Ocean Vocabulary

Question 1

The earth’s largest ocean.

Answer 1

Pacific Ocean

Question 2

The earth’s second largest ocean.

Answer 2

Atlantic Ocean

Question 3

The earth’s third largest ocean.

Answer 3

Indian Ocean

Question 4

It is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five major oceanic divisions.

Answer 4

Arctic Ocean

Question 5

Generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica.

Answer 5

Southern Ocean

Question 6

A measure of the amount of dissolved salts in a given amount of liquid.

Answer 6

Salinity

Question 7

Scientists have divided the ocean into five main layers. These layers, known as “zones”, extend from the surface to the most extreme depths where light can no longer penetrate.

Answer 7

Surface Zone

Question 8

A thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid.

Answer 8

Thermocline

Question 9

The deeper parts of the sea.

Answer 9

Deep Zone

Question 10

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

Answer 10

Water Cycle

Question 11

A type of vaporization of a liquid.

Answer 11

Evaporation

Question 12

The change of state from a gas to a liquid.

Answer 12

Condensation

Question 13

Any form of water that falls to the earths surface from the clouds.

Answer 13

Precipitation

Question 14

The gently sloping section of the continental margin located between the shoreline and the continental slope.

Answer 14

Continental Shelf

Question 15

The steeply inclined section of the continental margin located between the continental rise and the continental shelf.

Answer 15

Continental Slope

Question 16

The Continental Divide of the Americas is the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas.

Answer 16

Continental Divide

Question 17

A large, flat, almost level area of the deep-ocean basin.

Answer 17

Abyssal Plain

Question 18

A long, undersea mountain chain that forms along the floor of the major oceans.

Answer 18

Mid-Ocean Ridge

Question 19

A long, narrow valley that forms as tectonic plates separate.

Answer 19

Rift Valley

Question 20

A submerged mountain on the ocean floor that is at least 1000 m high and that has a volcanic origin.

Answer 20

Sea Mount

Question 21

A steep and long depression in the deep sea floor that runs parallel to a chain of volcanic islands or a continental margin.

Answer 21

Ocean Trench

Question 22

The mass of mostly microscopic organisms that float or drift freely in freshwater and marine environments.

Answer 22

Plankton

Question 23

All organisms that swim actively in open water, independent of currents.

Answer 23

Nekton

Question 24

The flora and fauna found on the bottom, or in the bottom sediments, of a sea, lake, or other body of water.

Answer 24

Benthos

Question 25

The process of removing dissolved salts from water, thus producing fresh water from seawater or brackish water.

Answer 25

Desalination