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Contributor: Meghan Vestal. Lesson ID: 11525
Would you like to live in a place that is always wet, completely dark, and be under very heavy weights? Some animals live like that in the depths of the ocean! Research and make a poster about them!
Check out the video below to find out. You may be amazed!
The ocean floor has several underwater geographical features. This lesson is all about one called abyssal plains.
Like a plain on land, an abyssal plain is a flat surface on the ocean floor. These underwater plains are considered the flattest and smoothest regions on the earth and make up more than 50% of the earth's surface!
Typically, an abyssal plain is located 10,000 to 20,000 feet below the water's surface and can be huge.
Most abyssal plains are located after a continental rise and can extend for thousands of miles. Abyssal plains are most common in the Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists believe abyssal plains consist of sediment from land that accumulates in between hills, smoothing out the underwater surface.
Despite covering so much of the earth's surface, abyssal plains are mostly unexplored, and little is known about them.
Move to the Got It? section to learn which living organisms have touched the surface of the abyssal plain.
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