Notes: Ocean Basins

Ocean Exploration

• Oceanic Research Vessels

• Tools and Methods of Ocean Research

• Mapping the Ocean Floor

Oceanic Research Vessels

• Challenger

• Observed currents, measured ocean temp., collected samples

• Meteor

• Temp, salinity

• Glomar Challenger:

• Drilling

• JOIDES Resolution

• Used today

Tools and Methods

• Coring

• Tubes collect samples from ocean floor

• Sonar

• Sounds waves to map the ocean floor

• Submersibles

• Underwater research vessels

• Satellites

• Study the oceans from space

Mapping the Ocean Floor

• Difficult to map the ocean floor

• Bathymetric Map

• Topographic map of the ocean floor

• Each contour line is called an isobath

• Depth Sounding

• Weighted rope measuring depth

• Not good for maps

• Sonar

• Used sound waves to determine depth

Ocean Floor Topography

• Continental Margins

• Continental shelf/slope/rise, and submarine canyon

• Ocean Floor Features

• Abyssal plains, ridges, reefs and atolls, seamounts and guyots

Continental Margins

• Continental Shelf

• Gently sloping surface extending under water to shore line

• Formed by sediments

• Continental Slope

• Edge of the shelf, drops off toward ocean floor

• Boundary of continental crust and oceanic crust

Continental Margins

• Continental Rise

• Area from cont. slope to the deep ocean floor

• Less steep then cont. slope

• Made of sediments

• Submarine Canyon

• Deep cuts in the cont. margins

• Caused by rivers meeting the ocean

Ocean-Floor Features

• Abyssal Plains

• flat areas of deep ocean floor

• formed from sediments

• Ridges

• mountain ranges

• Seamounts

• volcanic mts. 1000m + high

• guyout: volcanic mt that stopped growing

• Reefs

• atolls: rings of reefs

Life Zones in the Ocean

• Factors Affecting Ocean Life

• Major Ocean Life Zones

• Ocean Resources

Factors Affecting Ocean Life

• Major environmental factors

• sunlight, water pressure, and water temperature

• Habitats

• place where an organism lives

Horziontal Life Zones

• Littoral Zone

• shallow-water, harsh conditions

• Neritic Zone

• low tide to edge of cont. shelf, contains most seafood we eat

• Oceanic Zone

• deep ocean

Vertical Life Zone

• Vertical zones are in the Oceanic Zone

• Sunlit Zone

• sunlight

• Twilight Zone

• sunlight

• Bathyal Zone

• darkness

• Abyssal Zone

• darkness

Terms

• Plankton: microscopic organisms

• Benthos: organisms that live on ocean floor

• Nekton: organisms that swim

• Producers: make own food

• Consumers: eat other organisms

Ocean Resources

• Fisheries

• fishing industry

• Minerals

• shell fish (calcium), sea food (iodine), salt

• Oil

• energy needs