Vocab Ch. 13 Flashcards
Water cycle
The continuous movement of water from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean
Continental shelf
The gently sloping section of the continental margin located between the shoreline and the continental slope
Continental slope
The steeply inclined section of the continental margin located between the continental rise and he continental shelf
Continental rise
The gently sloping section or the continental margin located between the continental slope and the abyssal plain
Abyssal play
A large, flat, almost level areas of the deep-ocean basin
Mid-ocean ridge
A long, undersea mountain chain that forms floor of the major oceans
Rift Valley
A long, narrow valley that forms as tectonic plates separate
Seamount
A submerge mountain on the ocean floor that is at least 1,000 m high and that has volcanic origin
Ocean trench
A steep, long depression in the deep-sea floor that runs parallel to a chain of volcanic islands or a continental margin
Plankton
The mass of mostly microscopic organisms that float or drift freely in freshwater and marine environments
Nekton
All organisms that swim actively I’m open water, independent of currents
Benthos
The organisms that live at the bottom of the sea or ocean
Benthic environment
The region near the bottom of a pond, lake, or ocean
Pelagic environment
In the ocean, the zone near the surface or at middle depths, beyond and sublittoral zone and above abyssal zone
Desalination
A process of removing salt from ocean water
