Let us consider in detail the topography of the Atlantic Ocean. This topic is superficially presented in many sources. Therefore, the question is urgent for many: "Where can I find a description of the Atlantic Ocean?" After all, sometimes a deep study of this topic is required. In this article, we tried to maximize this issue.
Starting to describe the topography of the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, we note that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is its main orographic element. In area, it is only slightly smaller than the ocean bed (24.6% and 37.6%, respectively). This ridge divides the entire ocean into two parts. They are approximately equal in area. General information about the Atlantic Ocean, as well as general knowledge of geography will allow you to better understand what is discussed in this article. In order to better imagine the location of the ocean of interest to us, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the map.
West of the middle ridge
The Newfoundland Range is located west of the middle ridge. The Rio Grande Plateau, the Ceara Rise, the Barracuda Ridge and the Bermuda Plateau, as well as the protrusions of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the outskirts of the continents under water, divide the western half of the ocean bed into the Argentine, Brazil, Guiana (Guyana), North American, Newfoundland Labrad . The Norwegian-Greenland Basin and the Baffin Sea are usually regarded as parts of another ocean — the Arctic Ocean.
Labrador and Newfoundland Basins
We continue the story of what is the topography of the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. We briefly describe two basins - Labrador and Newfoundland (the greatest depth of the latter is 5160 meters). They essentially constitute a single whole. Their main part is occupied by a flat abyssal plain. In the submeridional direction, the abyssal Heysen valley crosses it. The Newfoundland Basin is fenced from the south by a ridge of the same name. As various seismic-acoustic studies have shown, it is a gigantic accumulative form, which is associated with the movement of deep-water currents of sedimentary material.
Basins North American, Guiana and Ceara
The North American Basin is one of the largest hollows that marked the topography of the Atlantic Ocean. A brief description of it will continue our story. The greatest depth of the basin is 7110 meters. The Bermuda Plateau is located almost in the center of its northern part. The Corner volcanic massif (otherwise called the Angular Uplift) and the Kelvin Mountains also stand out here. The undulating abyssal plain extends from the Bermuda Plateau to the south. Along the periphery of the basin are the flat abyssal plains of Nares, Hatteras and Som. The North American basin borders on the southwest with the Blake-Bahamas ridge, as well as with the Outer Antilles shaft. The latter extends along the Puerto Rico gutter. It separates, along with the block ridge of Barracuda, located on its continuation, the Guiana basin from the North American. The influx of sedimentary terrigenous material provides almost universal development of a flat abyssal plain, called the Demerara Plain, within the Guiana Basin. The Guiana Basin has a maximum depth of 5109 meters in the northwestern part, which is characterized mainly by hilly terrain. The small rise of Ceara, complicated by submarine volcanoes, is separated from the Ceara basin. The greatest depth of the latter is 4700 meters. The bottom of this basin is occupied by a flat plain of the same name. It should be noted 2 more abyssal valleys. This is Wild, the depth of which reaches 250 meters (connects the Guiana and North American basins), and Pernambuco (connects the Brazilian and Guiana basins).
Brazilian hollow
The largest basin in the western part of the ocean is Brazilian. Here, the bottom topography of the Atlantic Ocean is mostly hilly. On the plain of Pernambuco, a small section of the basin, it is wavy. Many submarine volcanoes are located in the Brazilian basin. Some rise above sea level, forming volcanic islands (Martin Vas, Trinidad, Fernando de Noronha). The latitudinal zones of faults obey the location of seamounts.
The Brazilian basin from the south is separated by the Rio Grande Plateau from the Argentinean. The relief of the plateau is very complicated. Separate seamounts rise above plateau-like surfaces.
The eastern part has the appearance of a ridge, narrow, with a flat top. It is extended in the meridional direction. Between the underwater outskirts of the continent of South America and the plateau passes Wima - the abyssal valley along which bottom waters flow from the Argentinean to the Brazilian basin. A significant part of the bottom of the Argentine is a wavy plain. The flat, narrow abyssal plain is located on the western edge of the basin, and in the southern part there is a large accumulative underwater form - the Sapiola ridge. Its formation is associated with the delivery of nepheloids and bottom sediments to the Antarctic bottom course. There are no large seamounts in the Argentinean basin, however, seismic-acoustic profiles transmit information that several mountains, whose relative height reaches 2-2.5 km, are buried under the thickness of the sediments.
The South Antilles external rampart is a gadfly uplift located south of the Argentine basin. The African-Antarctic Basin is located south, between Antarctica and the mid-ocean ridge. The conditional border between the Indian and Atlantic oceans is drawn at around 20 ° C. e. Given this border, only the western part of the basin with a flat abyssal plain called Hudella is located in the Atlantic Ocean. The relief of the abyssal hills is typical of the northern part of the basin.
What is deep in the Atlantic Ocean in its eastern part?
