Oceans Flashcards
Salinity
A measure of the amount of dissolved salts in a given amount of water.
Thermocline
A layer of water extending from 300 m below sea level to about 700 m below sea level.
Water cycle
A cycle that links all of Earth’s solid, liquid, and gaseous water together.
Continental shelf
Begins at the shoreline and slopes gently toward the open ocean.
Continental slope
Begins at the edge of the continental shelf and continues down the to the flattest part of the ocean floor.
Continental rise
The base of the continental slope, and is made of large piles of sediment.
Abyssal plain
Is the broad flat portion of the deep-ocean basin.
Mid- ocean ridges
Mountain chains formed where tectonic plates pull apart.
Rift valley
Forms between mid-ocean ridges.
Ocean trenches
Seemingly bottomless cracks in the deep-ocean basin.
Seamounts
Individual mountains of volcanic material.
Benthic environment
The ocean floor and the organisms that live on it.
Pelagic environment
The entire volume of water and the marine organisms that live above the ocean floor.
Nonpoint- source pollution
A type of pollution that you cannot pinpoint the exact source.
