Exploring the ocean

Description: Points out that although we have charted the ocean’s surface in detail, below the surface lies a part of the world that we are just beginning to explore. Uses animation to picture the ocean’s floor, slopes and continental shelves, and to explain how we explore by sounding and photography. Describes the ocean’s plants and animals and explains how all life in the ocean depends on the tiniest forms of plant life. Discusses the ocean’s vast storehouse of minerals and describes the part played by the water cycle in depositing these minerals.