CH 6 Flashcards
Thermocline
The most pronounced thermocline
Temperature drops rapidly with depth. It is the deep zone of cold, stable water.
Tropical thermocline is deeper than thermocline at higher latitudes it is the most pronounced.
Halocline
A zone of rapid salinity increase with depth. The halocline often coincides with the thermocline and the combination produces a pronounced pycnocline.
Pycnocline
Density increases with increasing depths. This zone isolates surface water from the denser layer below. Contains 18% of all ocean water . Rapid density increase with depth is due mainly to a decrease in water temperature.
Surface zone (mixed layer)
The upper layer of the ocean. Temperature and salinity are relatively constant. Contains the oceans least dense water and accounts for 2% of total ocean volume. Typically extends 150 meters(500 ft) but depending on local conditions, it may reach a depth of 1000 meters or be absent entirely.
Deep Zone (makes up most of the ocean)
Lies below the pycnocline at depths below about 1000 meters. Little change in water density with increasing depth through this zone. Contains 80% of all ocean water.
Photic zone
The thin film of lighted water at the top of the surface zone. May extend to 600 m but a more typical value for the ocean ocean is 100m.
Aphotic zone
Dark water beneath the photic zone.
SOFAR layer
Layer of minimum sound velocity in which transmission is unusually efficient for long distances. Sounds leaving this depth tend to be refracted back into it. The sofar layer usually occurs at mid-latitude depths of around 1,200m.
Active SONAR
A device that generates underwater sound from special transducers and analyzes the returning echoes to gain information of geological, biological or military importance.
Passive SONAR
A device that detects the intensity and direction of underwater sounds.
Side-scan SONAR
A high-resolution sound imaging system used for geological investigations, archaeological studies, and the location of sunken ships and airplanes.
What type of bond holds the 2 hydrogen and oxygen atoms together?
Hydrogen bonds
What type of bond holds the water atoms together and what affects does this have?
Polar covalent bonds, sharing of electrons
What does salt do to the freezing point of water?
It lowers the freezing point. salt particles block the water molecules from re-entering the solid phase, so more water molecules are leaving and less are entering the solid.
When salt freezes, what is the ice made of?
The ice contains very little salt because the water was what froze
Which is faster, the speed of sounds in air or in water?
In water
Why is ocean water blue?
It is the color least absorbed by light in water
What is the difference between latent and sensible heat?
Latent and sensible heat are types of energy released or absorbed in the atmosphere. Latent heat is related to changes in phase between liquids, gases, and solids. Sensible heat is related to changes in temperature of a gas or object with no change in phase.
What happens to the environment during various phase changes?
Freezing: the substance changes from a liquid to a solid.
Melting: the substance changes back from the solid to the liquid.
Condensation: the substance changes from a gas to a liquid.
Vaporization: the substance changes from a liquid to a gas.
Sublimation: the substance changes directly from a solid to a gas without going through the liquid phase.
Deposition: the substance changes directly from a gas to a solid without going through the liquid phase.
What is meant by an object having high heat capacity?
. Materials with high heat capacities, such as water, require greater amounts of heat to increase their temperatures than do substances with low heat capacities, such as metals
What is meant by latent heat of fusion and vaporization?
Latent heat of fusion: heat removed from a liquid during freezing ( or added to a solid during thawing) that produces a change in state but not a change in temperature.
Latent heat of vaporization: Heat added to a liquid during evaporation(or release from a gas during condensation) that produces a change in state but not a change in temperature.
What if our planet had no ocean? What would that do to the seasonal temperatures?
It would be dry and hot the hottest day of the year would be June not august.
What has more of an effect on transferring heat to the poles, atmosphere or ocean currents? Why?
The ocean and atmosphere are connected. They work together to move heat and fresh water across the globe. Wind-driven and ocean-current circulations move warm water toward the poles and colder water toward the equator. Oceans because of latent heat vaporization
What information does the T-S diagram give you?
Salinity units- parts per thousand salts
What happens to the density of water when it freezes?
Density of water decreases as temperatures increase
What are the common units for measuring salinity?
Parts per thousand salts
What does the profile of density look like as you go deeper in the ocean?
The rapid density increase in the pycnocline is mainly due to a decrease in temperature with depth in this area. Temperature, salinity and pressure.
What controls salinity in the ocean?
Affected by precipitation and evaporation
What is refraction?
Bending of waves
Know which wavelengths of light are absorbed first and last in the ocean.
Reds absorbed first. Blue last
What determines the depth to which light can penetrate into the ocean?
The color of the ocean
