Hydrosphere Vocab (Part 2)

Question 1

The portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight; formally defined as the depths beyond which less than 1% of sunlight penetrates

Question 2

The ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers

Question 3

A mixture of fresh and salt water

Answer 3

Brackish

Question 4

The downward movement of fluid, especially in the sea, the atmosphere, or deep in the earth

Question 5

A place where freshwater meets up with salt water; nature’s nursery

Answer 5

Estuary

Question 6

A fissure in a planet’s surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots

Answer 6

Hydrothermal Vents

Question 7

The process by which certain microbes create energy by mediating chemical reactions

Answer 7

Chemosynthesis

Question 8

The area of the shore and seabed that is exposed to the air at low tide and submerged at high tide, i.e. the area between tide marks

Answer 8

Intertidal Zone

Question 9

The relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately 200 meters in depth

Question 10

The sunlit top layer of the ocean beyond the continental shelves; the vast bulk of the sea, it covers over 360,000,000 square kilometers of the Earth’s surface and is referred to as the ‘marine desert’ because nutrients are lower here than in the shallow seas; life can be scarce

Question 11

Surface layer of the ocean that receives sunlight

Answer 11

Photic Zone

Question 12

The production and emission of light by a living organism

Answer 12

Bioluminescence

Question 13

Microscopic marine producers/base of an aquatic food web

Answer 13

Phytoplankton

Question 14

Wind-driven process in which nutrient-rich, denser, colder water moves to the surface

Answer 14

Upwelling