The relief of the bottom of the oceans is rather complex and heterogeneous, consists of many elements. The Atlantic Ocean is no exception. Its bed in the eastern part is characterized by the presence of the Lateral or Azores-Biskays ridge, the Gorring massif, the elevation of the Cape Verde and Canary Islands, the Sierra Leone plateau, the ridge of the Whale and Guinean uplift. They divide the entire eastern part of the ocean into Western European (maximum depth - 5023 meters), Canary (6549 meters), Iberian (5815 meters), Sierra Leone (6040 meters), Cape Verde (7282 meters), Angolan (6050 meters), Guinean (5215 meters) and Cape (5457 meters) hollows. Between Rockall, the underwater hill, and the Icelandic-Farrer threshold, the West European Basin is located.
West European Basin
The bottom of the basin is basically an abyssal hilly plain, only in the Bay of Biscay, and also to the north-west of it, the Biscay flat plain stretches. From north to south, the bottom is cut by the large abyssal valley of Mori, whose length is about 3,500 km. It is morphologically similar to the Hazen Valley. The valley is accompanied for a long distance by accumulative shafts, reaching a height of 50 meters. Two huge accumulative forms stand out in the northern part of this basin. These are the "sedimentary ridges" of Feni and Gardar. Their formation is associated with increased intake of sedimentary material from the Icelandic-Faroese threshold. The Iberian Basin, small in size, is occupied in the central part of the flat abyssal plain. It is connected with the Biscay plain by the gorge of Theta.
South of the Iberian Basin
The bottom relief of the Atlantic Ocean south of the Iberian Basin is very crossed. Its features are determined by the presence here of the Gorinci ridge, block-volcanic, as well as a seamount of the same name, the rise of Madeira and a group of other seamounts. The main features of the relief of the bed of the Atlantic Ocean in this area also include the presence of many underwater volcanoes. According to the surface structure, the bottom of the Zelenomyssk Basin, as well as the vast Canary (the greatest depth is 6549 meters) can be divided into 3 submeridional zones: eastern, oceanic crust within which is overlain by a completely inclined plain at the foot of the mainland; middle abyssal plain, flat and narrow; hilly western. The volcanic uplifts of the Canary Islands (4 active volcanoes - including among them) and the Cape Verde islands with an active volcano are also elements of the underwater outskirts of mainland Africa. All this and much more conceal the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Very high speeds (7-7.3 km / s) of seismic waves are distinguished by the rise of Sierra Leone. This is due to the introduction of ultrabasic rocks into the earth's crust, as well as to the strong metamorphization of various crustal rocks. The bottom of such basins as Guinean and Sierra Leone is occupied by flat plains, which are surrounded by abyssal hills. The greatest depths of these basins are 5212 and 6040 meters, respectively.
Cameroon Fault Zone
The wide Guinean uplift stretches north-east of the lava plateau, a vast and located in the eastern part of the Mid-Atlantic Range, near St. Helena. The Cameroon Fault Zone is the most characteristic element of this uplift. The volcanic structures of the Shirshov seamount, as well as the islands of Palanga, Principe, Sao Tome and Macias-Nguema-Biyogo, are associated with it. The fault zone further extended within the continent of Africa. Cameroon, an active volcano, as well as several Central Saharan volcanoes, among which there are also active ones, are confined to it.
Angolan Basin
The bottom lying to the southeast and south of the Guinean uplift of the Angolan basin is also blocked to a large extent by inclined plumes of the foot of the mainland, including the extensive extension cone of the Congo, an underwater canyon. A group of seamounts is located in the southernmost corner of the Angolan basin. These mountains have a common base. The most significant of them is Wurst (its relative height is about 4 km).
Whale ridge
The whale ridge is a block mountain construction. It consists of 3 large blocks, which are separated by saddles. The whale ridge is characterized by a flattened summit surface and steep slopes. The evenness of the top surface is associated to a large (and possibly to a large extent) extent with the accumulation of the thickness of calcareous deposits.
Cape Basin
The Cape Basin, located south of the Whale Range, is distinguished by the fact that the relief of the abyssal hills is mainly developed here. In addition, the depths of the Atlantic Ocean are fraught with many volcanic mountains. They are concentrated mainly in the southern part of this basin. The data group of mountains separates the Cape Basin from the Agulias Basin. Agulhas is considered mainly as part of the Indian Ocean bed . It is morphologically similar to the Cape Basin.
Now you know what relief the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean currently has. It is changing little by little, although significant changes are taking place very slowly. After all, the continents drift at a speed of only about 1-2 cm per year. Other processes that affect it also occur very slowly. Therefore, the main features of the bottom topography of the Atlantic Ocean remain unchanged.
What explains the features of the relief of the Atlantic Ocean?
Why is the bottom topography exactly the way it is? Let's figure it out. Scientists can explain the specific features of the bottom topography of the World Ocean today with specific reasons. In particular, the Atlantic Ocean is believed to have formed as a result of the fact that a rift opened in the axial zone of the Mid-Atlantic ridge. All the features of the structure and topography of the bottom of this ocean are explained by the fact that the 4 main plates (Antarctic, African, Eurasian and American) are mutually moving.
The history of exploration of the Atlantic Ocean began in ancient times. Meanwhile, its depths are not yet fully understood. It is possible that the history of exploration of the Atlantic Ocean will be continued by new interesting discoveries.