Ocean Life Zones and Waves Flashcards
Plankton
small organisms that float in fresh/marine water
Nekton
swim in open water,independent of currents
Benthos
live at bottom of ocean/sea
Benthic Envirnonment
Near bottom of ocean floor
Pelagic Environment
zone near surface/middle, beyond sublitoral, above abyssal zone
Intertidal location
between low tide and high tide limits
twice a day, zone changes with flowing tides
Sublittoral location
begins @ low tide limit
extends to edge of continental shelf
Bathyal location
edge of continental shelf to abyssal plain
depth- 200m-4000m below sea level
Abyssal location
on the abyssal plain
Hadal location
floor of ocean trenches
Intertidal charateristics
exposed to ocean water and air+sun
organisms must survive water and exposed land
Sublittoral charasteristics
temp., water pressure, and sunlight fairly constant
more stable than intertidal zone
Bathyal characteristics
lack of sunlight
plant life is scarce
Abyssal characteristics
no plants and very few animals
largest ecological zone of the ocean
4000m depth
Hadal characteristics
deepest zone (6000-7000m in depth) little known about it
Intertidal organisms
clams, oysters, barnacles, crabs, seaweed, starfish, anenomes
Sublittoral organisms
corals, plants, some fish
Bathyal organsims
sponges, brachiopods, sea stars, echinoids, octopuses
Abyssal organisms
crabs, sponges, worms, sea cucumbers
Hadal organisms
type of sponge, few species of worms, type of clam
Neritic location
covers continental shelf
shallow
Oceanic location
covers entire sea floor except continental shelf
Neritic characteristics
warm and shallow
largest concentration of marine life
receives more sunlight
Oceanic characteristics
deep- temperature cold and pressure high
organisms spread out
Neritic organisms
fish. plankton, other marine animals
Oceanic organisms
giant squids, some whale species
Wave height
the vertical distance between the crest and the trough
Wavelength
the distance between two crests or two troughs
Wave period
the time it takes for one wavelength to pass a given point
Waves are caused by…
wind and the shape of the ocean floor
_______ transfers ________ from air to water molecules through_______
wind transfers energy from air to water molecules through friction
Waves of water only move….
up and down, not horizontally
Particles in the wave move in a ________ motion
circular motion
What is a breaker?
where the bottom of the wave hits the ocean floor and the top keeps moving, forming an arc
(wavelength shortens and height increases as bottom of wave interacts with ocean floor)
Waves start at an _______ with the wind, and ____________ to become ________ with the shore when breaking
waves start at an angle with the wind, and slow down to become parallel with the shore when breaking
Longshore Current
waves strike shore at an angle, causing a current to flow parallel to the shore
How do rip tides form?
when a sandbar is broken apart, causing water to rush back to sea
What is a tsunami
Waves that form when a large volume of ocean water is suddenly moved up or down- usually generated by an earthquake
What causes tides
The pull of gravity between the earth sun and moon
Does the sun or moon have a greater influences on the oceans
Moon because it’s closer
Spring tide
Occurs twice a month at full and new moon
Highest high tide and lowest low tide
Neap tide
Occurs twice a month at first and last quarter
Causes low high tide and high low tide
