Oceans Flashcards
Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, named the Pacific Ocean in 1521.
Pacific ocean
The Atlantic Ocean has the largest drainage area.
Atlantic ocean
It is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five major oceans.
Arctic ocean
The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface.
Indian ocean
Southern ocean
A measure of the amount of dissolved salts in a given amount of liquid.
Salinity
The complete boundary of a solid figure.
Surface zone
The transition layer between the warmer mixed water at the surface and the cooler deep water below.
Thermocline
Extend from the surface to the most extreme depths where light can no longer penetrate.
Deep zone
The continuous movement of water from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean.
Water cycle
The process of turning from liquid into vapor.
Evaporation
Water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.
Condensation
The action or process of precipitating a substance from a solution.
Precipatation
The gently sloping section of the continental margin located between the shoreline and the continental slope.
Continental shelf
The steeply incline section of the continental margin located between the continental rise and the continental shelf.
Continental slope
The gently sloping section of the continental margin located between to the continental slope and the abyssal plain.
Continental rise
A large, flat, almost level area of the deep-ocean basin.
Abyssal plain
A long, undersea mountain chain that forms along the floor of the major oceans.
Mid-ocean ridge
A long, narrow valley that forms as tectonic plates separate.
Rift valley
A submerged mountain on the ocean floor that is at least 1,000 m high and that has a volcanic origin.
Seamount
A steep, long depression in the deep-sea floor that runs parallel to a chain of volcanic islands or a continental margin.
Ocean trench
The mass of mostly microscopic organisms that float or drift freely in freshwater and marine environments.
Plankton
All organisms that swim actively in open water, independent of currents.
Nekton
The organisms that live at the bottom of the sea or ocean.
Benthos
A process of removing salt from ocean water.
Desalination
