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8Sci CH9
8th Science CH9 Ocean Water and Life
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| density current | movement of ocean water produced when dense, more highly saline seawater sinks, pushing away less dense seawater at the ocean bottom; these vertical currents occur in water too deep to be affected by winds |
| intertidal zone | coastal ecosystem that is under water at high tide and exposed at low tide; supports a wide variety of highly adapted organisms such as mussels, oysters, chitons, and limpets |
| nekton | free-swimming marine animals; nekton move through various depths, reducing the effects that surface currents can have on them; nektonic life-forms include fish, whales and sea turtles |
| plankton | microscopic life-forms that drift through the upper levels of the ocean and form the base of an extensive food web; plankton rely on currents to bring them nutrients and carry away wastes |
| salinity | in the ocean, the measure of dissolved materials, primarily salts, resulting from the accumulation of elements and minerals from the atmosphere, volcanic eruptions, and runoff of water from land |
| surface current | movement of ocean water produced primarily by winds; affect the upper few hundred meters of seawater, influence climate by their warming or cooling effects, and provides a home for most marine organisms |
| upwelling | interruption of the density current cycle resulting from the upward movement of cold water from deep in the ocean, replacing warmer surface water carried away by strong, wind-driven surface current |
Created by:
djhockett5
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