The Adriatic Abyssal Plain, more commonly referred to as the Adriatic Basin, is an

oceanic basin In hydrology, an oceanic basin (or ocean basin) is anywhere on Earth that is covered by seawater. Geologically, ocean basins are large  geologic basins that are below sea level. Most commonly the ocean is divided into basins fol ...

under the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

. The Adriatic Sea's average depth is , and its maximum depth is ; however, the North Adriatic basin rarely exceeds a depth of .

Expanse

The North Adriatic basin, extending between Venice and Trieste towards a line connecting

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

and

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar se ...

, is only deep at its northwestern end; it gradually deepens towards the southeast. It is the largest Mediterranean shelf and is simultaneously a

dilution basin A mediterranean sea () is, in oceanography, a mostly enclosed sea that has limited exchange of water with outer oceans and with water circulation dominated by salinity and temperature differences rather than winds or tides. The eponymous Mediter ...

and a site of bottom water formation. The Middle Adriatic basin is south of the Ancona–Zadar line, with the deep Middle Adriatic Pit (also called the Pomo Depression or the Jabuka Pit). The deep Palagruža Sill is south of the Middle Adriatic Pit, separating it from the deep South Adriatic Pit and the Middle Adriatic basin from the South Adriatic Basin. Further on to the south, the sea floor rises to to form the Otranto Sill at the boundary to the Ionian Sea. The South Adriatic Basin is similar in many respects to the Northern Ionian Sea, to which it is connected.

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* * * {{coord, 43, N, 15, E, type:waterbody, display=title Oceanic basins of the Atlantic Ocean Landforms of the Mediterranean Sea Adriatic Sea

Expanse

See also

References

Sources