Oceanic basin an active - and growing - oceanic basin include an elevated mid-ocean ridge, flanking abyssal hills leading down to abyssal plains. The elements of an active oceanic basin often include the oceanic trench associated with a subduction zone. The Atlantic ocean and the Arctic ocean are good examples of active, growing oceanic basins, whereas the Mediterranean Sea is shrinking. The Pacific Ocean is also an active, shrinking oceanic basin, even though it has both spreading ridge and oceanic trenches. Perhaps the best example of an inactive oceanic basin is the Gulf of Mexico, which formed in Jurassic times and has
Closed Basin Project end from the Rio Grande watershed. It contains the towns of Center, Hooper, Moffat, Mosca and Saguache and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Streams that flow into the basin include irrigation diversions from the Rio Grande, the Carnero, La Garita, and Saguache creeks from the west, San Luis Creek from the north, and the North Crestone and Sand creeks from the east. The water spreads over the floor of the valley and either sinks into the underground aquifer or evaporates. The lowest part of the basin extends from the San Luis lakes north to the Blanca Wildlife