There are major features of the ocean floor that can be identified by undersea technology. The mid-oceanic ridge is a broad fractured arch of the sea floor, where plates are moving apart. Sediment cover is thin. The oceanic basin consists of abyssal hills and abyssal plains, areas where abyssal hills are covered with sediment. Fracture zones cut the mid-oceanic ridge and show strong evidence of transform movement. The size, shape, composition, and structure of seamounts indicate that they are similar to shield volcanoes.

The continental margins refers to the area near the meeting of the oceans and land. There are submerging and emerging coast lines dependant on the plate tectonic activity. Submergent coastlines are when there is no activity, so erosion creates wide margins like on the east coast of the United States. An emergent coastline is when the land is rising compared to sea level. You find these steep margins along the west coast of the United States.