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Oceanography
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Salinity | The proportion of dissolved salts to pure water. |
| Oceanography | The study of the ocean by using various methods and knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics and geology to study all aspects of the world’s oceans. |
| Thermocline | Marks the transition between the warm surface layer and the deep zone of cold water below. |
| Halocline | Rapid layer of change in salinity. (This layer corresponds closely to the thermocline thermocline). |
| seamount | An islolated volcanic peak that rises at least 1000 meaters above the deep ocean floor. |
| mid-ocean ridge | Continuous mountain ridge on the floor of all major ocean basins. The rifts at the crests of these ridges represent divergent plate boundaries. |
| rift zone | Region of Earth's crust along which divergence is taking place. |
| abyssal plain | Very level area of the deep-ocean floor, usually lying at the foor of the continental rise. |
| atoll | A continuous or broken ring of coral reef surrounding a central lagoon. |
| continental margin | That portion of the sea floor adjacent to the continents. |
| continental rise | The gently sloping surface at the base of the continental slope. |
| continental shelf | The gently sloping submerged portion of the continental margin extending from the shoreline to the continental slope. |
| continental slope | The steep gradient that leads to the deep-ocean floor and marks the seaward edge of the continental shelf. |
| coral reef | Structure formed in a warm, shallow, sunlit ocean environment that consists primarily of the calcite-rich remains of corals as well as the limy secretions of algae and the hard parts of many other organisms. |
| deep-ocean trench | A narrow, elongated depression on the floor of the ocean. |
| deep-sea fan | A cone-shaped deposit at the base of the continental slope. The sediment is transported to the fan by turbidity currents that follow sub-marine canyons. |
| guyot | A submerged flat-topped seamont. |
| turbidite | Turbidity current deposit characterized by graded bedding. |
| turbidity current | A downslope movement of dense, sediment-laden water created when sand and mud on the continental shelf and slope are dislodged and thrown into suspension. |
| sub-marine canyon | A seaward extension of a valley that was cut on the continental shelf during a time when sea level was lower, or a canyon carved into the outer continental shelf, slope, and rise by turbidity currents. |
| graded bedding | A sediment layer that is characterized by a decrease in sediment size from bottom to top. |
| outgassing | The escaping of gasses that had been dissolved in magma. |
| aphotic zone | The portion of the ocean where there is no sunlight |
| benthic zone | The marine life zone that includes any seabottom surface regardless of its distance from the shore. |
| intertidal zone | The area where land and sea meet and overlap; the zone between high and low tides. |
| neritic zone | The marine zone that extends from the low tideline out to the shelf break. |
| pelagic zone | Open ocean of any depth. Animals in this zone swim or float freely. |
| photic zone | The upper part of the ocean into which sunlight penetrates. |
| estuary | A partially enclosed coastal water body that is connected to the ocean. Salinity here is measurably reduced by the freshwater flow of rivers. |
| euphotic zone | The portion of the photic zone near the surface where light is bright enough for photosynthesis to occur. |
Created by:
seamaa16
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