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Definition
| An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 m. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface. |
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Term
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Definition
| Sediment that is composed of the skeletons and shells of marine organisms, primarily plankton. |
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Term
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Definition
| Hydrogenous sediments are formed by precipitation of minerals from the ocean’s water or can be formed as a new mineral as a result of chemical reactions between the water of the ocean and sediments that already exist on the ocean floor. |
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Term
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Definition
| deep-sea sediment transported to the oceans by rivers and wind from land sources. Terrigeneous sediments that reach the continental shelf are often stored in submarine canyons on the continental slope. Turbidity currents carry these sediments down into the deep sea. |
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Term
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Definition
| A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley cut into the sea floor of the continental slope, sometimes extending well onto the continental shelf. Some submarine canyons are found as extensions to large rivers; however most of them have no such association. |
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