ocean Flashcards
pacific ocean
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
Atlantic ocean
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
Indian ocean
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
Arctic ocean
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.
Southern ocean
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
Salinity
The term “salinity” refers to the concentrations of salts in water or soils. Salinity can take three forms, classified by their causes: primary salinity (also called natural salinity); secondary salinity (also called dryland salinity), and tertiary salinity (also called irrigation salinity).
surface zone
Epipelagic Zone - The surface layer of the ocean is known as the epipelagic zone and extends from the surface to 200 meters (656 feet). It is also known as the sunlight zone because this is where most of the visible light exists.
Thermocline
A thermocline is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid in which temperature changes more drastically with depth than it does in the layers above or below. In the ocean, the thermocline divides the upper mixed layer from the calm deep water below.
deep zone
The deepest zone of the ocean, the hadalpelagic zone extends from 19,700 feet (6,000 meters) to the very bottom at 36,070 feet (10,994 meters) in the Mariana Trench off the coast of Japan. The temperature is constant at just above freezing.
water cycle
The water cycle shows the continuous movement of water within the Earth and atmosphere. It is a complex system that includes many different processes. Liquid water evaporates into water vapor, condenses to form clouds, and precipitates back to earth in the form of rain and snow.
Evaporation
Evaporation is the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor. Evaporation is the primary pathway that water moves from the liquid state back into the water cycle as atmospheric water vapor
Condensation
Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas phase into the liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. The word most often refers to the water cycle
Precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzling, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail.
continental shelf
A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island is known as an insular shelf.
continental slope
A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island is known as an insular shelf.
