| A | B |
|---|
| water cycle | the continual movement of water among Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land |
| precipitation | any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface |
| ground water | water that fills the cracks and spaces in underground soil and rock layers |
| sonar | a device that determines the distance of an object under water by recording echoes of sound waves |
| continental shelf | a gently sloping, shallow area of the ocean floor that extends outward from the edge of a continent |
| continental slope | a steep incline of the ocean floor |
| abyssal plain | a smooth, nearly flat region of the deep ocean floor |
| trench | a deep, steep-sided canyon in the ocean floor |
| wave | the movement of energy through a body of water |
| 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 in a sandbar |
| groin | a wall made of rocks or concrete that is built outward from a beach to reduce erosion |
| tides | the daily rise and fall of Earth's waters on its coastlines |
| spring tides | a tide with the greatest difference between high and low tide that occures when the sun and moon are aligned with Earth |
| neap tides | a tide with the least difference between low and high tide that occurs when the sun and moon pull at right angles to each other |
| salinity | the total amount of dissolved salts in a water sample |
| current | a large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans |
| Coriolis effect | the effect of Earth's rotation on the direction of winds and currents |
| climate | the average, year-after-year conditions of temperature, precipitation, winds, and clouds in an area |
| El Niño | 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 |
| La Niña | a climate event in the eastern Pacific Ocean in which surface waters are colder than normal |
| upwelling | the movement of cold water upward from the deep ocean that is caused by wind |
