Ocean Vocab

Question 1

Pacific Ocean

Answer 1

an ocean bordered by the American continents, Asia, and Australia: largest ocean in the world; divided by the equator into the North Pacific and the South Pacific

Question 2

Atlantic ocean

Answer 2

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world’s oceanic divisions, following the Pacific Ocean.

Question 3

Indian ocean

Answer 3

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world’s oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth’s surface.

Question 4

Arctic Ocean

Answer 4

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five major oceanic division

Question 5

Southern ocean

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

salinity

Answer 6

the measure of all the salts dissolved in water

Question 7

surface zone

Answer 7

five great divisions of the earth’s surface, bounded by lines parallel to the equator and named according to the prevailing temperature. Compare North Frigid Zone, North Temperate Zone, South Frigid Zone, South Temperate Zone, Torrid Zone

Question 8

thermocline

Answer 8

is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid (e.g. water, such as an ocean or lake, or air, such as an atmosphere) in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below.

Question 9

deep zone

Answer 9

The deep zone ocean is a zone of the world’s oceans occupying intermediate position between the abyssalpolegic region and the sea bed.

Question 10

water cycle

Answer 10

the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration.

Question 11

evaporation

Answer 11

type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs from the surface of a liquid into a gaseous phase that is not saturated with the evaporating substance

Question 12

condensation

Answer 12

change of water from its gaseous form (water vapor) into liquid water.

Question 13

precipitation

Answer 13

rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground.

Question 14

continental shelf

Answer 14

an underwater landmass which extends from a continent, resulting in an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea. Much of the shelves were exposed during glacial periods and interglacial periods.

Question 15

continental slope

Answer 15

typically about 20 km (12.4 mi) wide, consists of muds and silts, and is often crosscut by submarine canyons.