Department of Education: Republic of The Philippines
Department of Education: Republic of The Philippines
A. TOPIC:
1.1. Structure and Evolution of Ocean Basins
B. KEY CONCEPTS:
The Earth’s ocean are thousands of kilometers wide. Over 70 % of Earth’s surface is covered
by a single, interconnected body of water that is somewhat arbitrarily divided into five
basins—the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. Ocean basins are
any of several vast submarine regions that collectively cover nearly three-quarters of
Earth’s surface. Together they contain the overwhelming majority of all water on the
planet and have an average depth of almost 4 km (about 2.5 miles) hence can be
thought of as a large bowl that holds ocean water. The floors of our world's oceans
contain features that you might recognize as being similar to some structures on
land.
Ocean basins can be either active, with a lot of new structures being created and shaped, or
they can be inactive, where their surface is slow to change and does little more than collect
sediment. Active ocean basins undergo change mainly due to plate tectonics. Plate tectonics is
the theory used to explain the dynamics of the earth's surface resulting from the interaction of
the overlying rigid plates with the underlying mantle. These plates move very slowly and
meet at their boundaries. These boundaries are common areas of tectonic activity, which is
the deformation of the earth's crust due to movement of tectonic plates resulting in activity
(such as earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain building). So, an area of the world that is
tectonically active, whether it be on land or under the water, would be a mountainous area
with earthquakes and volcanic activity. This creates many of the ocean basins features.
Today’s oceans are traditionally divided into five major parts or basins. The five ocean basins
from largest to smallest are: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic. Each ocean has
specific and unique features. In the Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean, the Hawaiian Islands and
the Northwest Hawaiian Islands form distinctive geographic features.
The first important studies concerning the movement of continents came from studies
of the ocean basin, the bottom of the ocean floor. The basins are covered by 4 to 6 km (about
3 to 4 miles) of water and were not easily observed during Wegener’s time. It was not until
the development and refinement of sonar and other new technologies that scientists began to
learn about the nature of the ocean basins. They found that it was not the flat, featureless plain
that many had imagined.
The formation of the geologic features is generally caused by the movement of plates.
Plates can spread apart by moving away from each other. This creates gaps where hot molten
rock, called magma, from the earth's mantle can rise up. When the magma seeps through the
gaps, it solidifies as it cools, creating a new layer of ocean crust. This creates structures, such
as oceanic ridges, which are continuous mountain chains located under the surface of the sea.
Ocean basin is subdivided into three distinct regions: Continental Margins, deep sea basins
and mid-oceanic ridges.
Continental Margins are a region of the ocean basin that represent the submerged ends of the
continents which composed mostly of granite. It represents 7-8% of the total ocean area.
Components of Continental Margins:
a. Continental shelf, is a shallow, gently sloping (~1 degree), submerged edge of the
continent. It extends from roughly 10 km to over 300 km from the strand line.
Though they make up only about 8% of the ocean’s surface area, continental shelves
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are the biologically richest part of the ocean, with the most life and the best fishing.
The continental shelf ends at the shelf break, where the slope abruptly gets steeper.
b. Continental slope is the area where the seafloor drops steeply at the outer edge of the
continental shelf.
c. Submarine canyons, the continental shelf and continental slope are usually dissected
by a V-shaped depression called submarine canyons that act as channels for down
slope transport of sediment. Submarine canyons developed during the last ice age,
when the sea level was much lower. At these times most of the continental shelves
were exposed and rivers and glaciers (A glacier is a mass of moving ice formed on
mountains from compacted snow) flowed across the continental shelves and eroded
deep river valleys. When the sea level rose at the end of the ice age, these valleys
were submerged, creating the submarine canyons.
d. Continental rise, a slightly elevated region formed as a result of accumulations of
sediment at the base of the continental slope.
Deep-Sea Floor. The deep-sea floor beyond the continental margin; made up of oceanic crust,
which is composed mostly of volcanic basalt. Most of the deep-sea floor lies at a depth of
3,000 to 5,000 m, averaging about 4,000 m.
Abyssal plain are broad flat areas of ocean floor found between the continental margins and
the mid-ocean ridges, average 4000 m depth and coated by sediments. An abyssal hill is
another raised feature found within ocean basins. It is defined as a small
elevated landform that rises from the great depths of the ocean. It might help you to recall this
term by remembering that an 'abyss' is something that is very deep. So, an abyssal hill is a hill
found on the deep ocean floor. An abyssal hill has sharply-defined edges but will remain
relatively small, generally growing not much larger than 500 feet in height and a few miles in
width.
Seamount is a large submerged volcanic mountain rising from the ocean floor. Seamounts can
be very large, reaching heights of up to 10,000 feet, yet they remain
submerged under the surface of the water.
Mid-oceanic islands rise up from the deep-sea floor to the surface due to hot spots in the crust
(e.g.., Hawaiian Islands).
Guyots are flat-topped seamounts. Today they occur far below sea level, but at one
time they were islands that poked up above the surface. They were eroded flat by wave
action, and then gradually sank downward.
