones
of fracturing in the crust. Millions of years ago, the theory goes, lava poured from c\volcanoes
along great fracture zones. The great masses of rock that are now continents were built up
during this process.
At the present time, there is no sufficient evidence on which to accept or reject any
theory of the origin of the continents and ocean basins. It is definitely known that the continents
are composed mostly or granite resting on a layer of basalt which is continuous with the sea
floor.
Zones of Ocean Depth
The oceans fill and spill over the edges of the continents. At the continental shelt, the
sea is very shallow. It is seldom more than 500 or 600 feet deep. The shelves tend to become
continuously wider as rivers deposit silt on the shelf. Along old coastlines, the widening process
has been operating for a long time. There, the continental shelf may be about 100 miles wide.
Along new shorelines, the width may be less than 10 miles.
At the edge of the continental shelf, the continent drops off steely to the depths of the
sea floor. This zone is called the continental slope. It is a region where great landslides occur.
Some of the materials washed out by rivers onto the continental shelf are carried out far enough
to be deposited on the continental slopes. When large deposits form, the weight causes these to
break loose suddenly and slide into the depths of the sea. A large amount of sliding materials
creates very strong currents. Such currents are called turbidity currents because the water
becomes very turbid or muddy. Turbidity currents are probably responsible for cutting deep
canyons into the edge of the continental shelf. Such canyons occur on the mouths of many
rivers which carry large amounts of sediment into the sea.
Beyond the continental slope is the deep-sea zone includes the major part of the sea
floor. The average depth of the sea beyond the edges of the continents is 2 miles.
The Shape of the Sea Floor
Until a few years ago, it was thought that the sea bottom was a vast plain. This plain was
believed to be shaped only by gentle rises and depressions which islands here and there.
The development of the sonic depth recorder has completely changed this picture of the
sea floor. It gives us a continuous picture of the shape of the sea bottom. Maps of the sea floor

made by the device have revealed mountains and valleys beneath the sea which rival anything
on the continents.
One of the most unusual features of the sea is a series of underwater mountains called
mid-ocean ridges, such as a mountain chain, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which averages 200 miles
in width and about 10,000 feet in height. It stretches along the entire basin of the Atlantic Ocean
to the Southern Tip of America.
The Indian Ocean ridge in turn joins with several ridges which reach across the Pacific.
The peaks of these ridges are higher than those of most continental mountain systems.
However, in most cases, their tops are a mile or more below the surface.
The Azores, Ascension Island, and other scattered islands of the Atlantic are the highest
peaks. Mount Pico, in the Azores, ascends 7,613 feet above sea level and its base is 20,000
feet below the surface. The complete extent and the origin of these underwater mountains
systems is not fully known. They are brought to be the result of volcanic activity along a great
system of fractures in the crust of the earth.
Not all the volcanic activity on the sea floor is connected with the mid-ocean ridges. The
most active volcanic regions on the earth are in the vicinity of island arcs. These are chains of
islands lying close to the edges of continents. The Aleutian Islands of Alaska the West Indies are
examples. Intense earthquake and volcanic activities are common in island arcs which
apparently are located along the major faults of the crust.
Associated with the island arcs are deep gashes in the sea floor which hold trenches.
These are formed by faults along places where volcanic eruptions occur. All the deepest spots
in the ocean are located in the trenches.
The deepest so far measured is a trench near the Marianas Island in the Pacific. It
plunges to nearly 7 miles below the sea surface. Other deep trenches are located near the
Aleutians, the coast of Japan, the Philippines, Java, and the west coast of Mexico. In the deep
sea zone, the bottom is free of any material washed out from the land. All the sediments in the
deep sea are formed from the materials that settle from above. Dust blown by the wind as well
as dust from meteorites fall continuously on the sea surface; the microscopic plants and animals
(plankton) from the shallow surface layers also cause a constant rain of debris to fall on the
bottom. These materials build up a heavy collection of an extremely fine slimy sediment called
ooze. The rate of the sedimentation in the deep ocean is very slow (approximately 0.4 inches
per 1,000 years). Thus, studies of the deep sea bottom give information about events that
occurred in past ages, thousands of year ago. For example, analysis of samples from
successively different layers of a core indicates he general climate over which the oceans have
changed in the past. Events in the seas are apparently related to corresponding times or
periods on land. The oceans have literally written many times their own historical records of
physical, and geological processes.
The Oceans of the World
It is customary to speak of the oceans a s if they were separate bodies of water.
However, it should be kept in mind that they are really just sections of one great sea covering
most of the earths surface. There are no natural divisions of the sea floor to separate one
ocean from another.
The largest of all oceans is the Pacific. It includes thee-eights of the total area of the
earths surface. It is the deepest of the oceans; it has an average depth of about 14,000 feet.
Next in size is the Atlantic, which takes in one-quarter of the area of the sea. The Atlantic also
ranks second in depth, with an average of about 13,000 feet. The Indian Ocean is the third in
size, with about one-eighth of the total area of the earths surface. It is bordered by Africa and
Asia. It extends only a short-distance across the equator into the Northern Hemisphere. It has a

