122 nations officially claim EEZs, pulling most of richest ocean resources out of the global commons. The Ocean Basins A. Features of the Seafloor 1. Not always flat, for they may have extinct underwater volcanoes, called seamounts. Ocean Waves and Currents A. Ocean Currents, Coriolis, and Ekman Transport Read text pp. Density of ocean water depends upon salinity and temperature.
Wind is factor, but only at surface.
This can create a current at right angles to wind direction. Then the waves are converted into translational waves, where the water literally moves up on the shore, eroding as it goes. The breaker or surf zone morks the point along a shore where an oscillational wave becomes translational. In general, regions above wave base are subject to erosion and regions below wave base are recipients of deposited sediment. The bays, meanwhile, are sites of deposition of sediment eroded from headlands.