Oceanography Chapter 2

Front 1

Aqua

Back 1

A NASA satellite designed to obtain data on Earth's water cycle.

Front 2

Challenger Expedition

Back 2

The first wholly scientific oceanographic expedition, 1872-76; named for the steam corvette used in the voyage.

Front 3

Jason-1

Back 3

A follow-on satellite mission to TOPEX/Poseidon.

Front 4

Meteor Expedition

Back 4

German Atlantic expedition begun in 1925; the first to use an echo sounder and other modern optical and electronic instrumentation.

Front 5

Oceanus

Back 5

Latin form of OKEANOS, the Greek name for the "Ocean River" past Gibraltar.

Front 6

SEASTAR

Back 6

Satellite capable of measuring the distribution of chlorophyll at the ocean surface, a measure of marine productivity.

Front 7

TOPEX/Poseidon

Back 7

Joint French-U.S. satellite carrying radars that can determine the height of the sea surface with unprecedented accuracy. Other experiments in this five-year program included sensing water vapor over the ocean, determining the precise location of the ocean currents, and determining wind speed and direction.

Front 8

Angle of Incidence

Back 8

In meteorology, the angle of the sun above the horizon.

Front 9

Antarctic Circle

Back 9

The imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator at 66 degrees 33' South, marking the southern-most limit of sunlight at the June solstice. The Antarctic Circle marks the northern limit of the area within which, for one day or more each year, the sun does not set (around December 21) or rise (around June 21).

Front 10

Bathyscaphe

Back 10

Deep-diving submersible designed like a blimp, which uses gasoline for buoyancy and can reach the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches. From the Greek BATHEOS ("depth") and SKAPHIDION ("a small ship").

Front 11

Cartographer

Back 11

A person who makes maps and charts.

Front 12

Catastrophism

Back 12

The theory that Earth's surface features are formed by catastrophic forces such as the biblical flood. Catastrophists believe in a young Earth and a literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation.

Front 13

Chart

Back 13

A map that depicts mostly water and the adjoining land areas.

Front 14

Chronometer

Back 14

A very consistent clock. It doesn't need to tell accurate time, but its rate of gain or loss must be constand and known exactly so that accurate time may be calculated.

Front 15

Christopher Columbus

Back 15

(1451-1506) Italian explorer in the service of Spain who discovered islands in the Caribbean in 1492. Although traditionally credited as the discoverer of America, he never actually sighted the North American continent.

Front 16

Compass

Back 16

An instrument for showing direction by means of a magnetic needle swinging freely on a pivot and pointing to magnetic north.

Front 17

James Cook

Back 17

(1728-1779) Officer in the British Royal Navy who led the first European voyages of scientific discovery.

Front 18

Echo Sounder

Back 18

A device that reflects sound off the ocean bottom to sense water depth. Its accuracy is affected by the variability of the speed of sound through water.

Front 19

Eratosthenes of Cyrene

Back 19

(276-192 b.c) Greek scholar and librarian at Alexandria who frist calculated the circumference of Earth about 230 b.c.

Front 20

Benjamin Franklin

Back 20

(1706-1790) Published the frist chart of an ocean current in 1769.

Front 21

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Back 21

Satellite-based navigation system that provides a geographical position---longitude and latitide---accurate to less than 1 meter.

Front 22

John Harrison

Back 22

(1693-1776) British clockmaker who invented the modern chronometer in 1760.

Front 23

Henry the Navigator

Back 23

(1394-1460) Prince of Portugal who established a school for the study of geography, seamanship, shipbuilding, and navigation.

Front 24

Latitude

Back 24

Regularly spaced imaginary lines on the Earth's surface running parallel to the equator.

Front 25

Library of Alexandria

Back 25

The greatest collection of writings in the ancient world, founded in the third century b.c at the behest of Alexander the Great; could be considered the first university.

Front 26

Longitude

Back 26

Regularly spaced imaginary lines on Earth's surface running from north to south and converging at the poles.

Front 27

Ferdinand Magellan

Back 27

(c. 1480-1521) Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain who led the first expedition to circumnavigate Earth, 1519-22. He was killed in the Philippines.

Front 28

Alfred Thayer Mahan

Back 28

An American naval officer and strategist; the influential author of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783.

Front 29

Map

Back 29

A representation of Earth's surface, usually depicting mostly land areas.

Front 30

Matthew Maury

Back 30

(1806-1873) "Father" of physical oceanography. Probably the first person to undertake the systematic study of the ocean as a full-time occupation, and probably the first to understand the global interlocking of currents, wind flow, and weather.

Front 31

Nansen Bottle

Back 31

A water-sampling instrument perfected early in this century by the Norwegian scientist and explorer Fridtjof Nansen.

Front 32

Nautical Chart

Back 32

A chart used for marine navigation.

Front 33

Polynesia

Back 33

A large group of Pacific islands lying east of Melanesia and Micronesia and extending from the Hawai'ian Islands south to New Zealand and east to Easter Island.

Front 34

Polynesians

Back 34

Inhabitants of the Pacific islands that lie within a triangle formed by Hawai'i, New Zealand, and Easter Island.

Front 35

Prince Henry the Navigator

Back 35

Established a center at Sagres, Portugal, for the study of marine science and navigation in the mid-1450's.

Front 36

Refractive Index

Back 36

The degree of refraction from one medium to another expressed as a ratio. The higher the ratio (refractive index), the greater the bending of waves between media.

Front 37

Sea Power

Back 37

The means by which a nation extends its military capacity onto the ocean.

Front 38

Sounding

Back 38

Measurement of the depth of a body of water.

Front 39

Tropic of Cancer

Back 39

The imaginary line around Earth parallel to the equator at 23 degrees 27' North, marking the point where the sun shines directly overhead at the June solstice.

Front 40

Tropic of Capricorn

Back 40

The imaginary line around Earth parallel to the equator at 23 degrees 27' South, marking the point where the sun shines directly overhead at the December solstice.

Front 41

Uniformitarianism

Back 41

The theory that all of Earth's geological features and history can be explained by processes occuring today and that these processes must have been at work a very long time ago.

Front 42

United States Exploring Expedition

Back 42

The frist U.S. oceanographic research voyage, launched in 1838.

Front 43

Vikings

Back 43

Seafaring Scandinavian raiders who ravaged the coasts of Europe aroudn a.d. 780-1070.

Front 44

Voyaging

Back 44

Traveling (usually by sea) whith a specific purpose.

Front 45

Wind

Back 45

The mass movement of air.