Geological Nature Of The Sea Floor

The idea that the seafloor itself moves and also carries the continents with it as it spreads from a central rift axis was proposed by harold hammond hess from princeton university and robert dietz of the u s.

Geological nature of the sea floor.

Describe the general nature of major ocean surface currents and the origins of deep ocean circulation patterns explain the importance of ocean currents to our climate figure 18 1 oceanic crust pillow basalt from the paleogene metchosin igneous complex near sooke on vancouver island. Oceanography geological geological oceanography is the study of earth beneath the oceans. Earlier theories by alfred wegener and alexander du toit of continental drift postulated that continents in motion plowed through the fixed and immovable seafloor. The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur.

These deposits were formed during the quaternary period of geological history which spans the time from around 2 6 million years ago until the present day. 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. The latest data have now made the map at least twice as good. Seafloor geology mapped at 1 10 000 scale revealing exposed bedrock seabed sediments and seabed geomorphology sandwave field.

Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. Describe the geologic nature and significance of the mid oceanic ridge origins and characteristics of mid oceanic ridges matthew olson absract the theory of seafloor spreading emerged with the discoveries of harry hammond hess ocean basins are expanding laterally away from a mid oceanic ridge radioactive decay in earth s mantle causes convection cycles which drive plate tectonics. Source for information on oceanography geological. Water science and issues dictionary.

A geological oceanographer studies the topography structure and geological processes of the ocean floor to discover how the earth and oceans were formed and how ongoing processes may change them in the future. The mid atlantic ridge for instance separates the north american plate from the eurasian plate and the south american plate from the african plate the east pacific rise is a mid ocean ridge that runs through the eastern pacific ocean and separates the pacific plate from the north american. That combination of data resulted in a 1997 science paper 2 from sandwell and his team at the time the sharpest global sea floor map. This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level.