Click on the following link, Continental shelf. Then, click on the satellite vie

Question

Click on the following link, Continental shelf. Then, click on the satellite view when you get to the map. As for passive margins, some oceanographers consider the shelf an extension of land masses, and maybe even part of an ancient ocean shoreline. The shelf has a gradual increase in depth from about 1 meter to as much as 130 meters. This extends out to a continental break, and then drops off with the continental slope. This is steeper than the shelf and is usually connected to a less steep continental rise. Active margins on the other hand are quite different in that there is usually not much of a shelf, little to no slope, and no rise.

Use the Continental Shelf link from above. Click on the satellite view when you get to the map. Compare the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America and South America. What accounts for differences between sizes of continental shelves on the two coasts? Keep in mind that the images that you see in the map satellite view is from satellite data and ocean depth soundings recorded. (Remember the work that Harry Hess had been doing). The lighter blue areas closer to the coastlines of continents are shallower water, and of course the darker the blue, the deeper the water.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3330401,-98.4870295,4z?hl=en

Explanation / Answer

there are two types of continental margins, active and passive. active continental margins are sesmically active so, the frequent earthquakes remove the sediment deposited in the shelves to the deep ocean floor, so the continental shelf regions are narrow and steeper as in the pacific coastlines. passive continental margins has wide and shallow shelves consist of sedimentary deposit from the land areas. atlantic coast is a passive continental margin.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse C
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.