oceans

Question 1

Pacific ocean

Answer 1

the largest and deepest ocean on Earth.

Question 2

Atlantic ocean

Answer 2

lies between North and South America on the west and Europe and Africa on the east.

Question 3

Indian ocean

Answer 3

a vast theater, stretching from the Strait of Malacca and western coast of Australia in the East to the Mozambique Channel in the West

Question 4

Arctic ocean

Answer 4

Earth’s northernmost body of water

Question 5

Southern Ocean

Answer 5

body of salt water covering approximately one-sixteenth of Earth’s total ocean area.

Question 6

Salinity

Answer 6

the quality or degree of being saline.

Question 7

Surface zone

Answer 7

the uppermost level of the land or sea.

Question 8

Thermocline

Answer 8

a steep temperature gradient in a body of water such as a lake, marked by a layer above and below which the water is at different temperatures.

Question 9

deep zone

Answer 9

extending or situated relatively far down from a surface.

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

the process of turning from liquid into vapor.

Question 12

Condensation

Answer 12

water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.

Question 13

Precipitation

Answer 13

the action or process of precipitating a substance from a solution.

Question 14

continental shelf

Answer 14

the area of seabed around a large landmass where the sea is relatively shallow compared with the open ocean. The continental shelf is geologically part of the continental crust.

Question 15

continental slope

Answer 15

the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the deep ocean floor.

Question 16

continental rise

Answer 16

A wide, gentle incline from an ocean bottom to a continental slope.

Question 17

abyssal plain

Answer 17

any of the great flat sediment-covered areas of ocean floor.

Question 18

mid-ocean ridge

Answer 18

a long, seismically active submarine ridge system situated in the middle of an ocean basin and marking the site of the upwelling of magma associated with seafloor spreading. An example is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Question 19

rift valley

Answer 19

a large elongated depression with steep walls formed by the downward displacement of a block of the earth’s surface between nearly parallel faults or fault systems.

Question 20

Seamount

Answer 20

a submarine mountain.

Question 21

ocean trench

Answer 21

a long, narrow ditch.

Question 22

Plankton

Answer 22

usually microscopic, often less than one inch in length, but they also include larger species like some crustaceans and jellyfish.

Question 23

Nekton

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Benthos

Answer 24

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

Question 25

desalination

Answer 25

the process of removing salt from seawater.