Exploring the Oceans

Question 1

Pacific ocean

Answer 1

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth’s five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

Question 2

Atlantic Ocean

Answer 2

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world’s five oceans, with an area of about 106,460,000 km². It covers approximately 20% of Earth’s surface and about 29% of its water surface area.

Question 3

Indian ocean

Answer 3

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world’s five oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km² or 19.8% of the water on Earth’s surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east

Question 4

Arctic ocean

Answer 4

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately 14,060,000 km² and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea.

Question 5

Southern ocean

Answer 5

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica.

Question 6

Salinity

Answer 6

the concentrations of salts in water or soils.

Question 7

surface zone

Answer 7

restricts the display of surface models and their caps to zones around selected atoms or markers.

Question 8

Thermocline

Answer 8

a steep temperature gradient in a body of water such as a lake, marked by a layer above and below which the water is at different temperatures.

Question 9

deep zone

Answer 9

extending or situated relatively far down from a surface.

Question 10

water cycle

Answer 10

shows the continuous movement of water within the Earth and atmosphere.

Question 11

Evaporation

Answer 11

the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor.

Question 12

Condensation

Answer 12

water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.

Question 13

precipitation

Answer 13

the action or process of precipitating a substance from a solution.

Question 14

continental shelf

Answer 14

a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea.

Question 15

continental slope

Answer 15

the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the deep ocean floor.

Question 16

continental rise

Answer 16

a wide, gentle incline from a deep ocean plain (abyssal plain) to a continental slope.

Question 17

abyssal plain

Answer 17

a flat region of the ocean floor, usually at the base of a continental rise

Question 18

mid-ocean ridge

Answer 18

a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics

Question 19

rift valley

Answer 19

a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift.

Question 20

Seamount

Answer 20

an underwater mountain formed by volcanic activity.

Question 21

ocean trench

Answer 21

prominent long, narrow topographic depressions of the ocean floor.

Question 22

Plankton

Answer 22

Plankton are marine drifters — organisms carried along by tides and currents.

Question 23

Nekton

Answer 23

living organisms that are able to swim and move independently of currents.

Question 24

Benthos

Answer 24

the assemblage of organisms inhabiting the seafloor.

Question 25

desalination

Answer 25

the process of removing salts or other minerals and contaminants from seawater, brackish water, and wastewater effluent