Ocean Flashcards
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth’s oceanic divisions.
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world’s oceans, with an area of about 106,460,000 square kilometers.
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world’s oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km² or 19.8% of the water on the Earth’s surface.
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five major oceans.
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean or the Austral Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica.
Salinity
A measure of the amount of dissolved salts in a given amount of liquid
Surface Ocean
The surface layer of the ocean
Thermocline
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.
Deep zone
The deep zone ocean is a zone of the world’s oceans occupying intermediate position between the abyssal region and the sea bed.
Water cycle
The Continuous movement of water from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean
Evaporation
the process of turning from liquid into vapor.
Condensation
water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.
Precipitation
rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground.
Continental shelf
The gently sloping section of the Continental margin located between the shoreline in the continental slope
Continental slope
This deeply inclined section of the Continental margin located between the continental rise in the continental shelf
Continental rise
The gently sloping section of the Continental margin located between the continental slope in the abyssal plain
Abyssal plain
A large flat almost level area of the deep ocean basin
Mid-Ocean ridge
A long undersea mountain chain that forms along the floor of the major oceans
Rift Valley
A long narrow valley that forms as tectonic plates separate
Seamount
a submerged mountain on the ocean-floor that is at least 1,000 M high and that has a volcanic origin
Ocean trench
A steep and long depression in the deep-sea floor that runs parallel to a chain of Volcanic islands or a continental margin
Plankton
The mass of mostly microscopic organisms that float or drift freely in freshwater and marine environments
Nekton
All organisms that swim actively in open water , independent of currents
Benthos
The organisms that live at the bottom of the sea or ocean
Desalination
A process of removing salt from ocean water
