Introduction To Marine Geology

Textbook Series for Marine Science and
Technology
Marine Geology
Tianjin University of Science and Technology
REFERENCE
. .
1993.2
. .
1999.2
. .
1989
J. . . .
1992
. .
2001
. - .
2001
Why do you study Marine Geology?
Satellite
Picture, April
, 2005
1. Take Risks;
2. Practice much;
3. Study hard;
4. Laugh often;
5. As possible as in English.
CONTENTS
0 INTRODUCTION;
1 MARINE EXPLORATION;
1.1 EXPLORING THE OCEAN FLOOR
1.2 SURVEYING THE SEA BED
1.3 GEOLOGIC OBSERVATIONS
1.4 OCEAN DRILLING
1.5 MAGNETIC SURVEYS
1.6 SATELLITE MAPPING
2 THE DYNAMIC SEAFLOOR

2.1 LITHOSPHERIC PLATES
2.2 OCEANIC CRUST
2.3 THE ROCK CYCLE
2.4 OCEAN BASINS
2.5 SUB MARINE CANYONS
2.6 MICROPLATES AND TERRANES
3 RIDGES AND TRENCHES

3.1 THE MIDOCEAN RIDGES
3.2 THE HEAT ENGINE
3.3 SEA FLOOR SPREADING
3.4 TRENCHES
3.5 THE DEEP-SEA TRENCHES
3.6 PLATE SUBDUCTION
4 SUBMARINE VOLCANOES
4.1 THE RING OF FIRE
4.2 THE RISING MAGMA
4.3 ISLAND ARCS
4.4 GUYOTS AND SEAMOUNTS
4.5 RIFT VOLCANOES
4.6 HOT SPOT VOLCANOES
5 COASTAL GEOLOGY
5.1 SEDIMENTATION
5.2 STORM SURGES
5.3 COASTAL EROSION
5.4 WAVE IMPACTS
5.5 COASTAL SUBSIDENCE
5.6 MARINE TRANSGRESSION
6 SEA RICHES
6.1 LAW OF THE SEA
6.2 OIL AND GAS
Marine geology is concerned with the

character and history of that part of the
earth covered by seawater. The
importance of marine geology is evident
when we consider that three-fourths of the
earths surface is covered by water. Areas
of concern range from the beach to
marine marshes and lagoons, across the
continental shelf, and down to the deepest
parts of the ocean.
Marine geologists and geophysicists

rarely restrict their research to areas
below sea level because a considerable
body of important information about
the history of the earth and the oceans
is gained from rocks exposed above
sea level.
Marine
stratigraphers
and
paleontologists often examine
uplifted
marine
sediments.
Likewise, those interested in the
evolution of the oceanic crust often
visit oceanic crust. The little of one
of the papers by the marine
geologist Philip Kuenen [1958] was
No Geology without Marine
Geology.
The primary aim of marine geology and

geophysics is to develop an understanding of
the structure of the earth beneath the oceans,
the history and character of processes that
have shaped the earth beneath the sea, and
oceanic and global history itself.
The roles that geophysicists and

geologists play in developing this
knowledge overlap considerably, although
geophysicists traditionally have been more
concerned with the earths structure, while
geologists traditionally have been
concerned mainly with the earths history.
Nevertheless, the discoveries by
geophysicists about oceanic structure have
directly led to some of our more
fundamental advances in knowledge of the
history of the earth.
Marine geologists differ from land-based

investigators mainly because they use
different tools. Because marine geologists are
unable to walk over the outcrops directly and
sample the ocean floor (except from
submersibles), special methods have been
developed for submarine sampling.
Virtually all marine research requires a

vessel of some sort. Because the methods
employed by marine geologists are so
different from those of land geologists and
because the ocean tends to act as one major
geochemical system, the lines along which
marine geologists reason tend to be
different from those of land geologists.
Marine geologists also differ from

marine geophysicists in that they are
concerned primarily with the study of
rocks and sediments. Geophysicists, on the
other hand, work mainly with data related
to the earths gravity, heat flow,
magnetism, earthquakes, and with
artificially
generated
sound
waves
transmitted through sediment and rock
sequences.
Sampling vessel
gallows
winch
Grab bucket
Field work
0 INTRODUCTION
Our planet contains so much water that perhaps
it would have been better named Oceania. It is the
only known body in the Solar System that is
surrounded by water filled with unique geologic
structures and teeming with a staggering
assortment of marine life forms. Some of the
strangest creatures on Earth, whose ancestors go
back several hundred million years, live on the
deep ocean floor. Many undersea ridges host an
eerie world that time forgot-a cold, dark abyss
consisting of tall chimneys spewing hot, mineralrich water that support unusual species previously
unknown to science.
The floor of the ocean presents a rugged landscape

unmatched anywhere on the continents. Vast undersea
mountain ranges much more extensive than those on
land crisscross the seabed. Although deeply submerged,
the midocean ridges are easily the most prominent
features on the planet. The ocean floor is continuously
being created at spreading ridges, where molten rock
oozes out of the mantle, and destroyed in deepest
trenches of the world. The subduction of the ocean
crust in deep-sea trenches plays a fundamental role in
global tectonics and accounts for powerful geologic
forces that continuously shape the planet. Much of the
worlds untapped wealth lies undersea. The seabed
therefore offers new frontier for future exploration of
mineral resources.
An extraordinary number of volcanoes are

hidden under the waves, many more than on the
land. Most of the volcanic activity that continually
remakes the surface of Earth occurs on the ocean
floor. Active volcanoes rising up from the bottom
of the ocean create the tallest mountains. Most of
the worlds islands in fact began as undersea
volcanoes that broke the surface of the sea.
However, the preponderance of marine volcanoes
is not exposed at the surface but spread out on the
ocean floor as isolated seamounts.
Chasms that challenge the largest terrestrial

canyons plunge to great depths. Massive submarine
slides gouge deep depressions into the seabed and
deposit enormous heaps of sediment on the ocean floor.
Undersea slides also occasionally generate tall waves
that pound nearby shores, causing much destruction to
seaside communities. Abyssal storms with strong
currents sculpt the ocean bottom, churning up huge
clods of sediment and dramatically modifying the
seafloor. The scouring of the seabed and the deposition
of large amounts of sediment results in a highly
complex marine geology.
Homework :
1 Why do you want to study Marine
Geology?
2 What is the Marine Geology?

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Textbook Series for Marine Science and

Why do you study Marine Geology?

2 THE DYNAMIC SEAFLOOR

3 RIDGES AND TRENCHES

Marine geology is concerned with the

Marine geologists and geophysicists

The primary aim of marine geology and

The roles that geophysicists and

Marine geologists differ from land-based

Virtually all marine research requires a

Marine geologists also differ from

The floor of the ocean presents a rugged landscape

An extraordinary number of volcanoes are

Chasms that challenge the largest terrestrial

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