or geologic oceanography
Scientific discipline concerned with all geologic aspects of the continental shelves and slopes and the ocean basins.
Marine geology originally focused on marine sedimentation and the interpretation of bottom samples. The advent of the concept of seafloor spreading , however, broadened its scope. Many investigations of the oceanic ridge system, the magnetism of rocks on the seafloor, geochemical analyses of deep brine pools, and seafloor spreading and continental drift may be considered within the general realm of marine geology.