Ocean Ridges and Trenches

Children's Literature - Judy Crowder

Do you think the bottom of our world's oceans is sandy sea floor? Think again! The ocean floors are lined with land forms as varied as those on the land above, and even more so. Geologist Geoffrey Nash, in the foreword to this book, says, "Mid-ocean ridges and trenches are the biggest of earth's geologic land forms that you will never see." This book, part of the "Extreme Earth" series, informs the young adult reader that, not only are these ridges and trenches evidence of the theory of plate tectonics, described as recently as the 1960s, but these extreme ocean features are also responsible for scary events we feel on the earth's surface: earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. The product of semi-molten material deep in the earth's core, mid-ocean ridges are not static. They are constantly growing and changing. Aleshire focuses on two aspects of the ocean floor. First, he writes about important places around the word—from the Atlantic Ocean he chooses the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Iceland, from the Pacific,he discusses the San Juan de Fuca Ridge, the Mariana Trench, the East Pacific Rise, the Peru-Chile Trench, and the Galapagos Rift; he also wrote about the Arctic Ridge, the Java trench in the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea, North Africa, and the Middle East. Second, he writes about scientists—biologists, engineers, geologists, and seismologists—that study all aspects of ocean trenches and ridges. The book includes a nice list of further references and web sites, a glossary, and an index. This book is very technical and best suited for a high school or community college library. Its format, with low resolution black and white photos and textbook appearance, is notcompelling, so the book may have a hard time competing with more interesting computer research that today's young adult readers are more likely to use. Reviewer: Judy Crowder