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Chapter 11 Vocab
Chapter 11
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Sonar | A device that determines the distance of an object ender water by recording echoes of sound waves. |
continental shelf | A gently sloping, shallow area of the ocean floor leading down from the edge of the continental shelf. |
continental slope | A steep incline of the ocean floor leading down from the edge of the continental shelf. |
abyssal plain | A smooth, nearly flat region of the deep ocean floor. |
mid-ocean ridge | a undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced. |
trench | A deep, steep-sided canyon in the ocean floor. |
indertidal zone | An area that streches from the highest high tide line on land out to the point on the continental shelf exposed by the lowest low tide. |
nertic zone | The area of the ocean that extends from the low-tide line out to the edge of the continental shelf. |
opean ocean zone | the deepest, darkest are of the ocean beyond the edge of the continental shelf. |
wave | The movement of energy through a body of water. |
wave length | The horizantal distance between the crest of one wave and the crest of the next wave. |
frequency | the number of waves that pass a specific point in a given amount of time. |
wave height | The crest of a wave to the trough. |
tsunami | A giant wave usually caused by an earthquake beneath the ocean floor. |
longshore drift | The movement of water and sediment down a beach caused by waves coming in to shore at an angle. |
rip current | A rush of water that flows rapidly back to sea through a narrow opening. |
tide | The daily rise and fall of Earth's waters on it s coastlines. |
spring tide | A tide with the greatest diffrence between high and low tide occurs when the sun and moon are aligned with earth at the new moon and full moon. |
neap tide | A tide with the least diffrece between low and hight tide that occurs when the sun and moon pull at right angles to each other at the first anf third quaters of the moon. |
salinity | The total amount of dissoved salts in a water sample |
submersible | An underwater vehicle built of strong materials to resist pressure. |
current | A large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans. |
corolis effect | The effect of Earths rotation on the direction of winds and currents. |
climate | The average, year after year conditions of temperture, precipitaion winds and clouds in an area. |
El nino | A climate event that occurs every two to seven years in the Pacific Ocean, during which winds shift and push warm water toward the coast of South America. |
upwelling | The movement of cold water upward from the deep ocean that is caused by wind. |