MARINE GEOLOGY

UNIT-1
• Delhi AQI: Capital city gets a rain breather but
air quality still 'severe'
• Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Despite some light rains,
the air quality in the capital city remains ‘severe,’
with an AQI reading of 407 at 6 am on November
10
 Delhi pollution vs measures
• Invest in renewable energy sources
• Promote electric vehicles to avoid fossil-fuel-based cars
• Implement and enforce strict emission standards
• Efficient public transport systems to reduce congestion and
pollution
• Effective waste management practices to reduce open burning
• Green spaces in urban areas to absorb pollutants
• A robust air quality monitoring network
• Minimize stubble burning, promote alternative uses for crop
residue
• Collaboration between states to address transboundary issues
 Delhi pollution
• Comprehensive air quality policies
• Long-term airshed level planning
Iceland declares state of emergency after
800 earthquakes in 14 hours hit nation

• Iceland has 33 active volcanic systems, the highest

number in Europe.
• The North Atlantic island straddles the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge, in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian
and North American tectonic plates.
• Iceland has declared a ‘state of emergency’
after nearly 4,000 small and medium
intensity earthquakes jolted the southwest
Rey peninsula in the country. The biggest
tremor was recorded at 5.2 magnitude.
• The Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is a submarine
ridge located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean,
which wraps around the globe for more than 65,000
km,
• It is the longest and the most extensive chain of
mountains on earth, but being located underwater,
more than 90% of this mountain range remains
hidden from view. There are only a few places on
earth, where it juts out of the surface of the ocean,
in the form of a few islands, one of which is
Iceland.
• Iceland represents the largest portion of the MAR exposed above sea
level. Formed from volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,
about 24 million years ago, it is one of the few places where you can
stand on the ridge on dry land.
• This makes Iceland very special and a popular place for geologists
and scientists.
• The MAR is geologically significant because it marks the boundary
where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and
separate. Volcanic eruptions at this boundary create new ocean floor
and at the same time push the two tectonic plates apart at rates of 1
cm to 20 cm per year—a process known as sea-floor spreading.
• As oceanic plates move apart, rock melts and wells up from tens of
kilometres deep, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt,
and building the longest chain of volcanoes in the world.
• The place where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is best
visible is at Thingvellir National Park, in south-
western Iceland.
• The continental drift between the North American
and Eurasian plates can be clearly seen in the cracks
or faults which traverse the region, the largest one—
Almannagjá—being a veritable canyon.
• The section of the ridge that includes the island of Iceland is known
as the Reykjanes Ridge.
• The ridge is spreading at an average rate of about 2.5 cm per year.
Over the past 10,000 years, the Thingvellir Rift Valley has widened
by 230 ft or 70 m and sunk by 131 ft or 40 m. Not only is the mid-
ocean ridge changing the geography of Iceland, it’s also
responsible for the volcanic activity which created the island.
• As the two tectonic plates shift, fissures periodically form in the
crust that allow molten rock from underground to surface as lava,
creating Iceland's many volcanoes.
• Iceland is one of the most geologically active places on earth with
more than 15 volcanoes that have erupted in the last century.
Both Greenland and Iceland rank among the most beautiful countries in the world.
Whichever location you choose, you can expect incredible culture, stunning sights,
and fantastic history. Despite both being part of the Nordic landscape, the two
spaces are very different.
Greenland is a massive country, though not all of it is suitable for human
inhabitation, thanks to huge amounts of ice. Iceland, on the other hand, has a lot
more greenery to enjoy, but it’s quite a lot smaller than many other Nordic
locations.
Greenland has a population of around 56,000 people, covering around
2.166 million square km. Alternatively, Iceland covers around 103,000
square km (much less than Greenland), but it has around 365,000 residents
— almost eight times the number of Greenland.
Argoland, a continent missing for 155 million years, found off
Australia
Argoland, now dispersed as an archipelago separated by ocean
basins, initially drifted northwest, contributing to the formation of
several Southeast Asian islands.
Govt to open bids for 20 critical mineral blocks, including
lithium, graphite in 2 weeks
Last month, the Centre had approved royalty rates of three per cent
each for lithium and niobium and one per cent for Rare Earth
Elements (REEs).
Critical minerals have become important for the nation's
economic development and national security.
 Ocean - basin Floor(pp-37)

