Intro to Ocean

Answer the following question in a coherent, well-written paragraph 300-500 words). Please include your name, course number, week

number and assignment name at the top of your submissions. Cite your references for this and all essays with a URL or proper MLA or APA

bibliographic citation. You may use the APUS on-line library to look for scholarly sources. The textbook may be cited as well a

reference for essay answers. See attached grading rubric for scoring guidelines.

Assignment:
Here is this week’s essay question:

Marine resources are anything of value that can be taken from the sea or seabed. It includes a lot, but doesn’t include transit,

recreation, aesthetics, or other non-consumptive uses. As human populations around the world continue to grow and thus people seek more

products and services the demand for raw materials, particularly metals continues to increase. Most major sources of metals needed by

modern technological societies (iron, copper, aluminum, manganese, zinc) have been mined out and depleted on many areas of the earth’s

continents. Since most metal ores and mineral resources are brought to or near the surface of the earth by volcanic and tectonic

processes then these valuable materials occur on the ocean floors.

Answer one of the following:

1) Explain how knowledge of plate tectonics and the location of plate boundaries on the ocean floors could be used to locate these

valuable resources. What scientific instruments might be used to locate these resources?

OR

2) Describe some difficulties and technical problems that might be involved in trying to mine the ocean floor and suggest some possible

solutions to make this process possible. Note: black smoker stacks and manganese nodules are in many instances 85+% metal. But think of

the cost of extraction of metals from low-grade land ores vs cost of mining deep-sea ores.

OR not that interested in marine resources then answer this question

3) Eventually (in millions of years) the Atlantic Ocean will be larger in area than the Pacific Ocean. Using your knowledge of plate

tectonics, explain why this is a true statement. Also, explain why there is a higher density of shallow, mid, and deep water

earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean and not the Atlantic Ocean. Refer to the world map images (i.e. Platetectoincs & RingFire) attached.