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34 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Continental margin |
Edge of a continent. |
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Continental shelf |
Relatively shallow water area on edge of continent. |
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Continental slope |
Sharp drop-off at the end of the continental shelf leading to the deep ocean. |
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Seamount |
Mountains in the ocean formed by underwater volcanoes. |
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Guyot |
Flat-topped seamount formed by erosion. |
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Abyssal Plain |
Large, flat area on ocean floor. |
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Submarine canyons |
V-shaped cracks in the continental slope. |
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Challenger deep |
Deepest spot in the ocean. |
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Why is the ocean so salty? |
Erosion, Evaporation and Volcanism |
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Is the salinity of the Earth's oceans increasing? |
No, the amount of salt coming into the ocean is counterbalanced by amount of precipitation the ocean recieves. |
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Salinity |
Measurement of salt in the ocean. |
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How much of the Earth's surface is covered in ocean water? |
71% |
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Largest and deepest ocean |
Pacific Ocean |
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Average depth of oceans |
3940m |
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Depth sunlight penetrates in ocean |
200m |
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Percentage of ocean pure water and dissolved salts |
96% water, 4% dissolved salts |
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Type of salt most common |
Sodium Chloride |
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How can some areas of the ocean have a lower salinity? |
Lots of rivers, lots of precipitation and not much evaporation. |
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How can some areas have a higher than average salinity? |
Not many rivers, low precipitation and lots of evaporation. |
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% of Earth's water found in ocean |
97% |
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Why are oceans so important? |
They house a large part of life and provide a lot of our food. |
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Ocean Acidification |
Carbon dioxide burned from fossil fuels makes the ocean more acidic, destroying ocean ecosystems. |
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How much of the ocean has been explored or mapped? |
4% |
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How do tides on Earth form? |
Mainly by the moon's gravity pulling ocean water. |
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Semi Diurnal Tide |
System of 2 high tides and 2 low tides |
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Structure of a wave |
Trough is lowest part of wave, crest is highest and distance between 2 crests is wavelength. |
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How do individual particles in a wave move? |
In a circular motion. |
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Waves vs Currents |
Waves formed by wind, currents formed by differences in water. |
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What causes circulation of deep ocean water? |
Density currents |
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Surface Currents |
Current caused by winds |
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Density currents |
Currents caused by difference in temperature or salinity of water. |
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How currents in the ocean affect the weather and climate. |
Currents bring warm water to distant shores and varying temperatures affect local atmospheric pressure, which affects weather and climate. |
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Waves effect on shoreline |
They cause erosion. |
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Tsunami |
Much higher, taller and stronger wave. |
