Exam 4: Ocean Basins

The sinking of the RMS Titanic fueled research that would change the science of bathymetry.

What transports most of the sediment that forms the continental rise?

The weight of ice atop a continent can depress the depth of the shelf break.

The continental margin is divided into three sections with the continental slope blending the continental margin into the deep-ocean basins.

How long is it estimated to take the ocean's volume of water to circulate through the oceanic crust at spreading centers?

Hydrothermal vents are only found in the depths of the ocean.

A continental margin facing a spreading ridge is considered ____ and ____.

What is a disadvantage of using multibeam echo systems to map the entire seafloor?

If oceanic ridges in the Pacific are more active, then it is expected that the ridges are:

What process explains how hydrothermal vents are created?

The continental crust has a greater percentage of continental shelves and slopes than mountains.

Where does most of the material on the continental shelf come from?

Deep-ocean basins can be covered by sediments up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) thick.

Sediments on the deep-ocean floor are able to give information on the age and history of the surrounding continents and even the biological productivity of the water itself.

Turbidity currents are propelled by the water within them.

Which is not a major factor in the width of a continental shelf?

What type of bathymetric feature was heavily influenced by wave action at some point in its history?

What statement is true of the surface area of oceanic ridges and their associated features?

Over half of the Earth's solid surface is at least 3,000 meters below sea level.

Who led the earliest bathymetric studies?