Group 9
Group 9
Group 9
Ocean Basins
Less than 100 million of years ago the supercontinent Pangea had existed.
Because of tectonic forces and processes, the supercontinent breaks apart and ocean
basins are formed. The ocean basins cover the largest area of the earth’s surface. All
of the ocean basins were formed from volcanic rock that was released from the
fissures that is located at the mid-ocean ridges, which is an underwater mountain
range formed by plate tectonics. Through subduction process and high gravitational
energy, oceanic lithosphere is force to move under the mantle. Over years, ocean
basins are continuously evolving as four major ocean subdivision is formed. The
world ocean is divided into the North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic,
Indian, and Arctic Oceans. They are all distinct based on their stage of geological
evolution.
Pacific Ocean basin is the largest, deepest, and oldest existing ocean basin.
More trenches, and more frequent tsunamis happens here. It has been shaped by
plate tectonics. The second largest ocean basin is the Atlantic followed by the Indian
ocean basin. The smallest of the earth’s ocean basins is Arctic, and is covered by ice.
Through the formation of ocean basins, different features and structures are
formed. See figure 2 below.
The Wilson Cycle explains the process of the opening (beginning) and the
closing (end) of an ocean which is driven by Plate Tectonics. This process is named
after the Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson (1908-1993). It is divided into 6
stages namely: 1. Embryonic Ocean Basin, 2. Juvenile Ocean Basin, 3. Mature
Ocean Basin, 4. Declining Ocean Basin, 5. Terminal Ocean Basin and 6. Suturing
(Continental collision).
● Complex
system of
linear rift
valleys on
continent
● Narrow seas
with matching
coasts
● Ocean basin
with
continental
margins
Declining ● Motion: Pacific
Convergent Ocean
(Subduction)
● Islands arcs
and trenches
around basin
edge
● Narrow,
irregular seas
with young
mountains
● Young to
mature
mountain
belts