| A | B |
|---|
| Salinity (def) | The amount of dissolved solids in seawater |
| Pressure (def) | The force per unit area |
| Density (def) | The mass per volume of an object |
| Therm- (def) | temperature (heat) |
| -cline (def) | Rapid change with depth |
| Photic Zone (def) | The sunlit upper layer that receives adequate light for photosynthesis; area where algae grows |
| Aphotic Zone (def) | Area below the photic zone where too little light penetrates for plants ot survive. |
| Water Mass (def) | A large volume of seawater that is relatively uniform in density and is identifiable based on its temperature, salinity, and other properties |
| Thermohaline Circulation (def) | Subsurface movements of water masses, generated by density contrasts that arise from differences in temperature & salinity |
| Continental Margin (def) | Area of the ocean that includes the Continental Shelf, Slope, and Rise |
| Continental Shelf (def) | Ocean zone closest to the beach; gentle slope, nearly flat |
| Submarine Canyons (def) | Steep-sided slices in the continental slope believed to be caused by turbidity currents |
| Turbidity Currents (def) | Down-slope flow of water heavily laden with suspended sediment form rivers; denser than normal seawater; resembles an underwater avalanche |
| Continental Rise (def) | Transitions zone between the steep slope and flat ocean bottom |
| Submarine fan (def) | Accumulated sediments at the bottom of the Continental Rise |
| Seamounts (def) | Formed by significant underwater volcanic peaks rising more than 1000m above the ocean floor; |
| Examples of Seamounts | The Hawaiian Islands |
| Guyots (def) | Flat-topped mountains |
| Coral Atolls (def) | A ring-shaped island surrounding a seawater lagoon; formed as coral built up around an island as the island was sinking |
| Directly Proportional (def) | Relationship between two factors where one increases in quantity & the other also increases. |
| Inversely Proportional (def) | Relationship between two factors where one increases in quantity & the other decreases. |
| Inversely Proportional (Syn) | Indirectly Proportional |
| Continental Slope (def) | Steeply sloping zone;area where continental crust changes to ocean crust |
| Mixed Layer (def) | Top most layer of the ocean where winds circulate the waters down to a max depth of about 1500 ft. |
| Main Thermocline (def) | Transition zone between the warmer water of the mixed layer & the colder water of the deep layer. |
| Deep Layer (def) | Lowest layer of the ocean usually colder than 4 degrees Celsius. |
| El Nino (def) | A weakening of the tradewinds, causing a warming of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America that occurs every 4 to 12 years when upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water does not occur. It causes die-offs of plankton and fish. |
| La Nina (def) | A strengthening of the tradewinds, causes an increase in upwelling, a cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America, occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years. |
| Argo Profiling Array (def) | A group of ocean sensors that collect information on salinity & temperature at different ocean depths, over a period of 14 days. |
| Gyres (def) | Large circular ocean patterns in each of the major ocean basins. |
| Wind (def) | Movement of air from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure created by the unequal heating of the land & oceans; force that drives ocean surface currents. |
| Ultimate cause of the direction of gyre flow in each hemisphere. | Earth's Rotation |
| Upwelling (def) | The flow of cold, nutrient rich water to the surface from the ocean bottom; caused by winds blowing the surface currents away from the shoreline. |
| Meanders (def) | Bends or folds in a current that may pinch off to form eddies. |
| Deep sea trenches (def) | Formed where one plate submerges under another; Ex Mariana Trench, Peru-Chile Trench |
| Submarine Mountain Ranges (def) | Mid-ocean ridges form on either side of the rift zone where the plates are pulling apart. Magma rises here, hardens and forms mountains. |
| Coriolis Effect (def) | Effect caused by Earth's rotation; deflects all free-moving objects such as air & water to the right north of the equator & to the left south of the equator. |
| Gulf Stream (def) | Warm, fast, deep, narrow current found in the western basin of the Atlantic Ocean |
| First person credited with mapping & studying the Gulf Stream | Ben Franklin |
| Four major Oceans of the World | Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, & Arctic |
| If salinity increases what is its effect on density? | Density increases; Salinity & Density are directly proportional |
| If temperature increases, what is its effect on density? | Density decreases; Temperature & Density are inversely proportional |
| Largest Ocean in the World | Pacific Ocean |
| Smallest Ocean in the World | Arctic |
| 3 main gases dissolved in seawater | Nitrogen, Oxygen, & Carbon dioxide |
| 2 most abundant ions dissolved in seawater | Chloride & Sodium ions |
| Average Salinity of Seawater | 34.5 parts per thousand |
| Factors that decrease salinity | Glaciers entering an ocean, rivers entering an ocean, heavy rainfall falling on an ocean |
| Factors that increase salinity | Sea ice forming, dry hot climates, |
| Sources of Ocean Salinity | Volcanoes, Erosion carried by glaciers, streams or waves breaking on the shoreline |
