Floor Profile of the Ocean in this important article we will study floor profile of the Pacific Ocean, floor profile of Atlantic Ocean also floors profile of the Indian ocean in detail..
Floor Profile of the Ocean of Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean
Table of Content
- Floor Profile of the Pacific Ocean
- Floor Profile of the Atlantic Ocean
- Profile of Ocean Floor of the Indian Ocean
Floor Profile of the Pacific Ocean
(1) Location Extent and Shape: Asia and Australia lie to the west of this ocean and towards the east-north and south American continents. It is triangular in shape. It is the world’s largest ocean and spread over one-third of the earth’s surface.
(2) Depth:
Pacific Ocean is also the world’s deepest ocean. Most parts of its floor have a depth of 7,300 metres. At its boundaries or in other words near the continental coasts are very deep depressions or trenches. The northern parts of this ocean are specially very deep.
(3) Trenches or Deeps:Its chief trenches are Aleutian, Kuril, Japan, Bonin, Mariana, Mindanao, Tago, Atacama etc.
(4) Ridges and Plateaus:There is no mid ocean ridge in the Pacific like that in the Atlantic. Its chief ridge is the Eastern Pacific Rise which is extended from California Coast to 55° south latitude. In addition to this Hawaii Rise, Mid Pacific Mountain, Emperor Sea mount and Plateau of Fiji are noteworthy features.
(5) Islands:In the Pacific ocean there are more than 20,000 small and big islands. Most islands are found in western Pacific ocean. Bigger islands are near Asian and Australian continents. These islands are made of the rocks of these continents. Kuril, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, New Guinea and New Zealand are some of the bigger islands. The mid ocean islands of this ocean are either reefs or volcanic islands.
(6) Marginal Seas:The marginal seas of this ocean are also found in its western parts. Berring Sea, Okhotsk Sea, Japan sea, Yellow sea, Eastern China Sea, Southern China Sea, Kuril Sea, Tasman Sea etc, are some of the noteworthy marginal seas of the Pacific.
Floor Profile of the Atlantic Ocean
(1) Location, Extent and Shape:The Atlantic Ocean is located between North and South America on the one side and Europe and Africa on the other side. Its shape is like the English alphabet ‘S’. It is worlds’ second largest ocean. It extends over one-sixth of the total area of the world.
(2) Continental Shelf:All around the ocean there is a very wide continental shelf. Near Africa the shelf is less wide but in north-east. North America and western Europe the continental shelf near the coasts is between 250 and 400 km wide. The Grand banks and the Dogger banks are located here.
(3) Mid Atlantic Ridge:This is the most important physical feature of this ocean. It extends in an S-shaped arc almost in centre from extreme north to south. It divides the ocean floor into two parts. On both sides there are deep ocean basins. The length of this ridge is approximately 14,000 km.
It is much larger than any other mountain range on land. It rises to a height of about 4,000 metres from sea floor. It has gentle slope and has terraced structure on one side.
(4) Islands:There are many islands in this ocean. Some islands are tops of mid oceanic ridge which project out from ocean water level. The Azores island in the north is a fine example of this type of island. Some are volcanic islands like for example Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. St. Helena, Gough, Suretsey etc. In addition to these there are also coral islands like Bermudas. There are also some bigger islands like British isles, Iceland, Greenland, Newfound land, Western island group, Falklands etc.
(5) Deeps and Trenches:There are comparatively less number of deep trenches in the Atlantic Ocean. Puerto Rico, Comin and South Sandwich trenches are very notable.
(6) Marginal Seas:There are many marginal seas around Atlantic. Among these include Baltic Sea, North Sea, Carribean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Bay of Mexico and some others.
Profile of Ocean Floor of the Indian Ocean
(1) Location Extension and Shape:From the area point of view Indian Ocean is much smaller than the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is surrounded on all sides by parts of the continents. In the north and the east is Asia, in the west is Africa, in the south-east lies Australia and towards south is the continent of Antarctica. Near the Antarctica this ocean merges with the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is triangular in shape whose head lies towards the north and base towards the south.
Special features:Being bordered by the Asian continent in the north its extension is limited. For this reason it is also known as “half-an-ocean’.
(2) Submerged Ridges:There are three ridges spreading north to south in the Indian Ocean
(i) In the north-west is Carlsberg Ridge. It slightly bends towards south-east to meet the Chagos Lakshadweep Ridge. To its south Sychelles Mauritius Ridge. Southward from Madagascar runs the Madagascar Ridge and to its west is Miozambique Ridge.
(ii) There is a ridge in the centre of Indian ocean. Its northern tip is in Lakshadweep. It is known as Lakshadweep-Chagos Ridge. Towards south it gets divided into two parts and it takes the shape of inverted English alphabet ‘A’. Its one branch is called south-west Indian Ridge and another branch is first called Central Indian Ridge and then called south-east Indian Ridge after bending towards south-east. (3) Eastern Ridge: It is best known as Ninety-Eastern Ridge longitude. It begins from Andaman-Nicobar group of islands and then meets the south east Indian Ridge in the south. At 35° south latitude one of its branch is known as ‘Divider Ridge’ and extends towards south of Australia.
(4) Basin:Because of the presence of these ridges the floor of the Indian ocean has got divided into several basins. Among these notable basins are the Central Basin, Arab Basin, South Indian Basin, Mascarin Basin, Western Australian Basin and South Australian Basin.
(5) Trenches or Depression:There are very few trenches in this ocean. One lone notable trench is called Java (near Java island).
(6) Islands:There are many islands in the Indian ocean. Some have broken away from the continental landmass. Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Madagascar and Zanzibar are among those islands. Near Indian mainland Lakshadweep and Maladweep islands are coral origin.
(7) Marginal Seas:Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Bay of Eden, Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep Sea, Bay of Bengal, Mozambique Channel are chief seas of the Indian Ocean.