Oceanography: Waves To Creatures

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Generating Force

Back 1

The pulse of energy that starts a wave.

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Restoring Force

Back 2

The force that brings a wave back to order.

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Gravity Waves

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These depend more greatly on the Earth's pull than the water surface tension to be restored.

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Capillary Waves

Back 4

These are small and have the surface tension of water restore them.

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Orbit

Back 5

The circular motion a particle moves as a wave passes through.

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Celerity

Back 6

Length÷Period = Speed of a Wave

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Period

Back 7

Generated by generating force and is the time required for two successive crests to pass a point in a space.

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Deep-Water Wave

Back 8

It occurs in water that is deeper than ½ its length.
The water particle orbits will not reach the sea floor in these.

Front 9

Progressive Wind Waves

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Generated by the moving air and restored by gravity, these move along a particular direction.
Often formed in local storm centers or in the trade and westerly belts.

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Fetch

Back 10

The distance over water that the wind blows in the same direction.

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Episodic Waves

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These are abnormally large and can suddenly appear unrelated to local sea conditions.

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Sea State Code

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Ranges from SS0 ➔ SS9.
Describes the intensity of waves from calm to hurricane.
Related to the Beaufort Scale.

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Shallow-Water Wave

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(D < L∕20)
Depth less than 1/20 of the Wavelength
Particle orbits move back-and-forth with sea floor in elliptical motions.

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Seismic Sea Wave

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AKA Tsunami and NOT tidal waves.

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Rip Currents

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The regions of rapid seaward flow.

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Diurnal Tide

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A regular pattern that occurs of one high and one low each day.

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Semidiurnal Tide

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A pattern in which there are two high and two lows each day.

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Semidiurnal Mixed

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A pattern in which there are two high and two lows each day, but the highs and lows are not respectively even.

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High Water

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Greatest point of a tide during a day.

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Low Water

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Least depth of a tide during a day.

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Mean Tide

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Calculated by measurements taken over many years, this is the average height of the water in an area.

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Tidal Datum

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Typically the mean low water a tide;
Used by sailors to assure the actual water depth at all times.

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Minus Tide

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A hazardous situation in which the water is lower than the tidal datum, or mean low tide.

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Flood Tide

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Rising water.

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Ebb Tide

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Receding water.

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Equilibrium Tidal Theory

Back 26

Mathematically ideal wave forms behaving uniformly in response to the laws of physics. (A method to analyze tides.)

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Dynamic Tidal Analysis

Back 27

Assuming that tides are to be studied as they occur naturally, modified by a multitude of random factors. (A method to analyze tides.)

Front 28

Centrifugal Force

Back 28

An apparent force present when one judges motion against a rotating frame of reference.
In tides, it is the force that pulls the moon away from the Earth, thus balancing the moon's pull toward the Earth.

Front 29

Centripetal Force

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The gravitational force that holds the Earth in Orbit.

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Tidal Day

Back 30

24 hours and 50 minutes.

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Tidal Wave

Back 31

The longterm high and low points that form a tide during the day mark this.
The wavelength is ½ the Earth's circumference.
The period is about 12 hours and 25 minutes.

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Spring Tides

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These result from the alignment of Earth, Sun, and Moon during full Moon (and new).
Two waves are essentially forming together, creating a huge range between high and low.

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Neap Tides

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Produced during Moon’s first and last quarters, these have low amplitudes.

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Progressive Wave

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The tide wave moving across the sea surface like a shallow-water wave.

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Standing Wave Tide

Back 35

Reflection of a tide wave from the edge of continents.

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Rotary Standing Wave Tide

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Includes a node reduced to a central point, while the tide crest progresses around the edges of the basin.

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Amphridromic Point

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The central point, or node, for a rotary tide.

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Tidal Bore

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A wall of turbulent water that appears when a forced wave breaks.

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Coast

Back 39

Where the land meets the sea.

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Shore

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Region from the outer limit of wave action on the bottom to the limit of the waves' direct influence on land.

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Beach

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Accumulation of sediment that occupies a portion of the share.

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Eustatic Change

Back 42

Worldwide shift in sea level that may submerge previous coasts or expose previous sea floor.

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Primary Coasts

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These owe their character and appearance to processes that occur at the land-air boundary.

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Secondary Coasts

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These owe their character and appearance to processes that are primarily of marine origin.

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Onshore Current

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The landward motion of water.

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Onshore Transport

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The delivery of sediments onto the land.

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Longshore Current

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The direction of the water at the angle hitting the beach within the surf-zone.

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Longshore Transport

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The delivery of sediments along the beach.

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Swash

Back 49

The up-rush of water from each breaking wave that moves sand particles diagonally up and along the beach in the direction of the longshore current.

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Virus

Back 50

Most abundant biological entity in seawater.

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Holoplankton

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Spend their entire lives as plankton.

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Meroplankton

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Spend only a portion of their lives as plankton.

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Phytoplankton

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Use solar energy to generate oxygen and the organic food that fuels most of the rest of the life in the sea. (Plants)

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Zooplankton

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Unicellular organisms.

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Sargassum

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Large planktonic seaweed.

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Dinoflagellates

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Single cells with both autotrophic and heterotrophic capabilities.

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Spores

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Reproductive cells released by some large seaweeds that drift in the plankton until they are consumed or settle out to grow attached to the sea bottom.

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Gross Primary Production

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Total amount of organic matter produced by photosynthesis per volume of seawater per unit of time.

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Net Primary Production

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Gain in organic matter from photosynthesis by phytoplankton minus the reduction in organic matter due to respiration by phytoplankton.

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Pelagic Zone

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Water Environment that is further divided into the coast (neritic) and oceanic zones.

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Benthic Zone

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Seafloor environment

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Euphotic Zone

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Area of the ocean where there is sufficient sunlight for growth of photosynthetic organisms.

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Aphotic Zone

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Area of the ocean where no light penetrates.

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Biological Pump

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The process of drawing CO₂ from the atmosphere into the ocean through the activity of biological processes.

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Poikilotherms

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Invertebrates and most fishes that have no means of metabolically regulating their body temperatures and instead rely solely upon heat conductance.

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Homeotherms

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Seabirds and mammals that can maintain a nearly constant body temperature.

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Endotherms

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Tunas and lamnid sharks that can maintain a higher temperature than the surrounding water, but do not have the same level of temperature control as homeotherms.

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Epifauna

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Benthic organisms that live on the surface. (Roughly 80% of all benthic organisms.)

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Infauna

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Benthic organisms that live within the sea floor. (Roughly 20% of all benthic organisms.)

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Sessile

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Does not move.
(barnacles, sea anenomones and oysters)

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Motile

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Moves.
(Crabs, starfish and snails)