Purchase textbook

The Ocean Basins: Their Structure and Evolution,

Edition 2

Editors: By Open Open University

Publication Date: 26 Jan 1998

0 Reviews

Ways Of Reading

This e-publication is accessible to the full extent that the file format and types of content allow, on a specific reading device, by default, without necessarily including any additions such as textual descriptions of images or enhanced navigation.

Navigation

The contents of the PDF have been tagged to permit access by assistive technologies as per PDF-UA-1 standard.
Page breaks included from the original print source

Additional Accessibility Information

All (or substantially all) textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order (including text that is visually presented as separate from the main text flow, e.g., in boxouts, captions, tables, footnotes, endnotes, citations, etc.). Non-textual content is also linked from within this logical reading order. (Purely decorative non-text content can be ignored).
The language of the text has been specified (e.g., via the HTML or XML lang attribute) to optimise text-to-speech (and other alternative renderings), both at the whole document level and, where appropriate, for individual words, phrases or passages in a different language.

Conformance

The publication was certified on 20250728
Accessibility addendum
For detailed accessibility information, see Elsevier’s website at https://www.elsevier.com/about/accessibility
For queries regarding accessibility information, contact [email protected]

Note

This product relies on 3rd party tooling which may impact the accessibility features visible in inspection copies. All accessibility features mentioned would be present in the purchased version of the title.

This is an invaluable textbook, prepared by the Open University team and designed so that it can be read on its own or as part of the OU course. This second edition has been fully revised and updated including new colour illustrations increasing the striking spread of full colour diagrams throughout the book. The clarity of the text has been improved, providing comprehensive coverage of the evolution of ocean basins and their structure in a clear, concise manner aimed specifically at the student market.

In this second edition the technological advances in fields as diverse as:
- deep-towed instruments for `sniffing' hydrothermal plumes
- mapping the sea-floor by sophisticated sonar techniques
- three-dimensional imaging of crustal structure by seismic tomography
- the use of satellites for navigation, and for making precise measurements of the height of the sea-surface

The first chapters describe the processes that shape the ocean basins, determine the structure and composition of oceanic crust and control the major features of continental margins. How the 'hot springs' of the oceanic ridges cycle chemical elements between seawater and oceanic crust is then explored. Sediment distributions are examined next, to demonstrate how sediments can preserve a record of past climatic and sea-level changes. Finally, the role of the oceans as an integral part of global chemical changes is reviewed.