Morphometric Studies on a part of Central Indian Ocean

Morphometric and slope angle studies carried out on a part of Indian Ocean Basin have shown that gentle slope angle ranges dominate, 92% of the area represented by 0-3° slopes. Young's hypothesis of log-normal distribution of slope angle frequencies is found to be valid for deep sea topographic data also. Elevation-relief ratios and ruggedness values are relatively high for the southern portion of the study area whereas these values are less in the northern portion. Some of the features like abyssal hills and the seamount recorded in the region might have been formed due to volcanism. Some secondary topographic features could have resulted due to post-depositional processes. Slope angle, elevation-relief and ruggedness can be used in inferring certain features in the oceanic surface.