Age Of Ocean Floor Definition

Rather than height of the ocean floor above a base or reference level the depth of the ocean is of interest.

Age of ocean floor definition.

This dataset shows the age of the ocean floor along with the labeled tectonic plates and boundaries. The ionic growing earth ige posits the same 8 elements that started the earth heated the planet for the first 3 3 5 billion years of its existence see ige fig. Other articles where ocean floor is discussed. To get the dependence on x one must substitute t x v ax l where l is the distance between the ridge to the continental shelf roughly half the ocean width and a is the ocean basin age.

In recent years satellite images show a very clear mapping of the seabed and are used extensively in the study and exploration of the ocean floor. The ocean floor has the same general character as the land areas of the world. The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur. This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level.

Mountains plains channels canyons exposed rocks and sediment covered areas. The ocean floor is literally the floor of the ocean. The arrival of water 1400 mya solidified the molten crust and by 1200 mya submerged. The process that continually adds new material to the ocean floor is seafloor spreading and the continental slope.

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. Contours of 20 million years are available as a layer that is currently set to invisible. Exploration of the seafloor and the earth s crust. February 4 2019 eugene ellis.

Because of this correlation between age and subduction potential very little ocean floor is older than 125 million years and almost none of it is older than 200 million years. Age of the ocean floor a critical analysis. The data is from four companion digital models of the age age uncertainty spreading rates and spreading asymmetries of the world s ocean basins. The landscape of the ocean floor is much like what you see on land just way more dramatic and without all that life.

Therefore seafloor dating isn t that useful for studying plate motions beyond the cretaceous.