Morfologi Dasar Laut

(Seafloo r

Morphology)

✔ The ocean circulation pattern and tides, both regional and basin
wide scales are heavily controlled by the topography of the
ocean

✔ The nature of the earth, its origin and its characteristics have a
profound effect on the properties and the composition of the
biota that are contained in its basin.

✔ The structure and distribution of sediments can be understood

based on the geomorphology of the ocean floor. These sediments
 are important because they tell us about the geochemistry of the
ocean floor. Also they can be used to reconstruct ocean
circulation of the past and improve our understanding of the
climate system.
Why ocean bathymetry?
Physiography and
bathymetry (submarine landscape) allow the
sea floor to be subdivided into three distinct
provinces:
• Continental margins (Tepi benua)
• Deep ocean basins (Dasar lautan)
• Mid-oceanic ridges (Punggung
laut)
The Physiography of the North Atlantic Ocean Floor
Continental margins have several components:
∙ Continental shelves (paparan benua):
The shallow, submerged edge of the continent (bagian dari daratan pada
masa lalu dan tertutup oleh fluktuasi permukaan laut; lebar: 65 km - 100 km,
dasar tertutup endapan tebal dari silt, pasir dan lumpur dari sungai)

∙ Shelf breaks (paparan transisi):

the abrupt transition from continental shelf to the continental slope.

∙ Continental slopes (Lereng benua) :

The transition between the continental shelf and the deep-ocean floor
(Lerengan curam: kedalaman dari 200 m ke 3000 m; permukaan
banyak batuan sedikit endapan karena kecuraman; bisa terdapat
submarine canyons – berasosiasi dengan keberadaan system sungai
pada masa lalu dan dengan turbidity current.

∙ Continental rises (Tanjakan benua) :

Thick accumulations of sediment found at the base of the continental
slope ( akumulasi endapan dari turbidity current, longsoran bawah
laut, dan proses bawaan lainnya)
Continental Margins

There are two types of continental margins:

• Passive margins, also called “Atlantic-type” margins, face the edges
of diverging tectonic plates. Very little volcanic or earthquake activity is
associated with passive margins.

• Active margins, known as “Pacific-type” margins, are located near

the edges of converging plates, where one plate dives beneath another at
an oceanic trench, in the process of subduction. Active margins are
therefore sites of extensive volcanic and earthquake activity.
Rona di wilayah paparan benua
Submarine canyons are a common feature of continental
shelves and slopes.
 Underwater landslides or avalanches called turbidity currents commonly
flow down submarine canyons. The debris settles out to build up a submarine
fan at the base of the canyon.

Submarine Canyons
• On some continental margins, submarine canyons cut
deeply into the shelf at right angles to the coastline,
usually starting a short distance off the coast and going
down to
several

thousand meters in depth.

The Monterey Bay

Submarine
Canyon is deeper
and larger in
 volume than the
Grand Canyon.

Locations of Submarine Canyons

• In general, submarine canyons are generally located offshore
from locations where large rivers empty into the sea and deposit
sediments near the continental slope.
 Deep Ocean
Basin
• Deep Ocean
Province is
between the
continental
margins and the
mid-oceanic
ridge and includes a variety of features from mountainous to flat plains: Abyssal plains,
Abyssal hills, Seamounts, and Deep sea trenches.
 Deep-
Ocean Basins (Basin Laut Dalam)
• Abyssal plains:
 are broad flat areas of sediment-covered ocean floor found
between the continental margins and the mid-ocean ridges.

• Abyssal hills:
are small, extinct volcanoes or rock intrusions that poke up
through the sediments coating the abyssal plains.

• Seamounts:
are volcanoes that rise up from the sea floor but which do not stick
up above sea level.

• Guyots:
are flat-topped seamounts. Today they occur far below sea level,
but at one time they were islands that poked up above the surface.
They were eroded flat by wave action, then gradually sank
downward as the sea floor underneath them cooled.

Mid-
Ocean Ridge• Mid-Oceanic Ridge Province consists of a
continuous submarine mountain range that covers about one third
of the ocean floor and extends for
about 60,000 km around the Earth.

How did
 early scientists study the ocean floor?

Early bathymetric studies were often performed using a

weighted line dropped to measure the depth.

Advances in Bathymetry

∙ Echo sounding

∙ Multi-beam Systems

∙ Satellite Altimetry

© 2002 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.