(Source:http://www.cdr.isa.org.jm/servlet/page?_pageid=326,License:GNU-FDL)
Review Questions
- What are three obstacles to studying the seafloor?
- The atmospheric pressure is about 1 kilogram per centimeter squared (14.7 pounds per
square inch or 1 atmosphere) at sea level. About what is the pressure if you are 100
meters deep in the ocean? - What invention gave people the ability to map the ocean floor?
- Which parts of the ocean floor would you expect there to be the greatest amount of
living organisms? - How much deeper did the Trieste submerge than Alvin?
- Compare and contrast the continental shelf and the abyssal plain.
- Why do you think mapping the seafloor is important to the Navy? Explain.
- If the mid-ocean ridge is created where the tectonic plates separate, why is a mountain
range formed there? - Why is bottom trawling damaging to the seafloor?
- Many people rely on the ocean to live because it provides them with food or work. As
the world population grows, the resources in the ocean are used more and more. What
can we do to make sure that people use the resources in the ocean at a rate that can
be replenished? - What is a mineral nodule?
Vocabulary
abyssal plain The flat bottom of the ocean floor; the deep ocean floor.
bottom trawling Fishing by dragging deep nets along the ocean floor, so that they gather
up living creatures along the bottom of the ocean.
continental shelf The shallow, gradually sloping seabed around the edge of a continent.
Usually less than 200 meters in depth. The continental shelf can be thought of as the
submerged edge of a continent.
continental slope The sloped bottom of the ocean that extends from the continental shelf
down to the deep ocean bottom.
mid ocean ridge Mountain range on the ocean floor where magma upwells and new ocean
floor is formed.