abyssal plain

noun

: any of the great flat sediment-covered areas of ocean floor see continental shelf illustration

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The abyssal plain is a term used to describe the ocean floor at a water depth of 3,000 to 4,000 meters (around 12,000 feet), which makes up 60% of Earth’s surface, according to Roberts. —Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 7 Nov. 2022

The team had discovered an undersea volcano, or seamount, on an abyssal plain—a geologically inactive region that shouldn’t have any. —Akila Raghavan, Science | AAAS, 15 July 2021

Drazen is one of a select few scientists who have explored the abyssal plain ecosystem of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), where the majority of the ISA’s undersea mining contracts are located. —Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 May 2020

Now, seamounts have caught the eye of people interested in using sophisticated machines to mine deep-sea habitats, including hydrothermal vents and abyssal plains, that hold precious minerals. —Warren Cornwall, Science | AAAS, 12 Sep. 2019

Companies hoping to extract those metals from the seabed are focusing first on abyssal plains. —Warren Cornwall, Science | AAAS, 12 Sep. 2019

One of the first dots in question was the unusual location of the 1969 earthquake's epicenter: a featureless expanse known as the Horseshoe abyssal plain. —National Geographic, 6 May 2019

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Word History

First Known Use

1880, in the meaning defined above