Seabed

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/seabed

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the location?The solid surface of the Earth underlying the world's oceans
2. What is the dominant geological feature?The Mid-Ocean Ridge, an extensive system of underwater mountain ranges
3. What is the seabed and how big is it?The seabed is the ocean floor, the largest biome on Earth, covering about 70% of the planet’s surface. It includes plains, shelves, and huge underwater mountain ranges like the Mid‑Ocean Ridge.
4. Why is the seabed so dark and cold?There is no sunlight at the bottom of the ocean, so it stays dark. Temperatures are near freezing, and the pressure is extremely high.

Hadal Zone: The deepest region of the ocean, found within oceanic trenches below 6,000 meters.
Chemosynthesis: The biological conversion of inorganic molecules into organic compounds without sunlight.
Abyssal Plains: Vast, flat, sediment-covered areas of the deep ocean floor.