Features of the ocean floor
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Sonar line from shore (example data)
Distance from shore Depth 0 km 0 m 60 km 140 m 90 km 2,800 m 200 km 4,300 m 900 km 4,500 m Ari reads the sonar table. Which feature lies between 60 and 90 km from shore?
- The abyssal plain, since the water is deepest in that stretch
- The continental slope, where the floor drops 2,660 m in 30 km
- The mid-ocean ridge, since the floor changes depth so steeply there
- The continental shelf, since it is the first feature offshore from land
Which feature lies from 200 to 900 km out in the sonar table, by Bo's reading?
- The continental rise, since the floor is still getting deeper along it
- The abyssal plain, deep and nearly flat (a 200 m change over 700 km)
- An ocean trench, since the depths in that stretch are the greatest
- The continental shelf, since the floor is nearly flat along it
Kira finds the steepness of each stretch in meters per km. Which list runs from steepest to gentlest?
- Slope, rise, shelf, plain
- Slope, shelf, rise, plain, with the shelf steeper than the rise
- Rise, slope, shelf, plain, with the rise falling away fastest
- Plain, shelf, rise, slope, with the plain falling away fastest
Card (example data)
a mountain chain runs through the middle of an ocean. Its crest is 2,500 m deep, with a central valley. The floor on both sides is 4,500 m deep.
Luz compares the crest and the sides of a sea-floor mountain chain. What is the chain?
- A continental slope that waves have cut into the floor
- A chain of seamounts built by a single volcano
- A mid-ocean ridge, where plates part and new floor forms
- A trench, where one plate sinks under another
The average ocean depth is 3,682 m. 1 m is about 3.28 feet. Noah converts the average ocean depth to feet. About how many feet is it?
- About 1,122 feet
- About 120,800 feet
- About 4,000 feet
- About 12,080 feet
Card (NOAA example depths)
The shelf is about 300 feet deep, the slope runs from 300 to 10,000 feet, and an abyssal plain is deeper than 10,000 feet.
A sonar reading 120 km from shore is 9,500 feet deep. Which feature is Pia's echo-sounder over?
- A trench, since the reading is deeper than the shelf
- The abyssal plain, since 9,500 feet is nearly 10,000 feet deep
- The continental slope, since 9,500 feet is between 300 and 10,000 feet
- The continental shelf, since it lies within 120 km of shore
Mount Everest is 29,035 feet tall. The Challenger Deep is 35,876 feet deep. Ren imagines Everest standing on the floor of the Challenger Deep. How far below the surface is its summit?
- About 6,841 feet
- About 684 feet
- About 29,035 feet
- About 64,911 feet
Card
Magma rises at a ridge crest and hardens into new sea floor. The floor then moves away from the crest on both sides (NOAA).
Tala wants the oldest sea floor along a line across a ridge. Where is it?
- Far from the crest, at the end of the line
- At the ridge crest, where the rock is first made
- Right under the crest, because it is the highest part
- At the same age across the line, since it forms at once
Card (NOAA)
Where plates converge, one may move under the other, making a trench. Volcanoes form on the plate that stays on top.
Zee sketches a trench where two plates meet. Where does the chain of volcanoes appear?
- At a ridge on the far side of the ocean
- In a straight line along the middle of the trench floor
- On the upper plate, in a curved chain beside the trench
- On the sinking plate, far out beyond the trench
Card (NOAA)
Plates moving apart form a ridge; plates moving together form a trench. The floor at A is 2,500 m deep; the floor at B is 10,000 m deep.
Esme labels a map: plates move apart at A and together at B. Which labels fit?
- A is a ridge, and B is a trench
- Both are trenches, since both lie on the sea floor
- Both are ridges, since both mark plate edges
- A is a trench, and B is a ridge
