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Earth Science Ch. 19
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| sea | Sections of the oceans that or more or less surrounded by land |
| echo sounding | A form of sonar used to measure water depth beneath the vessel |
| continental shelf | The submerged edge of a continent extending from the coastline to some distance offshore |
| continental slope | The relatively steep drop-off from the continental shelf into the deep ocean basin. |
| submarine canyon | A canyon that occurs on the ocean floor, often on the continental slope |
| continental rise | The sea bottom at the foot of the continental slope, consisting of sediments washed down from the slope from the continental shelf above |
| abyssal plane | The flat, deep sea floor of an ocean basin |
| seamount | Any submerged mountain or hill rising from the sea floor |
| guyot | A submarine mountain that has a flat top |
| trench | A deep canyon in the sea floor |
| island arc | A long, curved chain of volcanic islands that lines the oceanic margin of a tectonic plate, often near trenches |
| coral reef | A massive marine geologic feature made up of calcium carbonate secreted by colonies of coral polyps in relatively shallow tropical waters and near continents and islands |
| fringing reef | A coral reef along a coastline that is in contact with the shore |
| barrier reef | A coral reef located away from the shore that creates a lagoon between the reef and the shore |
| atoll | A ring of low coral islands and reefs surrounding a central lagoon that is in most cases built on a submerged volcano |
| residence time | The average time between a particle’s entrance into the ocean and its removal by some means |
| desalinate | The removal of salt and minerals from seawater to produce fresh, drinkable water |
| reverse osmosis | A method of desalinization in which seawater is pumped at high pressure against a special membrane that allows water molecules to pass through but prevents the salt and other particles from crossing over |
| tide | A periodic fluctuation in sea level that is caused by the gravitational forces of the moon and the sun as well as by the inertia of the waters on the rotating earth |
| spring tide | An unusually high tide that occurs when the sun, earth, and moon are lined up, either at new moon or at full moon |
| neap tide | A lower-than usual tide that occurs when the sun, earth, and the moon form a right angle and cause the sun’s gravity to work against the moon’s gravity. These occur twice each month, at the first and third quarters of the moon. |
| sea level | The level of the sea at a particular time. Sea level thus changes with the rising and falling tides |
| mean sea level (MSL) | The average local sea level between high and low tide determined over the course of years |
| crest | The peak or apex of a wave |
| trough | The lowest part of a waveform |
| wave height | The vertical distance between a wave’s crest and its trough |
| wave base | The water depth to which a wave disturbance reaches, equal to half the wavelength below the still-water level |
| breaker | A water wave in which the top falls over on the forward side of the wave |
| longshore current | A current that flows parallel to the shore, caused by waves breaking at an angle to the shore |
| rip current | A strong, narrow surface current that carries water from the shore to the sea |
| sea cave | A cave formed by erosion of a cliff face by waves |
| sea arch | A coastal erosion formation resembling a natural bridge that was caused by wave erosion of a sea cave through a narrow headland |
| stack | A mass of rock that has been cut off from the mainland by erosion |
| spit | A narrow sand formation deposited by waves and currents that extends out from a headland, often across the mouth of a bay or inlet |
| bay barrier | A spit that extends across the mouth of a bay, closing it to the sea |
| hook | A sand formation extending from a headland, deposited by waves and currents, which contains a sharp bend |
| barrier island | An island formed when waves deposit sand across the mouth of a bay or along a coastline but has no connection with the mainland |
| tombolo | A wave-deposited sandbar that connects islands with each other or with the mainland |
| gyre | A large, closed-loop surface current in an ocean basin formed under the influence of prevailing winds and the Coriolis effect |
| Ekman spiral | The deeper currents flow in a direction which is relatively skewed to the right |
| salinity | Describes the relative amount of salts dissolved in water |
| thermohaline current | A deep ocean current, caused by differences in temperature or salinity between large masses of ocean water; move a large volume of water |
| density current | A current created by the tendency of denser, more saline water to sink and displace less dense, less saline water, which rises |
| turbidity current | A fast, subsurface density current caused by the weight of large amounts of suspended sediment |
| upwelling | The rising to the surface of cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths of the ocean; often occurs when prevailing winds blow surface waters away, allowing deeper waters to rise and take their place |
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jrasmussenheritage
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