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Ocean Floor Vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
The continental shelf | an underwater landmass which extends from a continent, resulting in an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea |
The continental slope | the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust |
The continental rise | the final stage in the boundary between continents and the deepest part of the ocean |
Abyssal plain | an underwater plain lying between the continental rise and the deep ocean floor |
Mid-ocean ridges | an underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonics |
Rift valley | a valley running along the spine of mi-ocean ridges |
Sea mounts | a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island |
Ocean trenches | long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor |