THE OCEANS

Concepts module 4
The ocean is a huge body of saltwater that covers Outline
about 71 percent of the Earth's surface. The planet has Lesson 1: Ocean Basins
one global ocean, though oceanographers and the nations Lesson 2: Ocean and Coastlines
of the world have divided it into distinct geographic
regions: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans.

Historically, there are four named ocean

basins: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. However,
most countries - including the United States - now
recognize the Southern (Antarctic) as the fifth ocean
basin. The Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian are the most
commonly known
Ocean Basins
Learning Outcome: At the end of this lesson, you should be able to discuss the extent of oceans and
continents on Earth and identify earth’s four main ocean basins.

Learning Tasks
Activity

In this activity, you are to identify the ocean basins in the

world and make an essay on the difference of each
ocean basins.
Format: TNR, 12, single-spaced, A4 with 900-1000
words.
You will be graded as follows:
 Content = 40%
 Presentation = 20%
 Originality/Creativity = 30%
 Conciseness = 10%
 Analysis

Give at least five (5) insights you gained from the activity about ocean basins.

Insight No. 1

Insight No. 2

Insight No. 3

Insight No. 4

Insight No. 5
 Abstraction

GEOGRAPHY OF THE OCEANS

The area of Earth is about 510 million square kilometers (197 million square miles).
Of this total, approximately 360 million square kilometers (140 million square miles), or 71
percent, is represented by oceans and marginal seas (meaning seas around the ocean’s
margin, like the Mediterranean Sea and Caribbean Sea). Continents and islands comprise the
remaining 29 percent, or 150 million square kilometers (58 million square miles). When we
study a world map or globe, it is readily apparent that the continents and oceans are not
evenly divided between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (see Figure 13.1). When
we compute the percentages of land and water in the Northern Hemisphere, we find that
nearly 61 percent of the surface is water, and about 39 percent is land. In the Southern
Hemisphere, on the other hand, almost 81 percent of the surface is water, and only 19
percent is land. It is no wonder then that the Northern Hemisphere is called the land
hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere the water hemisphere.

The distribution of land and water in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Between latitudes 45° north and 70° north, there is actually more land than water, whereas
between 40° south and 65° south there is almost no land to interrupt the oceanic and
atmospheric circulation.

The world ocean can be divided into four main ocean basins:

1. The Pacific Ocean, which is the largest ocean and the largest single geographic feature
on the planet, accounts for over half of the ocean surface area of Earth. In fact, the
Pacific Ocean is so large that all the continents could fit into the space occupied by
it—and have room left over! It is also the world’s deepest ocean, with an average
depth of 3940 meters (12,927 feet, or about 2.5 miles).

2. The Atlantic Ocean is about half the size of the Pacific Ocean and not quite as deep. It
is a relatively narrow ocean compared to the Pacific and is bounded by almost parallel
continental margins.

3. The Indian Ocean is slightly smaller than the Atlantic Ocean but has about the same
average depth. Unlike the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it is largely a Southern
Hemisphere water body.

4. The Arctic Ocean is about 7 percent the size of the Pacific Ocean and is only a little
more than one-quarter as deep as the rest of the oceans. Oceanographers also
recognize an additional ocean near the continent of Antarctica in the Southern
Hemisphere. Defined by the meeting of currents near Antarctica called the Antarctic
Convergence, the Southern Ocean, or Antarctic Ocean, is actually those portions of the
Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans south of about 50° south latitude.

Comparing the Oceans to the Continents

A major difference between continents and ocean basins is their relative levels. The
average elevation of the continents above sea level is about 840 meters (2756 feet), whereas
the average depth of the oceans is nearly four and a half times this amount— 3729 meters
(12,234 feet). The volume of ocean water is so large that if Earth’s solid mass were perfectly
smooth (level) and spherical, the oceans would cover Earth’s entire surface to a uniform
depth of more than 2000 meters (1.2 miles)!

CONTINENTAL MARGINS

As the name implies, continental

margins are the outer margins of the
continents where continental crust
transitions to oceanic crust. Two types of
continental margin have been identified:
passive and active. Nearly the entire
Atlantic Ocean and a large portion of the
Indian Ocean are surrounded by passive
continental margins. By contrast, most of
the Pacific Ocean is bordered by active
continental margins that are represented
by subduction zones in. Notice that many
of those active subduction zones lie far
beyond the margins of the continents.

Passive Continental Margins

Passive continental
margins are geologically
inactive regions located some
distance from plate
boundaries. As a result, they
are not associated with strong
earthquakes or volcanic
activity. Passive continental
margins develop when
continental blocks rift apart
and are separated by continued
seafloor spreading. As a result, the continental blocks are firmly attached to the adjacent
oceanic crust. Most passive margins are relatively wide and are sites where large quantities
of sediments are deposited. The features comprising passive continental margins include the
continental shelf, the continental slope, and the continental rise.

Continental Shelf
The continental shelf is a gently sloping, submerged surface that extends from the
shoreline toward the deep-ocean basin. It consists mainly of continental crust capped with
sedimentary rocks and sediments eroded from adjacent landmasses. The width of the
continental shelf varies greatly. The shelf is almost nonexistent along portions of some
continents, and it extends seaward more than 1500 kilometers (930 miles) along others. The
average inclination of the continental shelf is only about one-tenth of 1 degree, a slope so
slight that it would appear to an observer to be a horizontal surface.
The continental shelf tends to be relatively featureless; however, some areas are
mantled by extensive glacial deposits and thus are quite rugged. In addition, some
continental shelves are dissected by large valleys that run from the coastline into deeper
waters. Many of these shelf valleys are the seaward extensions of river valleys on the adjacent
landmass. They were eroded during the last Ice Age (Quaternary period), when enormous
quantities of water were stored in vast ice sheets on the continents, causing sea level to drop
at least 100 meters (330 feet). Because of this sealevel drop, rivers extended their valleys,
and land-dwelling plants and animals migrated to the newly exposed portions of the
continents. Dredging off the coast of North America has retrieved the ancient remains of
numerous land dwellers, including mammoths, mastodons, and horses, providing further
evidence that portions of the continental shelves were once above sea level. Although
continental shelves represent only 7.5 percent of the total ocean area, they have economic
and political significance because they contain important reservoirs of oil
and natural gas, and they support important fishing grounds.

Continental Slope
Marking the seaward edge of the continental shelf is the continental slope, a
relatively steep structure that marks the boundary between continental crust and oceanic
crust. Although the inclination of the continental slope varies greatly from place to place, it
averages about 5 degrees and in places exceeds 25 degrees.

Continental Rise
The continental slope merges into a more gradual incline known as the continental
rise that may extend seaward for hundreds of kilometers. The continental rise consists of a
thick accumulation of sediment that has moved down the continental slope and onto deep-
ocean floor. Most of the sediments are delivered to the seafloor by turbidity currents that
periodically flow down submarine canyons. When these muddy slurries emerge from the
mouth of a canyon onto the relatively flat ocean floor, they deposit sediment that forms a
deep-sea fan. As fans from adjacent submarine canyons grow, they merge to produce a
continuous wedge of sediment at the base of the continental slope, forming the continental
rise.

Submarine Canyons and Turbidity Currents

Deep, steep-sided
valleys known as
submarine canyons are
cut into the continental
slope and may extend
across the entire
continental rise to the
deep-ocean basin.
Although some of these
canyons appear to be the
seaward extensions of
river valleys, many others
do not line up in this
manner. Furthermore,
submarine canyons extend
to depths far below the maximum lowering of sea level during the Ice Age, so we cannot
attribute their formation to stream erosion. These submarine canyons have probably been
excavated by turbidity currents.
Turbidity currents are downslope movements of dense, sediment-laden water. They
are created when sand and mud on the continental shelf and slope are dislodged and thrown
into suspension. Because the mudchoked water is denser than normal seawater, it moves
downslope as a mass, eroding and accumulating more sediment as it goes. The erosional
work repeatedly carried on by these muddy torrents is thought to be the major force in the
excavation of most submarine canyons.
 Turbidity currents usually originate along the continental slope and continue across
the continental rise, still cutting channels. Eventually, they lose momentum and come to rest
along the floor of the deep-ocean basin. As these currents slow, suspended sediments begin
to settle out. First, the coarser sand is dropped, followed by successively finer accumulations
of silt and then clay. These deposits, called turbidites, display a decrease in sediment grain
size from bottom to top, a feature known as graded bedding. Turbidity currents are an
important mechanism of sediment transport in the ocean. By the action of turbidity currents,
submarine canyons are excavated, and sediments are carried to the deep-ocean floor.

Active Continental Margins

Active continental margins are

located along convergent plate boundaries
where oceanic lithosphere is being
subducted beneath the leading edge of a
continent. Deep-ocean trenches are the
major topographic expression at
convergent plate boundaries. These deep,
narrow furrows surround most of the
Pacific Rim.
Along some subduction zones,
sediments from the ocean floor and pieces
of oceanic crust are scraped from the
descending oceanic plate and plastered
against the edge of the overriding plate.
This chaotic accumulation of deformed
sediment and scraps of oceanic crust is
called an accretionary wedge (ad =
toward, crescere = to grow). Prolonged
plate subduction can produce massive
accumulations of sediment along active continental margins.
The opposite process, known as subduction erosion, characterizes many other
active continental margins. Rather than sediment accumulating along the front of the
overriding plate, sediment and rock are scraped off the bottom of the overriding plate and
transported into the mantle by the subducting plate. Subduction erosion is particularly
effective when the angle of descent is steep. Sharp bending of the subducting plate causes
faulting in the ocean crust and a rough surface.

FEATURE OF DEEP OCEAN BASINS

Between the continental margin and the oceanic ridge lies the deep-ocean basin. The
size of this region— almost 30 percent of Earth’s surface—is roughly comparable to the
percentage of land that presently projects above sea level. This region includes deep-ocean
trenches, which are extremely deep linear depressions in the ocean floor; remarkably flat
areas known as abyssal plains; tall volcanic peaks called seamounts and guyots; and extensive
areas of lava flows piled one atop the other called oceanic plateaus.

Deep Ocean Trenches

Deep-ocean trenches are long, relatively narrow troughs that are the deepest parts
of the ocean. Most trenches are located along the margins of the Pacific Ocean, where many
exceed 10 kilometers (6 miles) in depth (see Figure 13.7). A portion of one—the Challenger
Deep in the Mariana Trench—has been measured at a record 10,994 meters (36,069 feet)
below sea level, making it the deepest-known part of the world ocean. Only two trenches are
located in the Atlantic: the Puerto Rico Trench and the
South Sandwich Trench. Although deep-ocean trenches
represent only a very small portion of the area of the
ocean floor, they are nevertheless significant geologic
features. Trenches are sites of plate convergence where
slabs of oceanic lithosphere subduct and plunge back
into the mantle. In addition to earthquakes being
created as one plate “scrapes” against another, volcanic
activity is also triggered by plate subduction. As a
result, some trenches run parallel to an arc-shaped row
of active volcanoes called a volcanic island arc, the
Mariana Seamounts are such a feature. Furthermore,
continental volcanic arcs, such as those making up
portions of the Andes and Cascades, are located parallel
to trenches that lie adjacent to continental margins. The
volcanic activity associated with the trenches that
surround the Pacific Ocean explains why the region is
called the Ring of Fire.
Abyssal Plains

Abyssal (a = without, byssus = bottom) plains are deep, incredibly flat features; in
fact, these regions are likely the most level places on Earth. The abyssal plain found off the
coast of Argentina, for example, has less than 3 meters (10 feet) of relief over a distance
exceeding 1300 kilometers (800 miles). The monotonous topography of abyssal plains is
occasionally interrupted by the protruding summit of a partially buried volcanic peak
(seamount).
Using seismic reflection profilers, instruments that generate signals designed to
penetrate far below the ocean floor, researchers have determined that abyssal plains owe
their relatively featureless topography to thick accumulations of sediment that have buried
an otherwise rugged ocean floor. The nature of the sediment indicates that these plains
consist primarily of three types of sediment: (1) fine sediments transported far out to sea by
turbidity currents, (2) mineral matter that has precipitated out of seawater, and (3) shells
and skeletons of microscopic marine organisms. Abyssal plains occur in all oceans. However,
the floor of the Atlantic has the most extensive abyssal plains because it has few trenches to
act as traps for sediment carried down the continental slope.

VOLCANIC STRUCTURES ON THE OCEAN FLOOR

Dotting the seafloor are numerous volcanic structures of various sizes. Many occur as
isolated features that resemble volcanoes on land. Others occur as long, narrow chains that
stretch for thousands of kilometers, while still others are massive structures that cover an
area the size of Texas.

Seamounts and Volcanic Islands

Submarine volcanoes, called seamounts, may rise hundreds of meters above the
surrounding topography. It is estimated that more than 1 million seamounts exist. Some
grow large enough to become oceanic islands, but most do not have a sufficiently long
eruptive history to build a structure above sea level. Although seamounts are found on the
floors of all the oceans, they are most common in the Pacific.
Some, like the Hawaiian Island–Emperor seamount chain, which stretches from the
Hawaiian islands to the Aleutian trench, form over volcanic hot spots (see Figure 13.7 and
Figure 7.28, page 231). Others are born near oceanic ridges. If a volcano grows large enough
before it is carried from its magma source by plate motion, the structure may emerge as a
volcanic island. Examples of volcanic islands include Easter Island, Tahiti, Bora Bora,
Galapagos, and the Canary islands.

Guyouts
During their existence, inactive volcanic islands are gradually but inevitably lowered
to near sea level by the forces of weathering and erosion. As a moving plate slowly carries
inactive volcanic islands away from the elevated oceanic ridge or hot spot over which they
formed, they gradually sink and disappear below the water surface. Submerged, flat-topped
seamounts that formed in this manner are called guyots.

Ocean Plateaus
The ocean floor contains several massive oceanic plateaus, which resemble lava
plateaus composed of flood basalts found on the continents. Oceanic plateaus, which can be
more than 30 kilometers (20 miles) thick, are generated from vast outpourings of fluid
basaltic lavas. Some oceanic plateaus appear to have formed quickly in geologic terms.
Examples include the Ontong Java Plateau, which formed in less than 3 million years, and the
Kerguelen Plateau, which formed in 4.5 million years.
 Like basalt plateaus on land, oceanic plateaus are thought to form when the bulbous
head of a rising mantle plume melts and produces a vast outpouring of basalt. Along well-
developed divergent plate boundaries, the seafloor is elevated, forming a broad linear swell
called the or rise, or mid-ocean ridge. Our knowledge of the oceanic ridge system comes
from soundings of the ocean floor, core samples from deep-sea drilling, visual inspection
using deep-diving submersibles, and firsthand inspection of slices of ocean floor that have
been thrust onto dry land during continental collisions. At oceanic ridges we find extensive
normal and strike-slip faulting, earthquakes, high heat flow, and volcanism.

THE OCEANIC RIDGE

The oceanic ridge system is the longest topographic feature on Earth, wrapping
around the world through all major ocean basins. It is a few kilometers tall, a few thousand
kilometers wide, and a few tens of thousands of kilometers long. The summit is the place
where new oceanic crust is generated, often marked by a rift valley.
Oceanic ridges are elevated features because they are warm and therefore less dense
than older, colder oceanic lithosphere. As oceanic crust moves away from the ridge crest,
heat loss causes the oceanic crust to become denser and subside. After 80 million years, crust
that was once part of an oceanic ridge is in the deep-ocean basin, far from the ridge.

SEAFLOOR SEDIMENTS
There are three broad categories of seafloor sediments. Terrigenous sediment
consists primarily of mineral grains that were weathered from continental rocks and
transported to the ocean; biogenous sediment consists of shells and skeletons of marine
animals and plants; and hydrogenous sediment includes minerals that crystallize directly
from seawater through various chemical reactions.
Seafloor sediments are helpful in studying worldwide climate change because they
often contain the remains of organisms that once lived near the sea surface. The numbers
and types of these organisms change as the climate changes, and their remains in seafloor
sediments record these changes.
 Application

Answer the following questions. Expound your answers.

Imagine that you and a passenger are in a deep-diving submersible such as the one shown
here in the North Pacific Ocean near Alaska’s Aleutian islands. During a typical 6- to 10-hour
dive, you encounter a long, narrow depression on the ocean floor. Your passenger asks
whether you think it is a submarine canyon, a rift valley, or a deep-ocean trench. How would
you respond? Explain your choice.

Assuming that the average speed of sound waves in water is 1500 meters per second,
determine the water depth if a signal sent out by an echo sounder on a research vessel
requires 6 seconds to strike bottom and return to the recorder aboard the ship.
Oceans and Coastlines
Learning Outcome: At the end of this lesson, you should be able to discuss the extent of oceans and
the coastlines.

Learning Tasks
Activity

In this activity, you are to make a critique paper about the news on
Philippines: Environmentalists criticize artificial beach in Manila Bay.
[Link]
Format: TNR, 12, single-spaced, A4 with 900-1000 words.
You will be graded as follows:
 Content = 40%
 Presentation = 20%
 Originality/Creativity = 30%
 Conciseness = 10%
 Analysis

Give at least five (5) insights you gained from the activity about ocean basins.

Insight No. 1

Insight No. 2

Insight No. 3

Insight No. 4

Insight No. 5
 Abstraction

Ocean currents are influenced not only by the extent and depth of the oceans but also the
salinity and temperature of ocean waters. Ocean waters are thought to have originated from
meteorites and icy comets colliding with the early Earth. Both temperature and salinity
change with depth and latitude and each is influenced by atmospheric weather patterns.
Each factor is examined in the section titled salinity and temperature of the oceans. The final
section of the first half of the chapter examines how depth, salinity, and temperature
combine to generate characteristic patterns of oceanic circulation. Surface currents are
controlled by dominant wind patterns that are in turn linked to the rotation of the planet.
Deepwater circulation patterns are controlled by the density of ocean waters and the
distribution of landmasses. Both sets of currents redistribute the Earth's heat budget and
play a crucial role in controlling climate. In the second half of the chapter we focus on how
human activity impacts the ocean margins and enclosed seas. Coastlines represent the fragile
strip of land that borders the ocean. Developed coastal areas are threatened with potential
loss of life and billions of dollars in property damage as a result of storm impacts and long-
term erosion.
The evolution of landforms along a coastline depends upon the interaction of wave
action with the shore with processes in the continental interior and human actions. The
coastline is a dynamic environment that advances or retreats depending upon the balance
between the supply of sediment and the material removed by erosion. The section on
shorelines and the sediment budget examines this balance.
The National Park Service completed the tricky task of relocating the historical Cape
Hatteras lighthouse to a site further inland in July 1999, to protect the light from erosion that
threatened to topple the structure. Twenty-six of the thirty states bordering an ocean or
Great Lake are presently experiencing net loss of their shorelines. Well-intentioned efforts
at shoreline protection often resulted in the construction of coastal structures such as jetties,
groins, or breakwaters that altered the natural movement of sediment along the coastline
and simply exacerbated existing erosion problems. We finish by examining the interaction
of shoreline erosion and shoreline protection efforts along the southern shore of Lake Erie.

Depth of the Ocean Floor

• The average depth of the ocean floor is nearly 4 km and the maximum depth is a little over
11 km along the Mariana Trench.
• Four principal depth zones can be identified in the oceans; continental shelf (and rise),
abyssal plain, oceanic ridge, and oceanic trench.
• The oceanic ridge is a submarine mountain range that occupies much of the floor of the
Atlantic Ocean.
The depth of the ocean floor varies from sea level to a maximum of over 11 km along the
Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean. In contrast, the highest landform on the
continents is Mt. Everest, which is approximately 9 km (5.6 miles) in elevation. In addition,
the average elevation of the land surface is less than a kilometer but the average depth of the
oceans is approximately 3.8 km (2.3 miles). We could dump the continents in the ocean
basins and still have plenty of room to spare. Recent analysis of originally classified satellite
data at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National
Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) has allowed scientists to use slight variations in the
elevation of the ocean surface to determine the topography of the seafloor.

Topography of the Ocean Floor

Beginning at the edge of the continents we can recognize four principal depth zones
in the oceans. The first depth level is the continental shelf, the shallow ocean floor (0-150
meters) immediately adjacent to continental land masses. The shelf slopes gently toward the
ocean from the coast with maximum depths of a few hundred meters. The shelf may be a
relatively wide zone (hundreds of kilometers) adjacent to passive margins (e.g., U.S. Atlantic
Coast) or a narrow strip (tens of kilometers) landward of subduction zones (e.g., west coast
of South America).
The width of the shelf increases when sea level rises and decreases during times of
sea level decline. Rapid seafloor spreading associated during the Early Cretaceous period
(138- 100 million years ago) caused an expansion of the oceanic ridge system, displacing
water and raising sea level. In contrast, sea level declined during the most recent Ice Age (2
million -10,000 years ago) when substantial volume of ocean water was locked up in ice
sheets. The Atlantic shore of the North American continent was located near the present edge
of the continental shelf during the Ice Age.
Beyond the shelf break the ocean floor steps down across the continental slope and
continental rise oceanward of the shelf. The slope and rise mark the transition from the
relatively shallow shelf to the second depth level, the deep ocean floor known as the abyssal
plain. As its name suggests, the continental slope represents an increase in the gradient of
the ocean floor from the adjoining shelf. The slope is often dissected by submarine canyons
formed during times of lower sea level. The canyons transported sediment from the shelf to
the continental rise. The rise is that section of the slope that has been a site of sediment
accumulation, resulting in an decrease in slope gradient toward the abyssal plain. There is
an unbroken transition from slope to rise, to abyssal plain along passive margins where the
continental and oceanic crust make up part of the same plate. These margins are not
characterized by the volcanism and earthquake activity that distinguishes active margins
located along plate boundaries. Much of the abyssal plain lies over four kilometers below the
ocean surface and represents the flattest portions of the Earth's surface. The plains are
covered by layers of sediment precipitated in the oceans and are dotted with submarine
volcanoes (seamounts). The ocean floor rises to a third level approaching the oceanic ridge
system, a submarine mountain chain that can be traced around the world. The ocean floor is
relatively shallow (less than 3 km) along the ridge system. The ocean ridge system dominates
the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, occupying over half its width. The final depth level is apparent
in the narrow oceanic trenches found along active margins marked by the boundary between
two plates (see Plate Tectonics chapter). The trenches mark the locations of subduction
zones where oceanic lithosphere descends into the mantle. Trenches, the deepest areas on
the ocean floor, record depths of 7 to 11 kilometers (4- 7 miles).

Oceanic Circulation
• Surface ocean currents are driven by winds and involve only 10% of ocean waters.
• Oceanic circulation patterns generate current systems known as gyres.
• Fast-flowing western boundary currents redistribute heat from the relatively warm
tropics to cooler high latitudes
• The Coriolis effect is the name of the apparent deflection of ocean currents or winds to
the right of their course in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left of their course in the
Southern Hemisphere.
• The global conveyer belt moves heat energy from the tropics to the poles in surface
waters and transports cold waters to warmer location by deep ocean circulation.

Ocean Currents
Ocean surface currents are mainly controlled by climate (temperature, winds) but are also
influenced by the distribution of continents and Earth's rotation. Surface currents involve
approximately 10% of the world's ocean waters. Sea level is higher at the equator because
of thermal expansion of warm waters and diminishes toward the poles. The contrast in the
elevation of the ocean surface is about 15 cm (6 inches). In the absence of winds, water would
simply flow away from the equator ("downhill") under the influence of gravity. Winds
blowing over the ocean exert a frictional drag on surface waters and are the principal force
in controlling oceanic circulation. Ocean currents follow wind directions except where wind
blows onland. The continents represent barriers to currents, deflecting them to the north or
south of their course.
Global atmospheric circulation patterns generate circular ocean current systems known as
gyres that are centered on 30 degrees latitude in each of the major ocean basins. Circulation
of the gyres is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere. Surface water might take several months to a few years to complete the circuit
of a gyre.
Westerly winds cause water to pile up along the western sides of major oceans. These
concentrations of surface water generate fast-flowing western boundary currents that
redistribute warm tropical waters toward the poles. These currents (e.g., Gulf Stream,
Kuroshio, Brazil) can be thought of as marine rivers, relatively narrow (less than 100 km
across) water masses that flow at speeds of 100 to 200 km/day for thousands of kilometers.
The Gulf Stream can transport over 50 million cubic meters of water per second, hundreds
of times more water than the Amazon, the world's largest river. In contrast, the eastern
boundary currents (e.g., Canary, California, Peru) that complete the eastern leg of each gyre
are wider, carry less water, and move more slowly. The Canary current, nearly 1,000 km
(625 miles) wide, carries just a third of the volume of water in the Gulf Stream and travels at
tens of kilometers per day.

Coriolis Effect
Currents are deflected to the right of their course in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left
of their course in the Southern Hemisphere: this pattern is termed the Coriolis effect.
To an observer on earth, the path of a north- or south-directed wind or ocean current will
appear to be deflected. Note that the wind or current doesn’t actually change direction, but
the planet beneath it has changed position. An object (rocket, air mass, ocean current, etc.)
that travels directly north or south in the Northern Hemisphere appears to be deflected to
the right of its course when viewed from a location on the solid Earth's surface. Objects are
deflected to the left of their course in the Southern Hemisphere. The net result of these
deflections is the circular path of ocean currents.
COASTLINES

• Over a quarter of the U.S. population lives in counties along the Atlantic or Gulf Coasts.
• Ten hurricanes have inflicted over a billion dollars of damages on sites along the East Coast
since 1980 and Hurricane Andrew was the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.
• Coastal landforms are dependent on the interaction of wave action with fluvial processes
in the continental interior and human activity.
• Long-term processes such as climate cycles (hundreds of years) and tectonic history
(thousands to millions of years) can raise or lower sea level or coastlines, respectively
Author Henry Beston considered the sound of the ocean on a shore to be one of the
three great elemental sounds of nature (the other two where the rain, and the wind in
woods). Beston should have known, he built a small cabin and lived alone on Cape Cod,
Massachusetts, for a year, recording his observations of the changing coastline in a highly
regarded book, The Outermost House (1928).
Our culture places a premium on living along the fringe of the continent facing the
ocean. Over 70 million people live in counties along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and coastal
property values in Florida rose by over 50% in the last 10 years. In an effort to ensure
shoreline access to the public, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, was designated (August 17,
1937) the nation’s first national seashore. Other public seashores followed, including Cape
Cod (August 7, 1961). The establishment of Cape Cod represented an early effort to create
parklands that were within easy access of millions of Americans.
Developed coastal areas are threatened with potential loss of life and billions of
dollars in property damage as a result of storm impacts and long-term erosion. The weather
patterns that bring balmy breezes on warm summer days can also generate devastating
hurricanes. There were 30 U.S. weather disasters that resulted in over a billion dollars in
damages between 1980 to 1997. A third of these events were hurricanes or tropical storms
that battered the Atlantic or Gulf Coast states. Hurricane Andrew (August 24, 1992)
decimated southern Florida and was the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history (58
deaths, $30 billion damages). Many small insurance companies went bust following Andrew.
State Farm, the nation’s largest insurance company, shelled out $3.7 billion in claims. Many
in the insurance industry are nervous of a financial meltdown following a cataclysmic
hurricane that generates damages similar to those of an unnamed storm that killed over
8,000 people in Galveston, Texas, September 8, 1900.

Wave Action
• Wave size, speed, and direction are controlled by winds.
• The wave shape moves but the water within it does not travel.
• Wavelength is the distance between adjacent waves.
• Waves increase height and break along the shore when the depth of water diminishes to
less than the wave base.
• Waves are refracted toward headlands.
Wave Motion
Shoreline erosion is tied to the interaction between waves and the coastline. Wave action
erodes, transports, and redistributes sediment along the shoreline. Wave size, speed, and
direction are controlled by winds. Water does not travel with waves but simply moves
vertically, tracing a circular path as a wave passes. It is the shape of the wave (the waveform)
that moves across the ocean surface, not the water itself. Consider the "wave" performed by
a crowd at a sporting event. The wave passes around the stadium as each individual in turn
stands up and sits down. The people in the stadium play the role of the water particles in
ocean waves.
The distance between adjacent wave crests is termed the wavelength. Wave motion only
affects the surface waters. Wave motion decreases downward, with increasing distance from
the winds, to the wave base. The depth of the wave base is approximately half the
wavelength.

Waves and Coastlines

Water piles up as waves approach shore because of the effect of friction between the wave
and the seafloor above the wave base. Water in contact with the seafloor is slowed by friction
but water on the surface is unaffected and moves forward more rapidly, encroaching on
preceding waves and piling up to form taller, steeper waves.
The wave eventually collapses (breaks) forming surf that washes up the shore before flowing
back down to sea. Turbulent flow in the surf zone, between the line of breaking waves and
the shore, can cause erosion by washing sand particles from beaches and breaking rocks
from headlands. Some of this material may also be transported along the shore by currents
in the surf zone.
Waves approaching a coastline are reoriented to follow the slope of the seafloor, this process
is termed wave refraction. The seafloor will shallow more rapidly toward headlands than
adjoining bays and waves approaching a rugged coastline will be refracted toward the
resistant headlands. One result of this pattern is that wave erosion is concentrated on
headlands while adjoining bays become areas of deposition. Sediment eroded from the
headlands are deposited in the relatively quiet waters of the bays to form beaches. The
coastline is straightened as erosion wears away the headlands and the bays are filled with
sediment.

