Oceans

Question 1

Thermocline

Answer 1

A layer of ocean water extending from 300 m below sea level to about 700 m below sea level in which water temperature drops with increased depth faster than it does in other zones of the ocean.

Question 2

Water cycle

Answer 2

The continuous flow of water from water sources into the air,onto land, into and onto the ground,and back to the water sources; a cycle that links all the Earth’s solid,liquid and gaseous water together

Question 3

Continental shelf

Answer 3

Begins at the shoreline and slopes gently toward the open ocean. It continues until the ocean floor begins to slope more steeply downward. The depth of the continental shelf can reach 200m

Question 4

Continental slope

Answer 4

Begins at the edge of continental shelf and continues down to the flattest part of the ocean floor,the depth of the continental slope ranges about 200m to about 4,000m

Question 5

Continental rise

Answer 5

Base of the continental slope,is made of large piles of sediment the boundary between the continental margin and the deep-ocean basin lies underneath the continental margin and the deep-ocean basin lies underneath the continental rise.

Question 6

Abyssal plain

Answer 6

Broad flat portion of the deep-ocean basin.its covered by mud and the remains of tiny marine organisms. The average depth of the abyssal plain is about 4,000m,

Question 7

Mid ocean ridges

Answer 7

Mountain chains formed where tectonic plates pull apart.This pulling motion creates freaks in the ocean floor called rift zones. As plates pull apart,magma rises to fill in spaces,heat from magma causes the crust on either side of the rifts to expand,forming the ridges.

Question 8

Rift Valley

Answer 8

Valley that forms in the rift zone between the diverging boundaries tectonic plates

Question 9

Salinity

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Ocean trenches

Answer 10

Seemingly bottomless cracks in the deep-ocean basin.Ocean trenches form where one oceanic plate is forced underneath a continental plate or another oceanic plate.

Question 11

Seamounts

Answer 11

Seemingly bottomless cracks in the deep-ocean basin.Ocean e trenches form where one oceanic plate is forced underneath a continental plate or another oceanic plate .

Question 12

Plankton

Answer 12

Organisms that float at or near the oceans surface

Question 13

Nekton

Answer 13

Free swimming organisms of the ocean

Question 14

Benthos

Answer 14

Organisms that live on or in the ocean floor.

Question 15

Benthic environment

Answer 15

The ocean floor and all the organisms that live on or in it also known as the bottom environment.

Question 16

Pelagic environment

Answer 16

The environment volume of water in the ocean and marine organisms that live above the ocean floor

Question 17

Desalination

Answer 17

Process of evaporating sea water so that the water and salt are separate.

Question 18

Nonpoint-source pollution

Answer 18

Pollution that comes from many sources and that cannot be traced to specific sites.