OCEANIC BASIN

Ocean Basin

• There are several sorts of basins on Earth, including river drainage basins, structural basins (which are further subdivided into basin types), and ocean basins.
• These basins are bowl-shaped depressions on the earth's surface that result from plate tectonic activity (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) and other geological processes.
• Some basins have water in them. Oceans are the biggest of all basin kinds.

The Formation of Ocean Basins

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• Plate tectonic activity—either seafloor spreading or subduction—created the majority of the ocean basins on Earth.
• Tectonic plates are clay crust fragments that float on top of a heated, moving mantle.
• During seafloor spreading, the borders of tectonic plates break and generate a mid-ocean ridge out of molten magma (melted rock) that flows upward from the earth's crust.
• During seafloor spreading, new underwater volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, and ocean bottom crust may emerge.
• The Atlantic Ocean, for example, was created when the tectonic plates underneath Europe, Africa, and America separated.
• The Mid-Atlantic Ridge stretches north to south through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
• Today, broken vaults cleave the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at roughly straight angles, indicating that tectonic activity is still ongoing.
• The cracked vaults are formed as a result of seafloor spreading and help release strain along the ocean ridge.
• As a result, the Atlantic basin is still growing.
• Subduction happens when two tectonic plates collide, driving the lighter plate beneath the heavier plate.
• As the lower plate penetrates the hotter inner mantle, chambers of molten rock develop and begin to climb.
• Subduction causes earthquakes and volcanic activity, and ocean trenches are one result of this tectonic activity.
• While seafloor spreading causes ocean basins to expand, subduction causes ocean basins to contract, as is now occurring in the Pacific.

Characteristics of the Ocean Basin     

• The geography of all ocean basins is as diverse as that of dry land.
• Oceanic ridges occur when the seabed spreads, and trenches form as the seafloor subducts.
• Each feature acts as a hotspot for biological variety, strengthening oceanographers' fascination with the marine biome. 

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