few islands or adjacent seas and has an average depth of 3,840 meters. Since Africa and Asia
are close to it, it conditions in the Northern Indian Ocean vary so much during the year. Around
the North Pole is the Arctic Ocean, a small ocean with only one-thirtieth of the earths surface.
The Arctic Ocean is almost completely covered with ice to a depth of about 10 feet. The
remaining area of the sea is included in the Antarctic Ocean surrounding the Antarctic continent.
The Seas
Island groups (Japan, Philippines, Aleutian Islands, and Kamchatka Peninsula) separate
the coastal oceans to form seas. Seas have well-defined boundaries and distinctive water
properties due to (1) restricted communication with the open ocean, (2) influence of the adjacent
continent or variable wind patterns and (3) usually shallower, smaller, closer to the land than
oceans, to which they are connected. The worlds seas include.
Andaman Sea is the northeastern arm of Indian Ocean, with an area of 308,000 sq.
miles (978,000 sq.km). It is bounded by the Irrawaddy Delta (north), by peninsula Burma,
Thailand, and Malaysia (east), by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (west) and by Sumatra
(Indonesia), and Strait of Malacca (south). The sea is 750 miles (1,200 km) long from north to
south and 400 miles wide.
Baltic Sea is the worlds largest body of brackish water. It has an area of 1,600 sq. miles
(42,000 sq. km). It curves northward from the latitude of Denmark almost to the Arctic Circle,
separating the Scandinavian Peninsula from the main body of the Europian landmass.
Barrents Sea is the outlying portion of the Arctic Ocean. It is 800 miles (1,300 km) long
and 650 miles wide and has an area f 542,000 sq. miles (1,405,000 sq. km).
Bering Sea the body of water in the northernmost Pacific Ocean, separating the
continents of Asia (Northeastern Siberia) and North America (Alaska). The Bering Sea covers
890,000 sq. miles (2,304,000 sq. km) and connects with the Arctic Oceans by way of the Bering
Sea, which is 53 miles (85 km) wide at its narrowest point.
Caribbean Sea is a sub oceanic basin, part of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately
1,020,000 sq. miles (2,640,000 sq. km) in extent. To the south, it is bounded by the northern
coast of South Africa, to the west by the coastline of Central America and Yucatan, to the north
by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles.
China Sea is part of the Western Pacific ocean bordering on the South Asian mainland.
It covers an area of about 1,340,000 sq. miles (3,465,000 sq. km) and consists of the South
China and East China seas, which connects to the Formosa Strait between Taiwan and China
mainland.
Hudson Bay is roughly oval-shaped and one of the major continental seas fringing the
Arctic Ocean. It is an inland sea indenting East central Canada with an area of 316,000 sq.
miles (819,000 sq. km). it is bounded by the Canadian Northwest territories (north to west),
Manitoba and Ontario (south), and Quebec (east). It is connected with the Atlantic Ocean via the
Hudson Strait (northeast and with the Arctic Ocean via Fox Channel (north).
Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental body of water lying between Southern Europe
(to the north), North Africa (to the south), and the Southwestern Asia (to the east). It is linked to
the Atlantic Ocean y the narrow Strait of Gibraltar in the west and connects with the Black Sea
in the northeast via the sea of Marmara. It is about 2,500 miles long and has a maximum width
of 850 miles and a total area (excluding the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea) of 970,000 sq.
miles.
North Sea, one of the most important commercial waterways of the world, is the part of
the Atlantic Ocean. It occupies a shallow basin between he continent of Europe and the British

