| Question |
 |
|
| Answer |
 |
|
| salinity |
amount of solid material (like salt) dissolved in water |
| deep ocean trench |
place on the seafloor where one plate is subducting beneath another and a long narrow depression forms |
| mid-ocean ridge |
a chain of underwater mountains |
| upwelling |
the rising of cold water from deeper layers to replace warmer surface water that has been moved away; brings nutrients to the ocean surface |
| abyssal plains |
deep, extremely flat features |
| density |
a measure of the amount of matter in a given space |
| continental shelf |
part of the ocean next to the continent that is shallow and fairly flat |
| continental slope |
part of the ocean next to the continental shelf where the seafloor drops off at a steep slope |
| current |
a mass of water is moved by wind or density differences to another part of the ocean |
| El Nino |
periodic warming of the ocean that occurs in the central and eastern Pacific; can change the weather in many parts of the world |
| thermocline |
layer of the ocean around 300 to 1000 meters deep where there is a rapid change in temperature with depth; creates a barrier for many marine life forms |
| Pacific |
this is Earth's largest ocean |
| Arctic |
this is the smallest, most shallow ocean |
| continental rise |
Gradual incline between ocean basin and continental slope |