Vocab Quiz 1 Flashcards
Coriolis effect
The deflation of air or water bodies, relative to the solid earth beneath, as a result of the earth’s eastward rotation
Boundary Layer
A layer of fluid near a surface, where flow is affected by viscous properties of the fluid. At the surface, fluid velocity must be zero, and the boundary layer is a thin film that depends on surface texture, fluid velocity in the “mainstream of flow”, and fluid mass properties such as salinity
Correlation
A quantitative relationship between two or more variables collected at a series of locations or from a series of individuals
Dynamic Viscosity
A measure of molecular stickiness of a fluid, or a measure of resistance of a fluid to deform when a force is applied
Functional Biology
The study of how an organism carries out the basic functions such as reproduction, locomotion, feeding, and the cellular and biochemical processes relating to digestion, respiration, and other aspects of metabolism.
Greenhouse Effect
Carbon dioxide traps solar derived heat in the atmosphere near the earth
Gyres
Major cyclonic surface current systems in the ocean
Hypothesis
A refutable statement about one or a series of phenomena
Inertial Forces
Forces where an object tends to keep moving after ceasing to apply a force to that object.
Kinematic Viscosity
The dynamic viscosity divided by water density.
Laminar Flow
The movement of a fluid where movement of the entire fluid is regular and with parallel streamlines.
Ocean acidification
The decline of pH in the ocean, owing to additions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and subsequent dissolution in seawater.
Oxygen Minimum Layer
A depth zone, usually below the thermocline, in which dissolved oxygen is minimal.
Practical Salinity Units
(psu) a measure of the salt content of seawater, based upon electrical conductivity of a sample relative to a reference standard of seawater at one atmosphere pressure at 15C temperature. The reference is a set of diluted seawater samples from the North Atlantic of known salt content.
Pressure Drag
A difference in pressure upstream and downstream of an object in a flow.
Pycnocline
Depth zone within which seawater density changes
Remote Sensing
Acquisition of environmental data with an instrument that is not in contact with the medium to be sampled, often at great distances, as in satellites sensing the earth’s surface
Residence Time
The time a unit of a substance spends in a specified location in the environment.
Salinity
Number of kilograms of dissolved salts in 1 kg of seawater, measured in parts per thousand.
Scientific Method
Organized means of learning about the natural world, using observation, forming of hypotheses, and hypothesis testing
Thermocline
Depth zone within which temperature changes maximally
Thermoclines
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Turbulent Flow
Movement of water that can be characterized by streamlines moving in a very irregular fashion.
Upwelling
The movement of nutrient-rich water from a specified depth to the surface, usually driven by surface winds.
Viscous forces
Forces in a fluid that are explained by viscosity
Westerlies
Persistent eastward-equatorward winds in midlatitudes in both the northern and southern hemisphere.
