Question | Answer |
What are the most abundant elements in ocean water? | sodium and chlorine |
Where is the world's longest mountain chain located? | the ocean floor |
How are regions of the continental margin divided? | by depth and slope |
Where do benthos live? | on or in the ocean floor |
How many ecological zones make up the benthic environment? | 5 |
What three non-living resources can be harvested from the ocean? | minerals, water and energy |
What is salinity? | the measure of the amount of dissolved salts in a given amount of liquid |
What does the time of year and latitude affect? | ocean's surface temperatures |
What is the largest ocean? | Pacific |
What is the ocean that is about half the volume of the Pacific Ocean and the 2nd largest ocean? | Atlantic |
What is the third-largest ocean? | Indian |
What is the ocean whose surface is partly covered by ice and is the smallest ocean? | Artic |
What percentage of the Earth's surface is covered with water? | 71% |
What is the second, cooler layer of ocean water? | thermocline |
What is the warm, top layer of ocean water? | surface zone |
What is the bottom, coolest layer of ocean water? | deep zone |
What can affect the amount of gas that dissolves in water? | temperature |
What is precipitation? | droplets fall back to the Earth's surface |
What is evaporation? | liquid water heated by the sun and rises as a gas into the atmosphere |
What is condensation? | water vapor cooled and turned to liquid water on dust particles |
What three components make up Earth's surface? | water, land, and clouds (air) |
What is the water cycle? | the movement of water from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean |
What is the most important function of the ocean? | it absorbs and holds energy from sunlight |
What does SONAR stand for? | sound navigation and ranging |
What is sonar technology based on? | echo-ranging behavior of bats |
What does SEASAT measure? | the direction and speed of ocean currents |
What does GEOSAT measure? | changes in the height of ocean surface |
How fast does sound travel in water? | 1,500 miles per second |
Where does the continental shelf begin? | it begins at the shoreline |
Where is the continental slope? | it slopes from the continental shelf to the ocean floor |
Where is the continental rise? | it forms the base of the continental slope |
If the ocean were a giant swimming pool, what would be considered the shallow end? | the continental margin |
What are mountain chains formed by magma called? | mid-ocean ridges |
What are mountains on the ocean floor that can turn into volcanic islands called? | seamounts |
What is formed when one oceanic plate is forced underneath another plate? | ocean trench |
What three main groups are micro-organisms divided into? | plankton, nekton & benthos |
What is a food chain? | a diagram that shows how energy in food flows from one organism to another |
What is a food web? | a diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms |
What are the two main food webs on Earth? | Aquatic and Terrestrial |
What is plankton? | organisms that drift freely near the ocean surface |
What is example of plankton? | plant-like and animal-like microscopic life |
What is nekton? | free-swimming organisms |
What is an example of nekton? | fish, dolphins and sea lions |
What are benthos? | organisms that live on or in the ocean floor |
What is an example of benthos? | crabs, worms and clams |
Where is the benthic zone? | away from the shore where the water becomes deeper |
Where is the intertidal zone? | where the ocean meets the land |
Where is the oceanic zone? | where the sea floor drops sharply |
What are reefs made up of? | corals and small animals |
What are marine ecosystems located along the coast of tropical areas called? | mangrove swamps |
Where is the Sargasso Sea found? | in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean |
What marine ecosystem can penguins and Beluga whales be found in? | polar ice |
What is the largest group of marine organisms taken from the ocean? | fish |
What is seaweed? | a type of alga |
What type of resources are oil and natural gas? | nonrenewable |
What is desalination? | a process of removing salt from ocean water |
What is the greatest advantage of using renewable resources? | it can be replenished, in time, after being used |
Where does nonpoint-source pollution come from? | many sources |
Where does point-source pollution come from? | a specific source |
What is sludge? | the solid part of waste matter |
Why is plastic trash harmful to marine animals? | animals get tangled in plastic trash and can strangle |
How are oil tankers being built to prevent oil spills? | they have two hulls |
What year was the Clean Water Act passed? | 1972 |
What is the broad, flat part of the deep-ocean basin? | abyssal plain |
What is overfishing? | taking more fish than can be naturally replaced |
How is sonar used? | sound pulses leave the ship, hit the ocean floor and bounce back to the ship |
What is wave energy an example of? | a clean, renewable resource |
What do engineers drill in the ocean floor for? | oil & natural gas |
What technologies do scientists use to study the ocean floor? | sonar & satellite |
What zone are coral reefs found in? | neritic zone |
Where is an ocean trench found? | it run parallel to a chain of volcanic islands |
Where is the neritic zone? | its where the water becomes deeper and the ocean floor slopes downward |