OCEAN RELIEFS
WHAT IS OCEAN RELIEF?
- Relief features found on the ocean floor are called ocean relief or submarine relief.
- Ocean relief is largely due to tectonic, volcanic, erosional and depositional processes and their interactions.
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR OCEAN RELIEFS?
- These occupy major part of the oceans.
- Four major divisions in the ocean relief are:
a) Continental Shelf
b) Continental Slope
c) Deep Sea Plain
d) Oceanic Deeps
WHAT IS THE CONTINENTAL SHELF?
- Continental Shelf is the gently sloping seaward extension of continental plate.
WHAT IS THE CONTINENTAL SLOPE?
- A continental slope is the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the deep ocean floor.
WHAT IS THE CONTINENTAL RISE?
- The continental slope gradually loses its steepness with depth.
WHAT IS THE DEEP-SEA PLAIN OR THE ABYSSAL PLAIN?
- Deep sea planes are gently sloping areas of the ocean basins where water sediments that buries the irregular topography.