Volcanic rock, which forms the bottom of the oceans. Shelf, cavities, guyots

What is the name of the volcanic rock that forms the bottom of the oceans? This is basalt. They cover more than three hundred and sixty million square kilometers of area occupied by the reservoirs of our planet.

Surface of the bottom of the ocean

The relief that forms a volcanic rock that forms the bottom of the oceans is complex and heterogeneous. Isolate directly the bed of the World Ocean and adjacent to it the deep outskirts of the continents.

Underwater margins, which cover the volcanic rock, which forms the bottom of the oceans in the form of basalt, have an inextricable link with the nearby continents.

Geologists distinguish the shelf zone , continental slopes and the mainland foot. Most often, the townsfolk encounter precisely the shelf area. It is adjacent to land. Behind it lies a volcanic rock that forms the bottom of the oceans.

Shelf

The maximum depth of water in the shelf area hardly exceeds two hundred meters. The relief itself of this region is characterized by a gentle descent, the angle of inclination of which gradually increases.

The surface pattern is influenced by previously flooded terraces, coastlines, riverbeds and reservoirs. The width of the shelf territory varies. It can be several hundred meters, and can reach tens of kilometers.

The maximum width of the shelf zone is on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. A narrow shelf stretches near the shores of the Indian and Pacific Oceans in the region of the Americas.

Mainland slope

The continental slope is a rather steep ledge, which can go up to a mark of three thousand meters. The continental foot resembles a plain with a wavy, non-uniform surface.

The width of this part of the bottom of the ocean reaches hundreds of kilometers, but the depth is limited to only three kilometers. As for the bed, it is almost completely lined with a volcanic rock that forms the bottom of the oceans and seas. It has a complex morphology. On its surface there are ridges and wastelands, volcanoes, islands and entire mountain ranges.

Deepwater gutters

Sometimes on the bottom there are underwater troughs. Their maximum depth reaches six kilometers. Most often they are located parallel to the outlines of the continents or repeat the bends of the continents. The largest number of such gutters is concentrated on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Mysterious guyots

Guyot is another element of the bottom of the World Ocean. The Gaits are volcanic in character and represent flat mountains, rising above the bottom plains.

At one time, such protrusions were located above the water level, but then went to the bottom. In total there are more than ten thousand of the most varied mountain peaks of volcanic origin on the surface of the ocean floor.