Common Features Of The Seafloor And Coastline

Question 0

Alluvial Fan

Answer 0

A broad, sloping deposit of sediments at the foot of a canyon or the mouth of river.

Question 1

Abyssal Plain

Answer 1

A flat region of deep ocean basins.

Question 2

Atoll

Answer 2

A ring-shaped coral reef surrounding a lagoon it may have low sand islands. Atolls rest on submerged volcanic islands.

Question 3

Bank

Answer 3

A navigable shallow area of the ocean caused either by elevation of the seafloor or by submerging of a landmass.

Question 4

Bay

Answer 4

An inlet of the sea; an indentation in the shoreline, often between headlands or capes.

Question 5

Cape

Answer 5

A large point or extension of land jutting into a body of water. A cape may be a peninsula or an angular piece of land.

Question 6

Channel

Answer 6

A deeper part of a river of harbor that is navigable. The word is sometimes used to name a broad strait, for example, the English Channel.

Question 7

Cliff

Answer 7

A very steep or overhanging land feature.

Question 8

Coast

Answer 8

A strip of land bordering the sea. A coast is affected by marine waves and wind.

Question 9

Continental Shelf

Answer 9

The land forming the shallow seafloor extending outward from the edge of a continent, often several hundred kilometers; submerged part of a continent extending outward 15km to 50km to the continental slope.

Question 10

Continental Slope

Answer 10

The sloping from of a continental shelf; the place where the continent ends. These are the longest slopes on earth, often 20km to 40km wide. The bottom of the continental slope is the continental rise.

Question 11

Continental Rise

Answer 11

The area of the continental shelf between the continental slope and the deep sea floor where sediments from the continent accumulate.

Question 12

Delta

Answer 12

An alluvial deposit at the of a river.

Question 13

Estuary

Answer 13

The drowned seaward end of a valley where fresh water from land mixes with seawater. River flow in some estuaries continues across the continental shelf, carving out a submarine canyon.

Question 14

Guyot

Answer 14

A seamount with a flat top. Guyot tops are always below the ocean surface. Also called a tablemount.

Question 15

Headland

Answer 15

A cape or other landform jutting into the ocean. It is usually high above water and prominent when viewed from the sea. It gets it’s name from the practice of sailors using such features to take their bearings or “headings”.

Question 16

Island

Answer 16

A landmass smaller than a continent and surrounded by water.

Question 17

Island Chain

Answer 17

Islands that have been formed by the same geological process (also called a archipelago).

Question 18

Isthmus

Answer 18

A narrow strip of land connecting two larger landmasses.

Question 19

Lagoon

Answer 19

A shallow body of relatively quiet water almost completely cut off from the open ocean by coral reefs to barrier islands.

Question 20

Ocean Basin

Answer 20

A large depression in the earth’s crust that holds the water of an ocean.

Question 21

Ocean Ridge

Answer 21

A long, continuous mountain range on the seafloor. Ocean ridges are often of volcanic origin at a point or line of separation in the earth’s crust.

Question 22

Ocean Trench

Answer 22

A deep cut or trench in the sea floor, usually close to where continental shelves and seafloors meet.

Question 23

Peninsula

Answer 23

A piece of land almost completely surrounded by water. It is usually connected to a larger land body by a narrow land strip called a neck or and isthmus.

Question 24

Point

Answer 24

A narrow tip-end of a cape, headland, peninsula, or other land feature jutting into a body if water.

Question 25

Reef

Answer 25

A shallow rock or coral formation, often exposed at low tide. A fringing reef forms along the shore; a barrier reef is an offshore coral ridge.

Question 26

Seamount

Answer 26

An isolated undersea hill or mountain. It is usually in the form of a cone.

Question 27

Shoal

Answer 27

An area of the ocean too shallow to navigate.

Question 28

Sound

Answer 28

A wide waterway connecting connecting two larger bodies of water. It may be a body of water between the mainland and an offshore island.

Question 29

Strait

Answer 29

A long, narrow water passage connecting two larger bodies of water.

Question 30

Submarine Canyon

Answer 30

A deep canyon cut into the continental shelf and slope, often at the mouth of a large river.