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Oceans
Review of Vocabulary for Oceans
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Water | a colorless, transparent, odorless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain and is the basis of the fluids of living organisms. |
NaCl | Sodium Chloride also known as table salt |
Convection | he movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat. |
Surface Ocean Currents | The water of the ocean surface moves in a regular pattern |
Gulf Stream | warm ocean current flowing N from the Gulf of Mexico, along the E coast of the U.S., to an area off the SE coast of Newfoundland, |
Coriolis Effect | an effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force (the Coriolis force ) acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation. |
Density | the degree of compactness of a substance. measured by mass divided by volume |
Salinity | the amount of dissolved salts that are present in water. |
Oceans | a very large expanse of sea, in particular each of the main areas into which the sea is divided geographically. |
Tides | the alternate rising and falling of the sea, usually twice in each lunar day at a particular place, due to the attraction of the moon and sun. |
Deep Ocean Currents | Currents that are driven by differences in water density: heavier water sinks while lighter water rises. |
Continental Shelf | the area of seabed around a large landmass where the sea is relatively shallow compared with the open ocean. The continental shelf is geologically part of the continental crust |
Continental Slope | the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the deep ocean floor. |
Abyssal Plain | Flat seafloor area at an abyssal depth (3,000 to 6,000 m [10,000 to 20,000 feet]), generally adjacent to a continent. |
Ocean Trenches | a long, narrow, deep depression in the ocean floor, typically one running parallel to a plate boundary and marking a subduction zone. |
Volcanic Island | the tops of volcanic mountains formed by eruptions over several million years of basaltic lava; |
Sun's Energy | Oceans use the sun's thermal energy to produce thermal energy from the sun's heat. The sun's heat warms the surface water a lot more than the deep ocean water, and this temperature difference creates thermal energy. |
Mid-Ocean Ridges | a long, seismically active submarine ridge system situated in the middle of an ocean basin and marking the site of the upwelling of magma associated with seafloor spreading. |
Mariana Trench | a depression in the ocean floor of the Pacific, S and W of the Mariana Islands: site of greatest known depth of any ocean |
Sea-Floor Spreading | the formation of new areas of oceanic crust, which occurs through the upwelling of magma at midocean ridges and its subsequent outward movement on either side |
Submarine Canyons | any of a class of narrow steep-sided valleys that cut into continental slopes and continental rises of the oceans. |
Sea Mounts | a submarine mountain. |
Oceanic Crust | he relatively thin part of the earth's crust which underlies the ocean basins. It is geologically young compared with the continental crust and consists of basaltic rock overlain by sediments |
Sonar | a system for the detection of objects under water and for measuring the water's depth by emitting sound pulses and detecting or measuring their return after being reflected. |
Echo Sounding | a device for determining the depth of the seabed or detecting objects in water by measuring the time taken for sound echoes to return to the listener. |
Unsustainable Fishing | the utilization of the various fishing methods in order to capture or harvest fish, at a rate which sees the declining of fish populations over time.[ |
Tourism/Development | Human Impact that can have an effect on oceans and the populations within the oceans |
Pollution | The presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects. |
Climate Change | a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. |