OCEANOGRAPHY
DIPENDER DHINGRA
OCEAN
• The Ocean Relief Features are quite different from the continental features
because the Oceanic crust is less than 60-70- million years old whereas
continental features are of Proterozoic age (Over 1 Billion years old).
• While there is only one global ocean, the vast body of water that
covers 71 percent of the Earth is geographically divided into distinct
named regions. The boundaries between these regions have evolved over
time for a variety of historical, cultural, geographical, and scientific reasons.
OCEAN
• They are the source of food– fish, mammals, reptiles, salt, and other marine
foodstuffs.
• The tides can be harnessed to provide power.
• Oceanography is the branch of science that deals with the physical and biological
properties and phenomena of the sea.
• Earlier echo-sounding techniques were used, now radar soundings and
electrical Echo devices are used to find the precise depths of ocean floors and
map the relief of oceans.
OCEAN RELIEF FEATURES
MAJOR OCEAN RELIEF FEATURES
• Continental Shelf
• Continental Slope
• Deep Sea Plain
• Oceanic Deeps
CONTINENTAL SHELF
• Continental Shelf is the gently sloping seaward extension of continental plate.
• These extended margins of each continent are occupied by relatively shallow seas
and gulfs.
• Continental Shelf of all oceans together cover 7.5% of the total area of the oceans.
• Gradient of continental is of 1° or even less.
• The shelf typically ends at a very steep slope, called the shelf break.
• The continental shelves are covered with variable thicknesses of sediments brought
down by rivers, glaciers etc..
• Massive sedimentary deposits received over a long time by the continental shelves,
become the source of fossil fuels [Petroleum].
CONTINENTAL SHELF
The shelf is formed mainly due to
• submergence of a part of a continent
• relative rise in sea level
• Sedimentary deposits brought down by rivers
CONTINENTAL SLOPE
• A continental slope is the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf
and the deep ocean floor.
• The continental slope is cut by submarine canyons in many locations.
• The continental slope marks the seaward edge of the continental shelf.
• The gradient of the slope region varies between 2-5°.
• It extends between the depth of 180 to 3600 metres.
• In some places, for example, off the shore of Philippines, the continental slope
extends to a great depth.
CONTINENTAL RISE
• The continental slope gradually loses its steepness with depth.
• When the slope reaches a level of between 0.5° and 1°, it is referred to as the
continental rise.
• With increasing depth, the rise becomes virtually flat and merges with
the abyssal plain.
DEEP SEA PLAIN OR ABYSSAL PLAIN
DEEP SEA PLAIN OR ABYSSAL PLAIN
• Deep sea planes are gently sloping areas of the ocean basins.
• These are the flattest and smoothest regions of the world because of terrigenous [denoting marine
sediment eroded from the land] and shallow water sediments that buries the irregular topography.
• It covers nearly 40% of the ocean floor.
• The depths vary between 3,000 and 6,000 m.
• These plains are covered with fine-grained sediments like clay and silt.
• It has extensive submarine plateaus, ridges, trenches, beams, and oceanic islands that rise above
sea level in the midst of oceans.
OCEANIC DEEPS OR TRENCHES
• The trenches are relatively steep-sided, narrow basins (Depressions). These areas
are the deepest parts of the oceans.
• They are of tectonic origin and are formed during ocean – ocean convergence and
ocean-continent convergence.
• They are some 3-5 km deeper than the surrounding ocean floor.
• The trenches lie along the fringes of the deep-sea plain at the bases of continental
slopes and along island arcs.
• The trenches run parallel to the bordering-fold mountains or the island chains.
MID-OCEANIC RIDGES
• A mid-ocean ridge is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate
tectonics.
• It typically has a depth of about 2,600 meters and rises about 2,000
meters above the deepest portion of an ocean basin.
• This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along
a divergent plate boundary.
SEAMOUNT
• A seamount is an underwater mountain formed by volcanic activity.
• seamount does not reach the surface of the ocean.
• These can be 3,000-4,500 m tall.
• Emperor seamount, an extension of the Hawaiian Islands in the
Pacific Ocean, is a good example.
SUBMARINE CANYONS
• A submarine canyon is a steep-sided
valley cut into the seabed of the
continental slope, sometimes
extending well onto the continental
shelf, having nearly vertical walls, and
occasionally having canyon wall
heights of up to 5 km, from canyon
floor to canyon rim, as with the Great
Bahama Canyon.
• The Hudson Canyon is the best-known
submarine canyon in the world.
IMPORTANT SEAS OF THE
WORLD
ARABIAN SEA
ANDAMAN SEA
EAST CHINA SEA
SEA OF OKHOTSK
BLACK SEA
THE CASPIAN SEA
CARIBBEAN SEA
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
OCEAN CURRENTS
• Ocean currents are the continuous, predictable, directional movement of
seawater. It is a massive movement of ocean water that is caused and influenced
by various forces. They are like river flows in oceans.
• Ocean water moves in two directions: horizontally and vertically.
• Horizontal movements are referred to as currents, while vertical changes are
called upwellings or downwellings.
• Ocean currents impact humankind and the biosphere due to their influence on
climate
THANK YOU
