Question | Answer |
a measure of the amount of salt in the water | salinity |
the process by which plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make food | photosynthesis |
this begins at a depth of 200m and the temperature of the water drops at each layer | thermocline |
these currents move only the upper few hundred meters of the sea-water | surface currents |
a warm surface current that flows from Florida northeastward toward North Carolina | Gulf Stream |
this current forms when more dense seawater sinks below less dense seawater | density current |
a current in the ocean that brings deep, cold water to the ocean surface | upwelling |
a rhythmic movement that carries energy through water | wave |
the top part of a wave | crest |
the bottom part of a wave | trough |
the rise and fall of sea level | tide |
these tides are created when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned | Spring tides |
these tides are created when the Sun, Moon, and Earth form a right angle | Neap tide |
tiny marine organisms that float in ocean currents | plankton |
animals that can actively swim, rather than drift | nekton |
a community of organisms and the nonliving factors that affect them | ecosystem |
organisms that can make their own food | producers |
process that occurs deep in the ocean where sunlight does not penetrate, bacteria make food from dissolved sulfur compounds | chemosynthesis |
organisms that eat or consume producers | consumers |
these organisms such as bacteria break down tissue and release nutrients and carbon dioxide back to the ecosystem | decomposers |
the transfer of energy from producers to consumers and decomposers | food chain |