Common Features Of The Seafloor And Coastline Flashcards
Alluvial Fan
A broad, sloping deposit of sediments at the foot of a canyon or the mouth of river.
Abyssal Plain
A flat region of deep ocean basins.
Atoll
A ring-shaped coral reef surrounding a lagoon it may have low sand islands. Atolls rest on submerged volcanic islands.
Bank
A navigable shallow area of the ocean caused either by elevation of the seafloor or by submerging of a landmass.
Bay
An inlet of the sea; an indentation in the shoreline, often between headlands or capes.
Cape
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.
Channel
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.
Cliff
A very steep or overhanging land feature.
Coast
A strip of land bordering the sea. A coast is affected by marine waves and wind.
Continental Shelf
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.
Continental Slope
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.
Continental Rise
The area of the continental shelf between the continental slope and the deep sea floor where sediments from the continent accumulate.
Delta
An alluvial deposit at the of a river.
Estuary
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.
Guyot
A seamount with a flat top. Guyot tops are always below the ocean surface. Also called a tablemount.
Headland
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”.
Island
A landmass smaller than a continent and surrounded by water.
Island Chain
Islands that have been formed by the same geological process (also called a archipelago).
Isthmus
A narrow strip of land connecting two larger landmasses.
Lagoon
A shallow body of relatively quiet water almost completely cut off from the open ocean by coral reefs to barrier islands.
Ocean Basin
A large depression in the earth’s crust that holds the water of an ocean.
Ocean Ridge
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.
Ocean Trench
A deep cut or trench in the sea floor, usually close to where continental shelves and seafloors meet.
Peninsula
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.
