Ocean vocab

Question 1

Pacific ocean

Answer 1

.The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth’s oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

Question 2

Atlantic ocean

Answer 2

.second largest of the worlds oceans / it covers about 20 percent of earths surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area

Question 3

Indian ocean

Answer 3

.3 largest ocean extending from southern asia to antarctia and from eastern africa to southeastern australia

Question 4

Arctic ocean

Answer 4

the cold ice covered water surrounding the north pole located entirely within the arctic circle.

Question 5

Southern ocean

Answer 5

ring of ocean that circles antartica the boundry is not clearly defined

Question 6

salinity

Answer 6

salt concentration in sea water, it is measured in practical salinity unit which is a unit based on the properties of seawater

Question 7

surface zone

Answer 7

is the warm top layer of ocean water. extends to 300 m below sea level

Question 8

thermocline

Answer 8

2nd layer. 300m to 700m below sea level. temp drops faster and increases.

Question 9

deep zone

Answer 9

bottom layer that extends from 700m to the bottom of the ocean. temps are very cold

Question 10

water cycle

Answer 10

the continuous movement of water from the ocean to te atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean

Question 11

evaporation

Answer 11

changes liquid to a gas when it gets hot and goes up

Question 12

condensation

Answer 12

as water vapor rises into the atmosphere it cools and interacts with dust particles eventually the water vapor turns to luquid water

Question 13

precipitation

Answer 13

when water droplets become heavy enough they fall ack to earths surface

Question 14

continental shelf

Answer 14

an underwater landmass which extends from a continent, resulting in an area of relatively shallow water

Question 15

continental slope

Answer 15

a steep slope separating a continental shelf and a deep ocean basin

Question 16

continental divide

Answer 16

A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea,

Question 17

abyssal plain

Answer 17

a large area of extremely flat or gently sloping ocean floor just offshore from a continent, at depths of 13,000-20,000 feet.

Question 18

mid-ocean ridge

Answer 18

an underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonics

Question 19

rift valley

Answer 19

is a linear-shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault.

Question 20

seamount

Answer 20

A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water’s surface, and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock.

Question 21

ocean trench

Answer 21

Oceanic trenches are topographic depressions of the sea floor, relatively narrow in width, but very long. These oceanographic features are the deepest parts of the ocean floor.

Question 22

plankton

Answer 22

These organisms include bacteria, archaea, algae, protozoa and drifting or floating animals that inhabit—for example—the pelagic zone of oceans, seas

Question 23

nekton

Answer 23

efers to the aggregate of actively swimming aquatic organisms in a body of water.

Question 24

benthos

Answer 24

is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone

Question 25

desalination

Answer 25

is a process that extracts mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture.