chapter 13 section a Flashcards
The _________ are vast bodies of salt water that desperate the continents. They cover about 71% of the earth’s surface and hold over 97% of all the water on the planet.
oceans
_________ are marine scientists and engineers from almost every field who work to better understand and use the oceans.
oceanographers
_________ _________ investigate the plant and animal life in every ocean environment.
Marine biologists
___________ study the influence of the oceans on weather and climate.
meteorologists
___________ analyze the distribution of various elements and compounds in the oceans and the ways those chemicals affect ocean processes.
Chemists
____________ model the distribution of energy in the oceans and the motion of its great currents.
Physicists
____________ ____________ develop methods and vehicles to investigate and use the oceans.
marine engineers
means suitable for drinking
potable
a large section of ocean mostly surrounded by land or islands is called a ________.
sea
__________ are the largest bodies of water, separating the continents.
__________ are small-to-large bodies of sea-water, usually partly or completely surrounded by land.
__________ are similar to seas, but they are usually smaller.
__________ are generally smaller than gulfs.
__________ are narrow ocean passages separating bodies of land.
oceans, seas, gulfs, bays, straits
________ _______ _______ is the height of the ocean’s surface at a given point on the earth’s surface. It changes mainly with the tides, but passing weather systems and storm waves affect it too. Or, an always-changing height of the ocean surface at a given location.
Local sea level
Oceanographers measure local sea level with ______ ______ mounted along shorelines, or from satellites far above the ocean using radar.
tide gauges
Mean (or average) ______ ______—what most people call “______ ______”—is the computed average height of high and low tides at a location. Mean ______ ______ (MSL) is the zero height that cartographers and aircraft pilots use to measure elevation.
sea level
Scientists estimate that MSL has risen at an average
rate of ____ mm per year over the past 100 years, so this recent
change suggests that something new must be affecting MSL.
1.8
Water ________ as it gets warmer, so that would make the sea level ________.
expands, higher