Geronimo R.

Rosario
How old are the Earth’s Oceans?

 Oldest rock formation found on Earth dated at about 4

billion (4,000 million years old)
 These rocks were deposited in an ocean environment
 Recall Earth is about 4.5 billion years old)
The Earth’s Oceans
 Earth’s surface - 510M km2
 Ocean covers - 361 M km2 (70.8%)
 Average ocean depth - 3730 m
 Deepest part of the ocean - Marianas Trench-
11, 035 m
 Average land elevation - 850 m
 Highest elevation on land - Mt. Everest- 8840 m
 Volume - 1.4 billion km3 (310 million cubic miles)
Ocean Basins
 Oceans are all connected, so it’s really just 1 big
ocean!
 5 ocean basins
 Pacific- 116.2 km2 (4,118 m)
 Atlantic- 86.5 km2 (3,736 m)
 Indian- 73.4 M km2 (3,872 m)
 Antarctic (Southern) – 35 M km2 (5,000 m)
 Arctic – 9.5 km2 (1330 m)
Ocean Basins
Northern and Southern Hemispheres

Earth – 70.8% ocean

Northern – 60.7% Ocean Southern – 80.9% Ocean

The World’s Water

Oceans

All other
sources
Seas of the World

1 - Mediterranean
Seas of the World
2 - North Sea
Seas of the World
3 - Caribbean
Seas of the World
4 - China
Seas of the World
5 - Sea of Okhotsk
Seas of the World
6 - Bering Sea
 Other named seas
Norwegian White
Greenland Barents East
Beaufort Laborador Laptev Siberian
Celtic Kara Chukchi

Japan

Sea of
Cortez Yellow

East China
Adriatic
Phillipine
Aegean
Coral

Tasman

Black Caspian Red Arafura

Aral Arabian Java Sulu Timor
Andaman Celebes Banda
Bathymetry
The ocean floor is mapped by
bathymetry
 The discovery and study of the ocean floor contours
is called bathymetry (“bathy” = deep; “meter” =
measure)
 Early bathymetric studies involved using a rope and
stone, or piano wire and an anchor
 The Challenger expedition of the 19th century made
492 bathymetric recordings alone!; but the process is
long and tedious
Measuring Depth
Sounding- Using a line with heavy weight to probe ocean’s depths
Fathom- unit of measurement specifically for ocean depth
measurement (1 fathom=1.8 meters=6 feet)

 85 BC Posidonius ~2km
 Hemp line and greased lead weight
 tension
 Fathoms (6 feet)
 Piano wire and cannonball w/ winch
 By 1895 only 7000 measurements to 2000m and 550 to >9000m
 Echo sounder (depth recorder) 1920s
 Meteor- mid-Atlantic ridge
 1950s detailed mapping of ridges and trenches
 Heezen and Tharp

19
HMS Challenger
 1872- made first
systematic
measurements using
sounding technology
 Noticed that depth varied
indicating that the ocean
floor was not flat, but had
relief just as land does
From great tragedy came great
innovation
 The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 stimulated
research that finally ended the slow, laborious
weight-on-a-line efforts
 By 1914, a former employee of Thomas Edison
invented the “Iceberg Detector and Echo Depth
Sounder”
 Emitted a powerful underwater sound pulse ahead of
the ship, and listened for the return echo from a
submerged portion of the iceberg
Advancing Technology
 SONAR Technology- Sound, Navigation, And Range
 1900s- Echo Sounders
 Sends a sound signal to determine depth and shape of ocean floor.
Early technology not very accurate
 1950s- Precision Depth Recorder (PDR)
 Used high-frequency sound beam to measure depths within 1 meter
accuracy
 LADS (shallow water)
 Laser airborne depth sounder
 Fixed winged aircraft/ GPS
 Operating depth of 0.5-70m
 Gravity measurements
 Changes in sea surface elevation
 Seamounts +5m and ridges +10m
 Trenches -25-30m
 Multibeam Echo Sounders
 Use multiple frequencies of sound simultaneously giving more precise
data
 Satellite altimetry
 Side-scan sonar
Echo sounders bounce sound off the
seabed
 In 1922, an echo sounder based on this design was
used aboard the USS Stewart, a US Navy vessel
which made the first continuous profile across an
ocean basin (Atlantic Ocean)
 By the late 1920’s, the German research vessel
Meteor – using an improved echo sounder – made
14 profiles across the Atlantic Ocean
 Revealed the mid-Atlantic Ridge and the obvious
coincidence with coastlines on both sides of the
Atlantic stimulated discussions of plate tectonics!
An echo sounder record
To Land 
Echo Sounders are not entirely accurate
Multibeam
Echo Sounding

Fig. 4-3a, p. 79
Satellites Can Also Be Used to Map
Seabed Contours
• Seafloor features directly influence
Earth’s gravitational field

•Deep areas such as trenches

correspond to a lower gravitational
attraction, while large undersea
objects such as seamounts exert a
stronger gravitational pull, causing
the ocean surface to bulge upward