Isles. On the north, it connects with the Atlantic by a wide opening. To the south, it is joined to
the Atlantic by the narrow Strait of Dover and the English Channel. To the east, it joins the Baltic
Sea to the straits known as Skagerrak and Kattegat. Its length from north to south is 760 miles.
Its maximum width is 340 miles. The total area of the sea is 220 sq. miles.
Red Sea contains the worlds hottest and saltiest sea water. A narrow strip of water
extending southeastward for 1,300 miles (2,100 km), from Suez to the Bab (strait) el-Mandreb
and Arabian peninsula. It has an area of 169,000 sq. miles (438,000 sq. km) with distances
varying from 130 to 250 mile (210-400 km).
Sea of Japan is the marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean which lies between Japan and the
Soviet island of Sakhalin (east) and the Asian mainland of the Soviet Union and Korea (west). It
has a surface area of 389,000 sq. miles (1,007,800 sq. km) and a mean depth of 4,429 fr.(1,350
m).
Sea of Okhotsk is the northwestern arm of the Pacific Ocean enclosed by the
Northeastern Siberia (Russia ) coast of Asia from Cape Lazarev to the mouth of the Penzhina
River, by the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril islands to the east; by the Japanese island of
Hokkaido to the south; and by the Russian island of Sakhalim to the southwest. It has an area of
611,000 sq. miles (1,583,000 sq. km) and is connected by the Pacific via passages between the
Kuril Island.
Sea Water
Composition of Sea Water
Geologists believe that earth in its early stages was without oceans. All of the earths
was probably chemically bound within the rocks until volcanism released it. Some of the
volcanic actions that originally produce the oceans are still going on. Thus, it is reasonable to
suppose that the oceans are still growing today.
Volcanic activity is much less that in the past. Water is not being released from the rocks
at nearly the rate that prevailed when the earth was younger.
The composition of the sea water today is not the same as that of the water that filled the
original oceans. When the water was first released from the original rocks, it was not salty. It
only became salty after rain has washed over the land on its way to the oceans basins. As the
land was flooded by the downfall of rain, minerals were dissolved and carried into the sea. Since
the oceans were formed, the same processes have been going on again and again in an
endless hydrologic cycle.
Each year the oceans become more and more salty. If all the minerals dissolved in the
sea could be recovered and returned to the land, a layer about 450 feet thick would cover the
dry land. On the average, 100 pounds of sea water yields 3 pounds of dissolved minerals.
The most abundant are those most soluble in water. Common table salt (sodium chloride) leads
the list. Sea water contains lesser amounts of many other substances.
Minerals are stills being carried into the sea by every river of the world. However, there is
an extremely great volume of water in the oceans. Thus, the saltiness of sea water is increasing
at the rate much too slow to be measured. In addition, some of the dissolved materials in the
sea water are being continually removed.
Composition of Sea Water
Dissolved Substance
Sodium Chloride (NaCl)
Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2)

Parts per Million

Parts Sea Water
27,213
3,807

Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4)

Calcium Sulfate (CaSO4)
Potassium Sulfate (KsSO4)
Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3)
Magnesium Bromide (MgBr2)
TOTAL

