Marine Provinces

Thurman and Trujillo, Chapter3; be sure to read box3.1 (Mapping from space)

Objectives: Students should be able to:

1. Describe the characteristics (in detail) of continental margins, the deep ocean basins and the mid-ocean ridges

2. Discuss the influence that plate tectonics has on these characteristics

Bathymetry – echo sounder, side-scan sonar, seabeam, satellites

Continental margins- edges of the continental block

· continental shelf

· continental slope: submarine canyons, turbidity currents

· continental rise:

· active and passive margins

Deep ocean basins:

· Abyssal plain - interrupted by abyssal hills, seamounts, and tablemounts (guyots)

· Deep sea trenches – associated with volcanic arcs and Ring of Fire

Mid-ocean ridges and rises (MORs)

• Rift valley
• Hydrothermal vents: warm water vents, white smokers, black smokers
• Fracture zones and transform faults: know their relationship to MORs