| A | B |
|---|
| salinity | amount of salt per unit water; measured in parts per thousand (ppt) |
| diurnal | one high and low tide per day |
| semidiurnal | two equal sets of high and low tides per day |
| mixed | two sets of high and low tides daily except one high tide is greater than the other |
| current | mass movement, or flow, or ocean water that behaves like a "river" in the ocean |
| surface current | forms in the upper 100 m or so of the ocean and controlled by global winds, continental deflections, and the coriolis effect |
| geostrophic flow | warm currents directed away from the equator, and cool ones toward it |
| coriolis effect | the apparent deflective force of Earth's rotation on all free-moving objects; deflection to right in northern hemisphere and to left in southern |
| Ekman Spiral | vertical spiraling effect on ocean water due to the combination of the coriolis effect and the drag of deflected surface water on the underlying water |
| deep water current | slow, streamlike movement of deep ocean water due to differences in density |
| upwelling | the vertical movement of cold, nutrient-rich, deep water to the surface to replace warmer surface water that has been moved away, such as by continental deflection |
| El Nino | name given to periodic warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean |
| La Nina | name given to the periodic cooling of the eastern Pacific Ocean |
| Antarctica Circumpolar Current | only current that flows unobstructed completely around the globe |
| echo sounding | another name for sonar |
| thermocline | layer of water in which there is a rapid change in temperature with depth |
| halocline | layer of water in which there is a rapid change in salinity with depth |
| pycnocline | layer of water in which there is a rapid change in density due to temperature and salinity changes |