1,658
1,260
863
123
76
35,0000

Minerals from the Sea

The sea is a treasure house of minerals. It contains substances of great value dissolved
by its water. However, the richest mineral of all is the water itself. The dissolved minerals in the
sea water are useful and valuable. Each cubic mile of sea water contains about 4 million tons of
magnesium. These light metals are used in aircraft and many other applications. Almost all of
the worlds supply of magnesium is extracted from sea water. The element bromine (used in
high test gasoline and photographic film) and many chemicals are obtained from sea water.
Naturally, the sea is an important source of ordinary salt. This is an essential material for
several chemical industries.
A cubic mile of sea contains about 90 million dollars worth of gold. However, no one has
yet been able to find an economical way to get gold from the sea.
In many parts of the worlds, water was more plentiful but it is now becoming a precious
substance. There are only two major ways insuring an adequate water supply for the future.
One is by reducing waste; the other is be increasing the supply of usable water. Wise
management will help preserve the available water resources. However, water supply itself can
be increased sufficiently only by obtaining water from the sea. The sea contains plenty of water.
The problem is how to remove dissolved minerals at reasonable cost, so as the make this water
useful.
The most common used method for converting salt water is through distillation. The salt
water is heated and drawn off as stream, which is pure water when cooled. Ships on seas have
used this method for years. Some cities in the oil-rich region around the Persian Gulf and
Venezuela now obtain their entire water supply by distillation of sea water. It is very expensive,
however, because large amounts of fuel are needed to heat water to produce the steam. At
present, distillation of the sea water is only practical when water must be provided without much
regard to the cost.
Some experiments have been done using solar heat to vaporize the salt water and to
avoid high fuel cost. The solar method is promising. But huge areas of surfaces are required to
capture enough of the suns heat to evaporate a large amount of sea water. This increases the
cost in spite of the cheap source of heat. Other methods of converting salt water have been
tried but none has been able to supply large volumes of water at a low cost. It is difficult problem
and one which might be solved in the near future.
The Temperature of Sea Water
The sea is the greatest storage reservoir for the radiant energy from the sun. water has
much greater capacity to absorb heat than the rest of the land, gases or the atmosphere. The
top 30 feet of sea water in all the oceans has as much heat capacity as the entire atmosphere.
As a result, the water of the sea is tremendously important factor in smoothing out the heating
and cooling cycle over the entire earth.
The sea accumulates heat from the suns radiation during a warm season. In colder
periods this heat is released to the air. This tends to balance the extremes of temperature lost
by the earths rotation and revolution around the sun. without the sea, the earth would
experience gar greater extremes of temperature than it has now.

Like the land surfaces, the sea receives most heat near the equator. This results in
warmer surface temperature in the oceans near the equator. The highest of all the oceans
surface temperature is found in the Persian gulf, where readings at 96 0F are common. However,
most tropical seas have a surface temperature about 700F.
The other temperature extreme occurs in the polar regions, where the average water
temperature in the oceans is about 280F. in the Arctic Sea, temperatures are low enough to
cause the freezing of upper layers of sea water. The freezing temperature of sea water varies
with its saltiness, but it is always below 320F, the freezing point of fresh water.
Most parts of the sea have surface temperature somewhere between the extremes of
the tropical seas and the polar seas. In any particular location, the surface temperature varies
considerable from time to time as a result of the movement of water currents. The entire sea is a
maze of currents that transport warm and cool water to great streams.
In some oceans, the streams are separate and easily identifiable. In others, streams
merge with gigantic swirls and eddies that mix the water of different temperatures.
Thus, the surface temperature of the sea follows the shifting pattern resulting from
currents that bring together and mixes hot and cold water.
The suns radiation penetrates only a short distance into the water, thus only the upper
layer of the sea is strongly heated. The water of the upper layer becomes less dense as a result
of the heating. It tends to float on the cooler and denser lower layers.
The slight difference in density is surprisingly effective in preventing mixing of the two
zones. In most places in the sea, there is a a sharp drop in temperature from 150 to 1,200 feet
below the surface where the upper warm water joins the cooler water below. This zone of rapid
temperature changes, called the thermocline, varies in depth from the season to season.
Measurable thermoclines are also observed in many lakes.
One effect of thermoclines in oceans is the separation of the current of the warm water
above from the current of the cold water beneath.
Economic Aspects of Oceans and Seas
The sea is generally by scientists as the place where life began on earth. Without the
sea, life as it is known today would not exist. It acts as a great heat reservoir, leveling the
temperature extremes that would otherwise prevail over the earth and expand the desert areas.
The oceans provide the least experience form of transportation known to man, and the margins
of the sea serve as one of the major sites of recreation. The sea is a major source of food and a
dumping ground for many wastes. The sea is also a major potential sources of protein, minerals
and power, all of which are required in ever-increasing quantities by all industrial societies.
The sea is also used as a source of:
1. Food and water
Fishing man can get 60,000,000 tons of foods from the oceans annually by
fishing.
2. Energy Resources
a. Power Generation energy is extracted from the tides of the ocean.
b. Minerals billions of tons of material can be obtained from the sea.
c. Petroleum 2,000,000,000,000 barrels of oil resources can be obtained.
3. Building Products sand, gravel and lime
4. Jewelry corals and pearls
5. Fertilizers seaweeds and dead organisms.