Ocean Vocabulary

Question 1

Pacific ocean

Answer 1

the largest of the Earth’s oceanic divisions

Question 2

Atlantic ocean

Answer 2

the second largest of the world’s oceanic divisions, following the Pacific Ocean

Question 3

Indian ocean

Answer 3

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

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 divisions

Question 5

Southern ocean

Answer 5

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

any of five great divisions of the earth’s surface, bounded by lines parallel to the equator and named according to the prevailing temperature.

Question 8

thermocline

Answer 8

a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid

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

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Answer 11

a 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

the 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.

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.

Question 16

continentual divide

Answer 16

the Americas is the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas

Question 17

abyssal plain

Answer 17

an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 m

Question 18

mid-ocean ridge

Answer 18

an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary.

Question 19

rift valley

Answer 19

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

Question 20

ocean trench

Answer 20

a long, narrow ditch.

Question 21

Plankton

Answer 21

a diverse group of organisms that live in the water column of large bodies of water and that cannot swim against a current.

Question 22

nekton

Answer 22

aquatic animals that are able to swim and move independently of water currents.

Question 23

benthos

Answer 23

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

Question 24

desalinationn

Answer 24

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