Shoreline Protection
• Structures built to protect coastlines may prevent erosion of part of the shoreline but can
result in accelerated erosion elsewhere.
• Seawalls, groins, and breakwaters differ in their locations and orientations relative to the
shoreline but all act to prevent erosion and/or encourage deposition.
• Artificial beach nourishment occurs when sand is dredged and pumped onto the beach
from offshore.
• Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and is surrounded by the large population
centers along U.S. and Canadian shores.
• Most of Lake Erie's shoreline is eroding and erosion rates are greatest where glacial
deposits form the shoreline and are least where bedrock forms the coast.
• Presque Isle in the east basin of Lake Erie is eroding because of shoreline protection
measures in the central and west basins.
Techniques that attempt to prevent beach erosion revolve around methods to limit the
removal of sediment along specific areas of the coast or involve adding material to areas
undergoing erosion. Unfortunately, nearly all these methods have shortcomings. Most of
these methods aim to prevent erosion but some recent regulations have recognized that
erosion will inevitably occur and have instead focused on controlling construction adjacent
to eroding coasts. Florida introduced strict regulations that required buildings constructed
near the shoreline to meet rigorous standards to prevent destruction from storm surges or
high winds. No buildings constructed to these standards failed when Hurricane Opel struck
southern Florida in 1995. In contrast, 56% of all other habitable buildings in the storm's path
were heavily damaged.
 Application

Answer the following questions. Expound your answers.

1. How does the depth of the oceans vary?

2. What controls the directions of ocean currents?

3. What happens when the waves approach the coast?

4. Why are shoreline protection structures regarded as a mixed blessing?

5. How does water move in waves?

Laboratory Activity

Ocean Acidification in a Cup module 4

In this laboratory activity, laboratory materials Materials
are not available at home so you can improvise. You can
 Safety goggles
refer to this link for guidance,  An acid-base indicator such as
[Link] bromothymol blue, diluted with water: 8
milliliters bromothymol blue (0.04%
acidification-in-cup.
aqueous) to 1 liter of water (see the
Teaching Tips section below for
Create a carbon dioxide–rich atmosphere in a cup
alternative acid-base indicators,
and watch how it changes the water beneath it. This including one made from cabbage juice)
model of ocean-atmosphere interaction shows how  Two clear 10-oz plastic cups (the tall
ones)
carbon dioxide gas diffuses into water, causing the water
 Paper cups, 3-oz size (you’ll only use
to become more acidic. Ocean acidification is a change one in the experiment, but keep a few
that can have big consequences. extras at hand just in case)
 Masking tape
 Plain white paper
 Permanent marker
 Baking soda
 White vinegar
 Two Petri dishes to use as lids for the
plastic cups
 Graduated cylinder or measuring spoons
 Gram scale or measuring spoons
Assembly

1. Put on your safety goggles.

2. Pour 1 1/2 fluid ounces (40–50 mL) of acid-base indicator solution into each of the two
clear plastic cups.

3. Add 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) of baking soda to the paper cup.

4. Tape the paper cup inside one of the clear plastic cups containing the indicator solution
so that the top of the paper cup is about 1/2 inch (roughly 1 centimeter) below the top
of the plastic cup. Make sure the bottom of the paper cup is not touching the surface of
the liquid in the plastic cup—you don’t want the paper cut to get wet. The second plastic
cup containing indicator solution will be your control.

5. Place both clear plastic cups onto a sheet of white paper and arrange another piece of
white paper behind the cups as a backdrop (this makes it easier to see the change).

6. Carefully add 1 teaspoon (about 5-6 mL) of white vinegar to the paper cup containing
the baking soda (image below). Be very careful not to spill any vinegar into the indicator
solution. Immediately place a Petri dish over the top of each plastic cup.

To Do and Notice

Position yourself so you are at eye level with the surface of the indicator solution and look
closely. What do you see? Where is the color change taking place?

After a few minutes have passed, you should notice a distinct color change at the surface of
the liquid. As you continue to observe the reaction taking place, the liquid in other parts of
the cup will also begin to change color.