Compare and contrast continental shelves and slopes.
Continental shelves are shallow, gently sloping extensions of continents, while continental slopes are much steeper areas that descend from the shelf to the deep ocean floor.
What mineral resources can be harvested from the continental shelf?
Oil and natural gas, sand and gravel, salt, and phosphorite can be harvested from continental shelves.
Describe the abyssal plain.
An abyssal plain is a broad, very deep, nearly flat area of the ocean floor covered by fine sediments.
What occurs at mid-ocean ridges?
New oceanic crust forms at mid-ocean ridges as magma rises, cools, and solidifies while tectonic plates move apart.
Why aren’t mineral deposits harvested from deep water?
They are not usually harvested because reaching them requires expensive technology and operations under extreme pressure in very deep, remote water.
Of the three ocean basin zones (continental shelf, continental slope, abyssal plain) which has the greatest diversity of life and which is deepest?
The continental shelf has the greatest diversity of life, and the abyssal plain is the deepest zone.
What is the difference between mid-ocean ridges and trenches?
Mid-ocean ridges are raised areas where new seafloor forms at divergent boundaries, while trenches are deep depressions at subduction zones where old seafloor sinks.
What is a trench?
A trench is a long, narrow, very deep depression in the ocean floor.
How are ocean trenches formed?
Ocean trenches form where one tectonic plate is subducted beneath another at a convergent plate boundary, bending the seafloor downward.
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