The Ocean Floor Is Composed Of Mainly
It is thinner denser younger and of different.
The ocean floor is composed of mainly. The crust overlies the solidified and uppermost layer of the mantle the crust and the solid mantle layer together constitute oceanic lithosphere. Biogenous sediment composed of the silica based shells of single celled animals and algae. Continental crust is typically 40 km 25 miles thick while oceanic crust is much thinner. Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of a tectonic plate it is composed of the upper oceanic crust with pillow lavas and a dike complex and the lower oceanic crust composed of troctolite gabbro and ultramafic cumulates.
Most of the seafloor is covered by sediments that average 350 m thick. In the deepest parts of the. These vary from oozes made of carbonate from foraminiferal and calcareous phytoplankton and some silica that has settled through the water column. The ocean floor is made of mostly brainly.
Model of sea floor spreading oceanic crust an overview sciencedirect topics the first map of depths 1843 arctic clouds can come from seafloor microbes the washington post what is the ocean floor made of quora. The ocean floor is made of mostly. Oceanic crust is about 6 km 4 miles thick. The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur.
Continental crust is broadly granitic in composition and with a density of about 2 7 grams per cubic cm is somewhat lighter than oceanic crust which is basaltic i e richer in iron and magnesium than granite in composition and has a density of about 2 9 to 3 grams per cubic cm. A large flat area on the ocean floor composed of sediements that originated mostly on continents. The topmost layer about 500 metres 1 650 feet thick includes lavas made of basalt that is rock material consisting largely of plagioclase and pyroxene oceanic crust differs from continental crust in several ways. Silicates mostly compounds made of silicon and oxygen are the most abundant rocks and minerals in both oceanic and continental crust.
Cosmogenous sediments are the remains of space debris such as comets and asteroids made up of silicates and various metals that have impacted the earth. Known as manganese nodules they are composed of layers of different metals like manganese iron nickel cobalt and copper and they are always found on the surface of the ocean floor. Round lump of hydrogenous sediment scattered on the ocean floor consisting mainly of manganese and iron and. Chapter 14 the ocean floor the vast world ocean ocean floor features seafloor sediments resources from the sea floor.
This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level. Oceanic crust oceanic crust extending 5 10 kilometers 3 6 kilometers beneath the ocean floor is mostly composed of different types of basalts. Continental shelf 300 feet continental slope 300 10 000 feet abyssal plain 10 000 feet abyssal hill 3 000 feet up from the abyssal plain seamount 6 000 feet.