How Were The Features Of The Ocean Floor Discovered

Many of these newly discovered species live deep on the ocean floor in unique habitats that depend on plate movement underwater volcanoes and cold water seeps.

How were the features of the ocean floor discovered.

Seventy percent of the earth s surface is below the ocean yet 95 percent of it remains unexplored to the human eye. Deep ocean hydrothermal vent ecosystems were discovered in 1977 broadening our understanding of life on earth. The same tectonic forces that create geographical features like volcanoes and mountains on land create similar features at the bottom of the oceans. A number of major features of the basins depart.

The ocean floor is populated by bottom feeders that look somewhat like blobs. Although the oft heard statistic is that we know more about. The blobfish first discovered off the coast of australia is an example because of the extreme pressure these fish have evolved a gelatinous texture of flesh with a density slightly less than sea water. In fact the tallest mountains and deepest canyons are found on the ocean floor.

Together they contain the overwhelming majority of all water on the planet and have an average depth of almost 4 km about 2 5 miles. An underwater river has been discovered snaking along the ocean bed off southwestern australia.