Question

In comparison with other ocean basins, major sedimentary features such as continental rises and abyssal plains are relatively rare in the Pacific. The primary reason for their scarcity in the Pacific is that __________.

Answer 1

Why are continental rises and abyssal plains relatively rare in the Pacific? This is because the extensive system of trenches along the active margins of the Pacific, trap much of the sediments flowing off the continents, preventing them from building the broad, flat abyssal plains typical of the Atlantic ocean basins.