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During the splitting process of Pangea, some ocean basins shrunk, such as the Pacific, while others were created, such as the Atlantic and Arctic basins. The Atlantic Basin began to form around 180 million years ago, when the continent Laurasia (North America and Eurasia) started to drift away from Africa and South America. The Pacific plate ...
The Wilson cycle theory is based upon the idea of an ongoing cycle of ocean closure, continental collision, and a formation of new ocean on the former suture zone.The Wilson Cycle can be described in six phases of tectonic plate motion: the separation of a continent (continental rift), formation of a young ocean at the seafloor, formation of ocean basins during continental drift, initiation of ...
Coordinates: 1]: Basin countries: List of bordering countries (not drainage basin), ports: Surface area: 85,133,000 km 2 (32,870,000 sq mi) [2] North Atlantic: 41,490,000 km 2 (16,020,000 sq mi), South Atlantic 40,270,000 km 2 (15,550,000 sq mi) [3]: Average depth: 3,646 m (11,962 ft) [3]: Max. depth: Puerto Rico Trench 8,376 m (27,480 ft) [4]: Water volume: 310,410,900 km 3 (74,471,500 cu mi ...
The NADW is not the deepest water layer in the Atlantic Ocean; the Antarctic bottom water (AABW) is always the densest, deepest ocean layer in any basin deeper than 4,000 metres (2.5 mi). [27] As the upper reaches of the AABW flow upwells, it melds into and reinforces the NADW.
Together, the principal basins span the continent with the exception of numerous smaller endorheic basins. The Atlantic Seaboard basin in eastern North America drains to the Atlantic Ocean; the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin in central and eastern North America drains to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the Atlantic Ocean or to the Labrador Sea; the ...
An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) and 6,000 meters (20,000 ft).Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains are among the flattest, smoothest and least explored regions on Earth. [1]
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North American from the Eurasian plate and the African plate , north and south of the Azores triple junction .
The borders of the oceans are the limits of Earth's oceanic waters.The definition and number of oceans can vary depending on the adopted criteria. The principal divisions (in descending order of area) of the five oceans are the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern (Antarctic) Ocean, and Arctic Ocean.