Earthguide Online Classroom

Continental shelf

Map from GLOBE Elevations with bathymetry from Smith and Sandwell.
Image from computerized digital images and associated databases available from
the National Geophysical Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/.

Questions for thought

  1. How old is the crust along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and East Pacific Rise?
  2. Which side of the Pacific has the oldest crust and why?
© 2007 Earthguide at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
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