| A | B |
|---|
| Density Currents | When large water masses with different densities meet, denser water slips beneath less dense |
| Deep water zone | water remains cold and dense. polar regions only places where deep waters are ever exposed. 80% |
| Deep ocean basin | about 2.5 to 3.5 mi. deep. converts 30% of the earth's surface. includes abyssal plains, deep sea trenches, and seamounts |
| Daily tidal range | The difference between the high tide and low tide (how much it rose) |
| Current meter | measures the relative speed of water flow. operates at any depth by cable or line |
| Deposition | buildup of sediment or sand |
| Dissolved salts | Salinity measurement is a total of all salts dissolved in water. dissolved salts are always the same kind. composition of dissolved salts is always in the same proportion even though salinity may vary slightly from the average |
| Drift bottles | measures currents, may be affected by the wind, considered a form of pollution if it is not retrieved |
| Corrosion/solution | Dissolving of soluble minerals in coastal rocks by waves until rocks disinegrate |
| Continental Shelf Break | where oceanic crust begins. where bottom drops off into steepslope |
| Convection | The vertical transport of air or fluid |
| Advection | The horizontal transport of liquid and air (opposed to convection, which is vertical) |
| Altimetry | A technique to measure the height of the sea surface from radar pulses emitted by a satellite |
| Algae | Simple marine and freshwater plants, unicellular and multicellular, that lack roots, leaves, and stems |
| Example Algae | Diatoms and seaweeds |
| Densest Water | Cold and Salty is denser than warm pure water |
| Nekton | Animals capable of swimming independent of current flow |
| Plankton | Organisms that float or have weak swimming abilities, and are wafted by the currents |
| Plunging breaker | The classic "pipeline" breaker, where the crest curls forward and collapses on itself (think surfer tube) |
| Wave period | the time it takes two successive waves to pass a fixed point (like a piling or pier) |
| Wavelength | The distance between the crest of one wave, and the crest of the next wave |
| Wave crest | The highest point of a wave |
| Wave trough | the lowest point of a wave |
| Pycnocline | A zone having a marked change in water density as a function of water depth |
| Halocline | A zone having a marked change in water salinity as a function of water depth |
| Thermocline | A zone having a marked change in water temperature as a function of water depth |
| How do waves affect the gasses in water | More waves mean more gases are exchanged with the atmosphere |
| How does temperature affect the gasses in water? | A drop in temperature increases the solubility of gasses |
| How does pressure affect the gasses in water? | A rise in pressure increases the solubility of gases |
| Connection of wind to wave size | The stronger the wind, the larger the waves |
| Wave Height | The distance from the wave trough to the wave crest |
| Capillary wave | Wave period: 0.1 sec, Wavelength: <2cm, Cause: light local winds |
| Fetch | The area over which the wind blows |
| How do you determine the wave depth | Wave depth is 1/2 the length of the wavelength |
| Celerity | A term that is a measure of the speed of a wave, applies to the speed of the energy of the wave (because in waves the particles don't move, the energy does) |
| Dispersion | The process of wave separation, outside of the fetch area |
| Continental slope | shelf extended outward, where ocean begins, connect continental shelf and oceanic crust |
| continental shelf | surrounds nearly all continents, shallow extension of land mass |
| continental rise | currents flow along shelf and slope, sediments are carried along and are depositede just below the continental slope, sediments accumulate to form a large,gentle slope |
| continental margin | is the continental slope and the continental shelf |
| Coastal erosion features | beaches,arches,stacks,stumps,caves, and headland |