Trenches, are the deepest parts of the sea floor and may be over 10000 m deep. They
are found at the margins of the crustal plates and formed by subduction, where one plate
descends into the mantle below the other plate. The deepest ocean trench is the Mariana
Trench (11,022 m), located in the western Pacific Ocean.
Mid-ocean ridge: a chain of undersea mountains in every ocean that circles the Earth
like the seam of a baseball for nearly 37,000 miles (59,545 kilometers). Mid-oceanic ridge
systems are a continuous chain of volcanic Submarine Mountain that encircle the globe,
marking the boundaries of several crustal plates and extends for about 60,000 km around the
Earth.
The following are the stages of ocean basin evolution:
Stage 1: Embryonic Stage
Rift valley forms as continent begins to split. Whether or not the East African rift
valleys really are an incipient ocean basin and eastern Africa will eventually be
split apart is debatable. Nevertheless, such rift valleys must develop along the
line of continental separation.
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Stage 2: Juvenile
When separation does occur, sediments from the adjacent continents soon begin
to build out into the new basin and will become part of the eventual continental
shelf-slope-rise zone. As the spreading axis migrates away from the marginal
areas, the continents become increasingly distant and so the sediment supply
dwindles. The sea floor basalts begin forming as continental fragments diverge.
Stage 3: Mature
broad ocean basin widens, trenches eventually develop and subduction begins.
The ocean floor between the spreading axis and the continent subsides by
thermal
contraction of the underlying lithosphere, abyssal plains form, and the continental
shelf-slope-rise zone becomes fully developed. The continental margins are more
or less parallel to the central spreading ridge, as in the Atlantic.
Stage 4: Declining
involves the development of one or more destructive plate margins. Subduction
eliminates much of sea floor and oceanic ridge. The reason for the formation of
new destructive margins probably lies in changing circumstances in another part
of the globe, such as continental collision or the initiation of new continental
rifting.
Stage 5: Terminal
Last of the sea floor is eliminated and continents collide forming a continental
mountain chain. If (as seems certain) the Earth is neither expanding nor
contracting, the net rates of spreading and subduction over any great circle on
the Earth must be equal, and the pattern of plates and plate motion must adjust
to keep this. So, the Mediterranean is an ocean in the final stages of its life (with
the African Plate being consumed under the European Plate.
STAGE 6 Suturing
Unless the world system of plates changes so as to halt the northward movement
of Africa relative to Europe, the continental blocks of Europe and Africa will
eventually collide, and new mountain ranges will form.
C. LEARNING CHECK-UP
1. What stage of the ocean basin evolution does the red sea was formed as an example?
A. Embryonic stage C. Juvenile stage
B. Declining stage D. Mature stage
2. What is the large submerge volcanic mountain rising from the ocean floor?
A. Guyot C. rift valleys
B. island arcs D. seamounts
3. What is the ocean that is at final stage of its life with the African plate being consumed
under the European plate?
A. Arctic Ocean C. Pacific Ocean
B. Atlantic Ocean D. Mediterranean Ocean
4. What is the area where the seafloor drops steeping at the outer edge of the continental
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shelf?
A. Continental margins C. Continental slope
B. Continental rise D. Deep sea floor
5. Which of the following are referred to as a continuous mountain chains located under the
surface of the sea?
A. Mid-Atlantic Ridge C. Rift Valleys
B. Oceanic Ridges D. Trenches
6. What is the ocean basin feature that is slightly elevated region formed as a result of
accumulations of sediment at the base of the continental slope?
A. Continental margins C. Continental slope
B. Continental rise D. Deep sea floor
7. How many percent of the earth’s crust is covered with ocean water?
A. 60% C. 80%
B. 70% D. 90%
8. Which of the following does not belong to the stages of ocean basin evolution?
A. embryonic C. juvenile
B. features D. mature
9. Which of the stages of ocean basin evolution involves the development of one or more
destructive plate margins and subduction eliminates much of sea floor and oceanic ridge?
A. Embryonic C. juvenile
B. Declining D. mature
10. What type of plate movement is involved in the terminal stage of ocean basin evolution?
A. convergence C. transform-fault
B. divergence D. none of the above
D. LEARNING INSIGHTS:
ANSWER KEY:
1. C
2. D
3. D
4. C
5. B
6. C
7. B
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8. B
9. B
10. A
EARTH SCIENCE
Quarter 2
Week 4
A. TOPIC:
1.2. Formation of Folds, Faults, Trenches, Volcanoes, Rift Valleys, and
Mountain Ranges
B. KEY CONCEPTS:
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displacement. We classify strike-slip faults as either right lateral or left lateral. Thrust
faults are simply reverse faults in which the angle formed by the fault plane and the
surface is quite shallow.
A rift valley forms where the Earth’s crust, or outermost layer, is spreading or splitting
apart. This kind of valley is often narrow, with steep sides and a flat floor. Rift valleys
are also called grabens, which means “ditch” in German. While there is no official
distinction between a graben and a rift valley, a graben usually describes a small rift
valley. Rift valleys differ from river valleys and glacial valleys because they are
created by tectonic activity and not by the process of erosion. Rift valleys are created
by plate tectonics. Tectonic plates are the huge rocky slabs made up of the Earth's
crust and upper mantle. They are constantly in motion—shifting against each other,
falling beneath one another (a process called subduction), crashing against one
another. Tectonic plates also tear apart from each other. Where plates move apart,
the Earth’s crust separates, or rifts. Rift valleys can lead to the creation of entirely
new continents or deepen valleys in existing ones. Many rift valleys have been found
underwater, along the large ridges that run throughout the ocean. These mid-ocean
ridges are formed as tectonic plates move away from one another. As the plates
separate, molten rock from the Earth’s interior may well up and harden as it contacts
the sea, forming new oceanic crust at the bottom of the rift valley. The geologic
activity beneath the underwater rift valley creates these vents, which spew
superheated water and sometimes-toxic vent fluids into the ocean. There are only
two rift valleys on Earth within continental crust, the Baikal Rift Valley, and the East
African Rift. Tectonic activity splits continental crust much in the same way it does
along mid-ocean ridges. As the sides of a rift valley move farther apart, the floor sinks
lower. The deepest continental rift valley on Earth is the Baikal Rift Valley in the
Siberian region of northeastern Russia. Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest
freshwater lake in the world, lies in the Baikal Rift Valley. Here, the Amur plate is
slowly tearing itself away from the Eurasian plate and has been doing so for about 25
million years. The deepest part of Lake Baikal is 1,187 meters (3,893 feet) and
getting deeper every year. Beneath this is a layer of soft sediment reaching several
kilometers. The actual bottom of the rift extends about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles)
deep. Olduvai Gorge, in Tanzania's Great Rift Valley, is one of the most important
sites for the study of human evolution. Olduvai, also known as Oldupai, was the site
of a large lake 500,000 years ago.
Volcanoes are common along tectonic plate boundaries where oceanic plates sink
beneath other plates. As a plate sinks deep into a subduction zone, it heats and
begins to melt, forming magma. If the magma reaches the surface it can build tall
volcanic mountains. Volcanoes are also common along tectonic boundaries where
plates pull apart, allowing magma to rise from the mantle. Some of these volcanoes
are in Africa’s Great Rift Valley.
Trenches are steep depressions in the deepest parts of the ocean where old ocean
crust from one tectonic plate is pushed beneath another plate, raising mountains,
causing earthquakes, and forming volcanoes on the seafloor and on land. With
depths exceeding 6,000 meters (nearly 20,000 feet), trenches make up the world’s
"hadal zone," named for Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, and account for
the deepest 45 percent of the global ocean. The deepest parts of a trench, however,
represent only about 1 percent or less of its total area.
Trenches are formed by subduction, a geophysical process in which two or more of
Earth's tectonic plates converge and the older, denser plate is pushed beneath the
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lighter plate and deep into the mantle, causing the seafloor and outermost crust (the
lithosphere) to bend and form a steep, V-shaped depression. This process makes
trenches dynamic geological features—they account for a significant part of Earth’s
seismic activity—and are frequently the site of large earthquakes, including some of
the largest earthquakes on record. Subduction also generates an upwelling of molten
crust that forms mountain ridges and volcanic islands parallel to the trench.
Examples of these volcanic "arcs" can be seen in the Japanese Archipelago, the
Aleutian Islands, and many other locations around this area called the Pacific "Ring
of Fire."
Mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills ranged in a line and
connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of
mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure and alignment that have arisen from
the same cause, usually an orogeny. Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of
geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate
tectonics. The world’s tallest mountains range form when pieces of Earth’s crust—
called plates smash against each other in a process called plate tectonics and buckle
up like the hood of a car in a head-on collision. The Himalaya in Asia formed from
one such massive wreck that started about 55 million years ago. Thirty of the world’s
highest mountains are in the Himalaya. The summit of Mount Everest, at 29, 035 feet
(8,850 meters), is the highest point on Earth. Mountains that are formed by tensional
stresses are called fault-block mountains. Most fault-block mountains are formed
because of normal dip-slip faults. When a normal fault occurs, a block of the earth's
crust (the hanging wall) collapses, leaving behind a low-lying valley called a graben.
Graben is a German word for a ditch or trench. The uplifted or higher elevated foot
wall(s) is/are referred to as a horst(s).
C. LEARNING CHECK-UP
4. Which of the following does not belong to geologic features formed because of subduction
process?
A. mountains C. volcanic island arcs
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B. trenches D. volcanoes
9. Which of the following geologic features are undesirable and highly hazardous in
foundation purposes?
A. folds C. trenches
B. mountain ranges D. volcanoes
10. What type of plate movement is involved in the formation of rift valleys?
A. convergence C. transform-fault
B. divergence D. none of the above
D. LEARNING INSIGHTS:
ANSWER KEY:
1. D
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2. A
3. D
4. A
5. B
6. B
7. B
8. C
9. C
10. D