Ocean basins, the largest depressions on earth, have continental shelves forming their sides. Continental Margins. Source for information on ocean-basin floor: A Dictionary of Earth Sciences dictionary. These basins are constantly changing due to tectonic activity, such as seafloor spreading and subduction. ocean-basin floor The ocean floor in those parts of the oceans that are more than 2000 m deep. It included the Pacific Ocean to the west and north and the Tethys Ocean to the southeast. Edges of the continents, called continental shelves, form the sides of ocean basins. Panthalassa Panthalassa (Greek, meaning 'all sea‘) was existing during the late Paleozoic and the early Mesozoic years. Ocean Basins Ocean basins are the largest depressions on Earth. More specifically, it is a saucer-shaped depression under sea level, allowing the seawater to flow into it.It is bordered by continental margins, which extend seaward in varying degrees of inclination; this inclination determines the amount of water flowing into the basins. The Atlantic Ocean Basin covers approximately 29 million square miles of the Earth’s surface, extending from the Arctic Ocean in the north, to the Southern Ocean above Antarctica. The existence of the active tectonic margin is being marked by the tectonic activity for sure. There are five major ocean basins: the Pacific basin, the Atlantic basin, the Indian Basin, the Arctic basin and the Southern basin. 22 Table Areas, volumes, mean depths and maximum depths of the four major ocean basins. Ocean Area (106 km2) Volume (106 km3) Mean Depth (m) Maximum Depth (m) Pacific 181.3 714.4 3940 11022 Atlantic 94.3 337.2 3575 8605 Indian 74.1 284.6 3840 7450 An ocean basin is one of several structures formed by the oceanic crust. The ocean basins are partially bounded by the continents, but they are interconnected which is why marine scientists refer to a single “world ocean.” The world ocean is divided into the North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic Oceans. You have probably guessed by now that the castle in this mental exercise is Earth, and the North Wing is the vast, ice-covered Arctic Ocean Basin.If the old adage is true that we know more about the surface of our neighboring planets than we do about Earth's ocean basins (and it is), then nowhere is it more true than the Arctic Basin. Ocean basin that will experience the evolution is the one that has an active tectonic margin. There are five major ocean basins, coordinating with the major oceans of the world: the Pacific basin, the Atlantic basin, the Indian basin, the Arctic basin, and the Southern basin. The ocean basins contain many extraordinary geological features, including deep trenches and vast mountain ranges. Taking an example of the west coast of South Africa, you can see so many active tectonic margin there. It includes the continental shelf, a sloping section of … The average depth of the basin is 12,881 feet and the deepest point is the Puerto Rico Trench at 28,231 feet below the water. A continental margin is a part of the ocean basin that is adjacent to a continent. Ocean basin - Ocean basin - Evolution of the ocean basins through plate movements: Through most of geologic time, probably extending back 2 billion years, the ocean basins have both grown and been consumed as plate tectonics continued on Earth. 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