(See related pages)
Below you will find key words and concepts that you should remember from this chapter.
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| abyssal fan | Great fan-shaped deposit of sediment on the deep-sea floor at the base of many submarine canyons. (See page(s) 56) |
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| abyssal plain | Very flat sediment-covered region of the deep-sea floor, usually at the base of the continental rise. (See page(s) 58) |
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| active continental margin | A margin consisting of a continental shelf, a continental slope, and an oceanic trench. (See page(s) 60) |
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| aseismic ridge | Submarine ridge with which no earthquakes are associated. (See page(s) 65) |
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| atoll | A circular reef surrounding a deeper lagoon. (See page(s) 65) |
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| barrier reef | A reef separated from the shoreline by the deeper water of a lagoon. (See page(s) 65) |
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| continental rise | A wedge of sediment that extends from the lower part of the continental slope to the deep sea floor. (See page(s) 59) |
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| continental shelf | A submarine platform at the edge of a continent, inclined very gently seaward generally at an angle of less than 1°. (See page(s) 56) |
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| continental slope | A relatively steep slope extending from a depth of 100 to 200 meters at the edge of the continental shelf down to oceanic depths. (See page(s) 56) |
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| contour current | A bottom current that flows parallel to the slopes of the continental margin (along the contour rather than down the slope). (See page(s) 59) |
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| fracture zone | Major line of weakness in Earth’s crust that crosses the mid-oceanic ridge at approximately right angles. (See page(s) 63) |
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| fringing reef | A reef attached directly to shore. (See barrier reef.) (See page(s) 65) |
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| guyot | Flat-topped seamount. (See page(s) 65) |
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| mid-oceanic ridge | A giant mountain range that lies under the ocean and extends around the world. (See page(s) 61) |
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| oceanic trench | A narrow, deep trough parallel to the edge of a continent or an island arc. (See page(s) 60) |
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| ophiolite | A distinctive rock sequence found in many mountain ranges on continents. (See page(s) 68) |
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| passive continental margin | A margin that includes a continental shelf, continental slope, and continental rise that generally extends down to an abyssal plain at a depth of about 5 kilometers. (See page(s) 58) |
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| pelagic sediment | Sediment made up of fine-grained clay and the skeletons of microscopic organisms that settle slowly down through the ocean water. (See page(s) 67) |
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| reef | A resistant ridge of calcium carbonate formed on the sea floor by corals and coralline algae. (See page(s) 65) |
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| rift valley | A tensional valley bounded by normal faults. Rift valleys are found at diverging plate boundaries on continents and along the crest of the mid-oceanic ridge. (See page(s) 61) |
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| seamount | Conical mountain rising 1,000 meters or more above the sea floor. (See page(s) 64) |
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| submarine canyon | V-shaped valleys that run across the continental shelf and down the continental slope. (See page(s) 56) |
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| terrigenous sediment | Land-derived sediment that has found its way to the sea floor. (See page(s) 67) |
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| turbidity current | A flowing mass of sediment-laden water that is heavier than clear water and therefore flows downslope along the bottom of the sea or a lake. (See page(s) 57) |