•Satellites use microwave beams to

measure sea level to within 4cm
(1.5 in) of accuracy!
 multibeam
sounding

satellite

 Satellite mapping of the

ocean floor is more
accurate and provides
greater resolution than
multi-beam sounding
Continental margins
and Ocean Basins
 The transition between the thick granitic rock of the
continents and the relatively thin basalt of the deep
sea floor marks the boundary between continental
margin and ocean basin

(raised up because
hot = buoyant)
Continental Margins
 Continental margins are shallow water areas close
to the continents; they literally are the submerged
outer edges of a continent

(raised up because
hot = buoyant)
Ocean Basins
 Ocean basins are deep-water areas farther from land,
beyond the continental margin

(raised up because
hot = buoyant)
Continental margins
vs. Ocean basins
Continental Margins
Three Main Divisions

 Continental shelf
 Continental slope
 Continental rise
 Continental Shelf
- the shallow, submerged extension of a continent

 (Flat- 10-1500km, 65km; 20-500m

deep)

 Slopes gently toward ocean basin

(<1°)

 Composed of continental crust

 Shelf ends at shelf break –

boundary between shelf and
steeper slope
Continental shelves
 Taken together, continental shelves make up 7.4%
of Earth’s ocean area
 The width of any given continental shelf is
determined by:
 Its proximity to a plate boundary
 Shelves at passive margins are wide, while shelves at active
margins are quite narrow
 Localized water current speed
 Fast-moving ocean currents prevent sediment from
accumulating
 Sea level; determines exposure or submersion
 Continental Slope
steep slope that connects the shallow continental
shelf with the ocean floor.
 Extends from shelf break to rise

 Boundary between continental

and oceanic crust

 Steeply sloping compared to shelf

(5-25°)

 Submarine canyons are major

features
Continental Slope
oThe continental shelf extends
from the continent to the shelf
break, an abrupt transition
between the continental shelf
and the continental slope

oThe depth of water at the shelf

break is surprisingly constant;
140 meters (460 feet)
 Submarine Canyon
is a canyon carved out of the continental slope, which
connects the shallow continental shelf with the deep ocean
floor.

 Origin of submarine canyons:

• river erosion
• turbidity currents
 Submarine Canyon
Turbidity Currents
Turbidity Currents- a current of rapidly moving, sediment-laden
water moving down a slope through water, or another fluid.

 Downslope movement of dense mixture of clay, silt, sand and water

 Deposits are called turbidites
 Turbidites are layered and exhibit graded bedding (decrease in
sediment grain size from bottom to top)
Continental Rise
the gently sloping pile of sediment that accumulates
on the seafloor at the bottom of the continental slope.

 At base of continental slope

 Slope angle decreases
 Caused by the accumulation of sediment
 Continental Margins
Types

 Active Margin  Passive Margin

Continental margins may be
active or passive
 Continental margins are classified as being either
active or passive depending on their proximity to
plate boundaries
 Continental margins facing the edges of diverging
plates are passive because relatively little
earthquake or volcanic activity is associated with
them
 Continental margins near the edges of converging
plates are active because of their greater
earthquake and volcanic activity
 Continental Margin
Passive
 No plate boundary

 Wide continental margin

 Thick sediment
accumulation

 Little tectonic activity

Passive margins
 Passive margins are not located on plate
boundaries; rather, they are imbedded within the
interior of a lithospheric plate, and therefore are not
in close proximity to a plate boundary
 Why they lack tectonic activity
 Usually produced the rifting of continental landmasses
and continued sea floor spreading
 Also called “Atlantic-type”; e.g., east coast of US
Continental Margin
Active
 Convergent plate boundary

 Trenches are boundaries

 Narrow continental margin

 Thin accumulation of
sediments

 Tectonically active
Active Margins
 Active margins are associated with plate boundaries,
and are marked by a high degree of tectonic activity
 “Pacific-type”; e.g., west coast of US
 Two types: convergent and transform depending on
whether the margins are associated with convergent
(oceanic and continental) plate boundaries, or
transform plate boundaries, respectively
Continental Margin
Passive vs. Active
 Passive Margins
• Major rivers drain into ocean

• Sediment transported by
river builds out shelf

 Active Margins
• Large rivers uncommon

• Irregular shelves
Ocean Basin Floor
Features

 Abyssal Plain
 Trenches
 Ridges and Rises
 Seamounts and Guyots
 Ocean Basin Floor

 Covers about 30% of Earth’s surface

 Begins at base of continental rise
 Sedimentation: Passive and turbidity currents
 Contain abyssal plains, deep sea trenches, and seamounts
Abyssal Plain
- a vast, flat expanse on the ocean floor.

