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Bathymetry (underwater topography)

The ocean floor

Continental shelf

A

B C

D

E F

Global continental shelves

Beyond the shelf

Continental shelf

Continental slopeShelf break

Shelf topography

The ocean floor

Continental shelf

Continental slopeShelf break

Continental rise

Sediment

Sediments can be classified as lithogenous or biogenous.

The ocean floor

Continental shelf

Continental slopeShelf break

Continental rise

SedimentAbyssal plain

Abyssal plains…misleading term

Mid-oceanic ridges

Seamounts

Ocean exploration

Early ocean exploration: HMS Challenger Expedition

1872-1876

Figure 01_07

Sonar

Multi-beam sonar

Side-scan sonar

SCUBA

Text Art 01_02

Figure 01_14

Figure 01_11

Figure 01_12

How do different seafloor features and sediments form?

Earth from space (©NASA)

The earth is dynamic.

The processes that have shaped the earth as we know it today are perpetual on a geologic time scale.

Geologic history• Continental drift

Layers of the earth

Divergent boundaries

Mid-oceanic ridges

Convergent boundaries

Transform boundary

Geologic features and events

Plate boundaries and movement

Trenches

Plates and plate movement

Plate tectonics

Hotspots

Hydrothermal vents