• The ocean basin floor lies between the

continental margins and mid oceanic
ridges. There are major sub divisions of
the ocean floor are :
• Abyssal floor- sub divided into abyssal
plains and abyssal hill provinces
• Oceanic rises
• Seamounts and sea mount groups
The Ocean Basin
Floor
Abyssl plains :
Abyssal plains : The abyssal plain is the flattestof all Earth ‘s
surface areas with very very less slope (1m/km).
1947 discovered in mid-Atlantic ridge expedition discovered
this kind of very vast plains and subsequently similar features
in the Indian ocean also.
Subsequently, there are number of such plains identified .
They occur at the outer margin of the continental rise between
3000 to 6000m deep.
Horizontal extent of the abyssal plan range from < 200 to
>2000km. Huge thickness of sediment was reported especially
in the Atlantic & Indian oceans. Sub –marine canyons also cut
through and deposit sediments
• Seismic evidence indicates that abyssal plains are
deposited great thickness of sediments over the
original topographic irregularities.
• The flattest abyssal plains occur in areas , such as
the Atlantic, where abundant sediment is derived
from the continent.
• Since relatively few rivers drain into the Pacific
Ocean because it is rimmed by a trench system that
trap the sediments, the ocean basin receive less
sediments and fewer plains form.
• The landward edge of the abyssal plain is generally
marked by abrupt change in slope because of
continental rise portion.
• In some cases the deep sea fans of the continental
rise merge with abyssal plain, while the abyssal
plains are cut by deep-sea channels at the seaward
edge of submarine canyons.
 Abyssal Hill Province
The abyssal hills are small sharply defined hills that rise
from the abyssal plains to elevations not higher than 1000m.
• Horizontal dimensions generally 1 to 10km may range as high
50km.
• Hill side slope range from 1 to 15 degree. If Hills are in group
called abyssal-hill province.
• They are more abundant in Atlantic & Indian Ocean but in
Pacific Ocean also 80-85% cover in Pacific Ocean floor.
• Generally occur between abyssal plains and flanks of MOR.
These hills are the integral part of the MOR. Morphologically
these differ with MOR they are away from the regional slopes
of the ridges and these hills occur in deeper levels and buried
by sediments.
 Oceanic rises
• Wiseman and Ovey (1953) present the term oceanic
rise as a long and broad elevation of the deep
seafloor that rises gently and smoothly, and a ridge
is considered to have steeper sides and less regular
topography than a rise.
• East pacific rise stands about 2 to 4 km above the
adjacent ocean bottom and varies from 2000 to
4000km in width.
• The rate of flanks in the east pacific rise is about
10cm/yr whereas in the MOR it is cm/yr.
 Seamounts

• A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor through
volcanic activity and distinct from oceanic ridges.
• Volcanoes that rise more than 1000m above the ocean floor are called as
seamounts.
• Occur randomly , but more typically occur in group or rows.
• Generally seamount slopes vary from 5 to 15 degree and are mostly conical.
Thousands of seamounts found in pacific Ocean.
• Volcanic ridges or seamount chains like Hawain chains are formed by
overlapping of volcanoes.
• Seamounts rise abruptly from abyssal plain suggesting base is buried.
• The part above the surface is eroded by sub-aerial erosion process and
subsided is called as guoyts or table mounts. Coral reefs grow over them.
• Seamounts and guoyts are more prominent in Pacific Ocean as compared to
remaining oceans
Seamounts ,Guyots and
oceanic island
 Zonal classification- Details
• 1. Epipelagic (sunlight): sunlight is available. Photosynthesis
process. Majority of the plant and animal largely concentrate in
this zone.
• 2. Mesopelagic(twilight): Most abundant organism thriving
zone. Bioluminescent. Many of the creatures go to epipelagic
zone during night for feeding.(part of the sunlight)
• 3. Bathy pelagic No living plant exists. Most animals living here
survive by detritus falling from the above zones.(Darkness)
• 4.Abyassyl pelagic. Very few creatures survive. Complete
darkness and temp is very low high pressure. Creatures are
transparent and eyeless because of lack of sunlight
• 5.Hadopelagic. Deepest part in the ocean basin with trenches.
No creatures.
 Lithospheric Crust

Oceanic Crust Continental Crust

• Younger in age<200my • Much older 4.3 b.y
• Thickness 5-8km • with avg 35 km
• Density is 3.23 • Density 2.75
• Si & Mg • Si & Al
• Basaltic in composition • Acidic igneous rocks
 Igneous activity – ocean basin
• Igneous activity at the margins of the ocean basin
categorised into four types:
• Tholeiitic volcanism- MOR & large oceanic islands
and are the dominant in the ocean floor.- saturated
with silica
• Seamounts & small (many) oceanic islands- alkali
basalt- undersaturated with silica.
• Continental margins- Andesitic & acidic volcanism
• Island arcs & back arc basins- complex of tholeiitic
& alkali basalt.
• The greatest volume of lava produced at the margins
of the Pacific is andesitic.
• Andesite low in alkali metals considerable high silica
upto 55%. Rich in Si, K and large lithophile elements
(R>1A) and do not occur in the oceanic areas away
from arcs and margins.
• The difference between theolitic and alkali basalts
can be noticed by Na2+K2O vs silica
• A clear distribution of compositional variations clearly
exemplified by a line called andesite line drawn
around pacific Ocean
• Tholeiites contain less than 0.9 wt% K20 with
Na20/K20 ranging mostly between 4 and 8, while
alkali basalts contain up to 1.8 wt% K20 with
Na20/K2O ranging mostly between 2 and 4.
• Rocks in the tholeiitic magma series are classified
as subalkaline (they contain less sodium than some
other basalts) and are distinguished from rocks in
the calc-alkaline magma series by the redox state
of the magma they crystallized from (tholeiitic
magmas are reduced; calc-alkaline magmas are
oxidized).
Andesite
line in
Pacific
Ocean