 Flat, deep ocean floor

 Depth may be 2-3 miles or more
 Thick sediment (1 km) accumulation covers oceanic
crust
Other features of the abyssal plain
Guyot

Seamount

Abyssal hills/Seaknolls
Seamounts are underwater volcanoes formed along ocean ridges or
over hot spots ( above 1 km in height)
Generally formed by
Abyssal Hills/Seaknolls- below 1 km in height volcanic activity

Guyots- flat top sea mounts

 Ocean Basin Floor
Ridges and Rises
Ridges = steep slopes

Rises = gentle slopes

 Underwater volcanic mountain chain

• Extends for 65,000 km
• 1,000 km wide
• 1,000-2,000 m high
 Contain central rift valleys
• 15-50 km wide
• 500-1,500 m deep
 Offset by fractures
Oceanic Ridges
mountainous chains of young, basaltic rock at
the active spreading center of an ocean
 Earth’s longest mountain
chain – 65,000 kilometers
 Divergent boundary
 Entirely volcanic-
composed of basaltic
lavas
 Rift valley occurs along its
crest
 Underwater lava flows-
Pillow lavas
Hydrothermal vents
are fissures (volcanic vents) from which
geothermally-heated water rise
First discovered in 1977 near the Galapagos
Islands near the East Pacific Rise; now
believed to be relatively common along mid-
oceanic ridges

Seawater descending through cracks in the

ridge floor comes into contact with the very hot
rocks associated with active seafloor
spreading; the superheated water dissolves
minerals and escapes upward through the
vents

This superheated water should be released

as steam, but exists in liquid form because of
the tremendous pressures exerted at this
depth!
Hydrothermal Vents
 The temperature of water rushing
out of a particular hydrothermal
vent determines its appearance:
 Warm-water vents: <30°C
(86°F); emit clear water
 White smokers: 30-350°C (86-
662°F)!!!; emit white water
because of the presence of
light-colored compounds such
as Barium, Calcium, and Silicon
 Black smokers: >350°
(662°F)!!!; emit black water
because of the presence of
dark-colored metal sulfides,
such as Iron, Nickel, Copper,
and Zinc
  The average temperature in the vicinity of
hydrothermal vent activity is ~8-16°C (46-61°F),
much warmer than usual for ocean-bottom water
(~3-4°C)
Hydrothermal Vents
 In Iceland, hydrothermal vents
exist on dry land
 Iceland rests on a mid-oceanic
ridge (Mid-Atlantic Ridge) that
has lifted above sea level
 Underwater, hydrothermal vents
host a unique assembly of
organisms, fueled by the
chemicals dissolved in the vent
fluids
 Chemosynthetic Archaea form
the base of the food chain
Mid-Ocean Ridge
 Transform Faults cut the mid-
ocean ridge in a number of
places
 These faults are
perpendicular to the mid-
ocean ridge and give the
ridge a zigzag appearance
 Many earthquakes occur
here
 Fracture Zones also extend
from the mid-ocean ridge, but
are much different from
transform faults
Trenches
a long, narrow valley on the seafloor. Trenches form where
ocean plates subduct (slip beneath) continental plates.

 Occur at subduction zones

where oceanic crust is
forced downward into
mantle

Associated with earthquakes

and volcanoes

 Deepest is Mariana Trench

(11,020 m)

 Longest is Peru-Chile trench

(5,900 km)
Trench
Zonation of the Oceans
Two Major Divisions of the marine environment

Pelagic Division - comprises the whole body of water

forming the seas and oceans
Benthic division- comprises the entire sea bottom.

Two major provinces of the Pelagic Division

Neritic Province- the shallow water over the continental

shelf
Oceanic Province- the deep water beyond the continental
edge.
Zonations of the Pelagic
Epipelagic zone- this extends from the surface to 200 m
depth, in which there are sharp gradient of illumination , and
often temperature, between the surface and the deeper
levels, and also diurnal and seasonal changes of light
intensity and temperature. In many areas the temperature
gradient is irregular, involving discontinuities or
thermoclines.

Mesopelagic zone- from 200 to 1000m depth, where very

little light penetrates, and the temperature gradient is more
even and gradual without much seasonal variation. An
oxygen minimum layer and the maximum concentrations of
nitrite and phosphate often occur within this zone.

Bathypelagic zone- between 1000 m and 4000 m, where

darkness is virtually complete except for bioluminescence,
temperature is low and constant and water pressure high.

Abyssopelagic zone- below 4000 m, dark, cold, with the

greatest pressures and very little food.

Hadalpelagic zone- the delineation for the deepest trenches

in the ocean. This zone is found from a depth of around
6,000 metres (20,000 ft) to the bottom of the ocean.
Three major zones of Benthic
Littoral (Intertidal) zone- includes the
greater part of the seashore together with the
wave-splashed region above high tide level.

Sublittoral (Subtidal) zone- is the shallow

sea bottom extending from the lower part of
the shore to the continental edge.
(submerged)

Deep sea zone- lies below the continental

shelf
Bathybenthic- lies between the
continental edge and a depth of about
4000m, comprising mainly the
continental slope.
Abyssobenthic- is the bottom below
4000 m, including the continental rise,
abyssal plain and deeper parts of the
seafloor.