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Why does erosion have a smaller effect on the deep seafloor than on continents?

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World map highlighting major features of the ocean basins, including trenches, ridges, basins, and plateaus labeled throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic Oceans. Continents are shown with shaded terrain, and prominent undersea features such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Mariana Trench, and Kerguelen Plateau are marked across the map. — ocean basin Major features of the ocean basins.

Erosion has a significantly smaller effect on the deep seafloor than on the continents primarily because deep ocean currents are generally slow, typically flowing at less than 50 cm (20 inches) per second, and therefore lack the power necessary to cause substantial erosion.1

In contrast, the continents are subject to more intense erosional forces. While deep-sea currents can occasionally become erosive in specific regions—sometimes creating geological unconformities or redistributing sediment—these processes are far less dominant in shaping the overall topography of the deep seafloor compared to the active weathering and erosional forces that continuously reshape the continental landscape.12