The Structure of Sedimentary Series and its Role in the Morphostructure of the Ocean Floor

Abstract

Sedimentation is known to be the most powerful exogenous relief-forming factor on the ocean floor. Accumulation of sedimentary sequences results in the filling in of depressions, the shrouding of irregularities in the bedrock relief, and, in the end, the decline of the ocean floor, provided, naturally, that the region is tectonically stable or generally submerged. The rise of the ocean floor, on the contrary, results in the erosion of deposits and the exposure of bedrocks. Therefore,. the investigation of sedimentary sequence reveals the tendency and the rates of vertical movements of oceanic regions, and the determination of the age of sediments makes it possible to date tectonic events that have led to the formation of the present-day morpho-structural plan of the ocean floor.