Abyssal Plain

Image showing the age of the ocean floor.
Red zones are newest and blue are oldest.

In this topic, you explored the abyssal plain, part of the deep ocean abyss. Where these plains are found, the ocean bottom is almost entirely flat and made up of sediments that came from the continents and the ocean itself.

You also investigated how the age the abyssal plain corresponds to the depth of different oceans using actual data collected in the field by oceanographers.

The abyssal plain is not entirely flat. Abyssal hills reaching up to one thousand feet above the abyssal plain dot the landscape. Next, you will learn about features that rise much higher than abyssal hills — seamounts and guyots.