Ocean crust is the outermost layer of earth. It is consist of rocky layer, lava, and another sediments. The thickness of ocean crust is about 6 km depth beneath the sea. The age of ocean crust is about 200 million years and after that it will be transformed into another form of ocean crust that has a different shape and structure. Sea floor that we can see when we dive into the sea is also classified as the ocean crust.
The sea floor is the top layer of ocean crust. However sadly, there are some factors that become the destruction of ocean floor. Those factor are threatening the beauty beneath the sea and ocean. The destruction that may destroy the ocean floor is also become the factor that may cause the destruction of oceanic crust. Today, I would like to share some information with you about the other factors that may cause the ocean crust destruction.
See also: Causes of Ocean Destruction – Destruction of Ocean Habitat
1. Mining activity
To make the fuel that we usually use in our daily life is took a long process of making. Starts from the mining process in the open ocean and continuing with another process to make some certain levels of fuel. At the very first step which is to take the oil resources from the ocean, people will mine and they can mine the ocean bottom so deep which affecting the structure of ocean crust.
2. Earthquake
When there is a collision or movement of the tectonic plate then there will be a movement called as an earthquake. The existence of earthquake will cause a movement of ocean bottom and may cause several changes when the earthquake magnitude is too big.
3. Bombing
There are so many factor that causing people doing bombing in the ocean or even in the open ocean. One of the factor is the existence of overfishing in the ocean. With using bomb, fisherman can collect more fish and benefits when they sell the fish. The other factor is in the ancient time happened some war that using bomb as one of their weapons to defeat their enemy. And most of the bomb was having a big power to destroy even an entire island. This kind of action surely caused serious damage to the ocean bottom.
See also: Overfishing in the Ocean – Ways to Prevent Overfishing
4. Storm
The other factor of destruction of oceanic crust is storm. Storm exist because of the pressure difference in the air. As you can see that the shape of the storm it self that form a tornado will have a bigger size in the top and smaller size in the bottom. Just like the physic theory says, the smaller the bottom the bigger the pressure that will be created. Because storm usually occur in the open ocean with a huge power to destroy anything in front of it, we can classify storm as the factor of destruction.
See also: Types of Ocean Storms
5. Ship’s anchor
Because in the ocean the wave is quite strong to move a big ship into another place, usually people will use a big and heavy anchor to make their ship stand still in a certain place. When they throw the anchor beneath the ocean means the ocean bottom will experience a heavy load from the anchor which is not a usual thing for the ocean bottom.
6. Sinking ship regulation
In some country such as Indonesia, government apply a sinking ship regulation towards the illegal fishing. The problem is that, the weight of the ship is so heavy and there will be more than one ship to be sunken. If this is still happening and there are more ships to be sunken then surely the oceanic crust top layer will be affected.
7. Ocean and sea sand translocation
There are some countries that is so reach until they want to develop their area by buying the sea sand from another country and they will use the sand to make bigger area of their country. This kind of action is still happening because there are exist some people who supply the demand of this, and as a payback the ocean crust top layer will be changed from the way it used to be because the amount of sand taken from its origin is not a little.
8. Volcanoes
Another factor that cause the destruction of oceanic crust is volcanoes. Volcanoes still have a lot of chance to vomit the magma inside of it. And when the magma came out or we usually know it as lava by the time goes by then it will be colder and form a new sedimentation beneath the ocean which also affecting the ocean crust structure.
9. Tsunami
Tsunami happens when the earthquake beneath the ocean having a big magnitude. In return because of this, the ocean water will come to the land and basically destroy and cover everything in front of it. These water that came to the land will surely go back to the ocean because the land has no proper place to maintain or keeping that big amount of water. And when it returns back, surely there will be so many garbage following the water go back to the ocean which can be accumulated into sedimentation.
See also: Ocean Sediments
10. Littering the ocean with plastic
Plastic is a substance that is so hard to be decompose. It takes hundred to thousand of years for decomposer to decompose plastic. When you and another beach visitors like to littering in the sea, the wave will take the garbage to the open ocean and it will be accumulated into a big stack of plastic garbage that polluting the ocean environment and affecting the ocean crust layer.
See also: Ocean Pollution – Ways to Solve Water Pollution
11. Oil spills
Oil is meant to be used by machine. It doesn’t fit with living beings because it is not the purpose it is created. There are so many cases of oil spills in the ocean such as the oil spills coming up from the ship that is leak. Or, there are also another cases where there is a cargo ship that is sinking where the cargo it self carrying tonnes of oil.
12. Chemical substance spills
Not only oil spills that become the factor of destruction of oceanic crust, the other spills which is the chemical substance spills also become the destruction factor. The chemical substance spills not only come from the industrial waste from the factory but it may also come from the household waste such as soap or detergent.
13. Mine leak
Not all the mining activity is running smoothly. There are also some cases where the mining activity in the open ocean is leaked. When this is happens, it means the ocean bottom having damage and the oil from the mine it self will go out and polluting the ocean water and kill many animal in a short period of time. So the damage that will affecting ocean crust is caused by two factors which is the ocean bottom damage and oil spills from the mine leak incident.
14. Coastal development
By the time goes by, our people become smarter and so by the use of their knowledge now they can do or build anything in the coastal area. What they forgot is that the construction of building or any kind of facility is affecting the ocean crust layer.
15. Fiber optic installation
To also follow the technology development and the people demand on a fast service of information, nowadays we know something called as fiber optic. The installation of fiber optic take place beneath the sea and surely the construction made for this will affecting the ocean crust layer.
16. Less mangrove in the coastal area
Another important factor of destruction of oceanic crust is the existence of mangrove in the coastal area that is not sufficient. Many people will cut off the mangrove to do some development but they forget that mangrove can prevent sea erosion as well as sea abrasion.
17. Agricultural run off
Since the pesticide is acid and acid has a corrosive characteristic then the more agricultural run off there will be a bigger chance of damage in the ocean crust top layer.
So that’s all for today’s article about destruction of oceanic crust. Hopefully this article can help you to know more about the deep ocean ecosystems and all the things that build the ecosystem including the crust and know and also aware on the responsibility to protect the ecosystem. Thank you for reading this article and being our loyal followers, there will be much more informative article to come for you.