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35 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Aphotic zone |
The portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight |
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Biomass |
The total mass of organisms in a given area or volume |
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Intertidal zone |
The area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide |
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Neritic zone |
That zone of the ocean where sunlight reaches the ocean floor, that is, where the water is never so deep as to take it out of the photic zone |
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Oceanic zone |
The region of open sea beyond the edge of the continental shelf and includes 65% of the ocean's completely open water |
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Photic zone |
The upper layer of a body of water delineated by the depth to which enough sunlight can penetrate to permit photosynthesis |
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Salinity |
The concentration of dissolved salts in water |
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Water column |
A conceptual column of water from the surface of a sea, river or lake to the bottom sediments |
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Coriolis effect |
An effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation |
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Downwelling |
The downward movement of fluid |
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Gyre |
A ringlike system of ocean currents rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere |
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High tide |
The state of the tide when at its highest level |
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Longshore current |
A geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on oblique incoming wind direction |
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Low tide |
The state of the tide when at its lowest level |
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Neap tide |
A tide just after the first or third quarters of the moon when there is the least difference between high and low water |
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Rip current |
A relatively strong, narrow current flowing outward from the beach through the surf zone and presenting a hazard to swimmers |
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Spring tide |
A tide just after a new or full moon, when there is the greatest difference between high and low water |
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Storm surge |
A rising of the sea as a result of atmospheric pressure changes and wind associated with a storm |
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Surface current |
When the water at the ocean surface is moved primarily by winds that blow in certain patterns because of the Earth's spin and the Coriolis Effect |
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Thermohaline circulation |
The flow of ocean water caused by changes in density |
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Tidal range |
The vertical difference between the high tide and the succeeding low tide |
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Tide |
The alternate rising and falling of the sea |
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Upwelling |
A rising of seawater, magma, or other liquid |
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Wave |
A long body of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore |
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Bottom trawling |
Trawling along the sea floor |
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Manganese nodule |
A small concretion consisting of manganese and iron oxides, occurring in large numbers in ocean-floor sediment |
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Chemosynthesis |
The synthesis of organic compounds by bacteria or other living organisms using energy derived from reactions involving inorganic chemicals, typically in the absence of sunlight |
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Hydrothermal vent |
An opening in the sea floor out of which heated mineral-rich water flows |
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Invertebrate |
An animal lacking a backbone |
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Phytoplankton |
Plankton consisting of microscopic plants |
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Plankton |
The small and microscopic organisms drifting or floating in the sea |
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Primary productivity |
The rate at which energy is converted by photosynthetic and chemosynthetic autotrophs to organic substances |
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Reef |
A ridge of jagged rock, coral, or sand just above or below the surface of the sea |
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Vertebrate |
An animal of a large group distinguished by the possession of a backbone or spinal column |
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Zooplankton |
Plankton consisting of small animals and the immature stages of larger animals |
