Oceans

Front 1

gulf

Back 1

a large area of the ocean that is partly enclosed by land

Front 2

sea

Back 2

a body of salty water more or less landlocked

Front 3

bay

Back 3

small area of ocean that is partly enclosed by land

Front 4

ocean

Back 4

large body of salty water that covers 3/4 of the earths surface

Front 5

precipitation

Back 5

moisture that falls from the clouds

Front 6

evaporation

Back 6

to change from a liquid to a vapor

Front 7

condensation

Back 7

to change from a vapor to a liquid

Front 8

water cycle

Back 8

movement of water between earths land air and bodies of water

Front 9

solar

Back 9

from the sun

Front 10

vapor

Back 10

a substance in the gaseous state

Front 11

coral

Back 11

a rock like deposit consisting of the calcareous skeletons secreted by various anthozoans. coral deposits often accumulate to form reefs or islands in warm seas.

Front 12

volcanism

Back 12

volcanic force or activity invasion of the earths crust by magma

Front 13

reefs

Back 13

a strip of rocks sand or coral that rises to or near the surface of a body of water

Front 14

atolls

Back 14

ring shaped island formed by coral reefs around an underwater volcano

Front 15

plate tectonics

Back 15

a theory that explains the global distribution of geological phenomena such as seismicity volcanism continental drift and mountain building in terms of the formation destruction movement and interaction of the earths lithospheric plates

Front 16

continental shelf

Back 16

gently sloping underwater edge of a continent that is beneath the oceans surface

Front 17

continental slope

Back 17

ocean floor from the edge of the continental shelf to the continental rise

Front 18

continental rise

Back 18

gentle rise at the base of the steeper continental slope

Front 19

mid ocean ridge

Back 19

underwater mountain range where sea floor spreading happens

Front 20

trench

Back 20

deep narrow valley in the ocean floor

Front 21

abyssal plain

Back 21

large flat area on the ocean floor

Front 22

ocean basin

Back 22

deep part of the ocean beyond the continental rise

Front 23

guyot

Back 23

flat top seamount

Front 24

salinity

Back 24

the total amount dissolved salts in water

Front 25

density

Back 25

amount of matter in a given volume of something

Front 26

solution

Back 26

the state of being dissolved

Front 27

surface current

Back 27

large circular streams kept in motion by prevailing winds and rotating the earth

Front 28

subsurface current

Back 28

generally at a much slower speed than a surface current and the subsurface current is driven by difference in the density of seawater

Front 29

Gulf Stream

Back 29

is an example of a surface current in the North Atlantic

Front 30

Kuroshio

Back 30

is an example of a surface current in the north pacific

Front 31

current

Back 31

like rivers of water that move through the ocean

Front 32

upwelling

Back 32

is a current created near the shore due to convection and caused deep cold currents to rise to the surface along some western coastlines

Front 33

neap tide

Back 33

a tide with the least difference between low and high tide that occurs when the sun and moon pull at right angles to eachother

Front 34

spring tide

Back 34

a tide with the greatest difference between high and low tide that occur when the sun and moon are aligned with the earth

Front 35

tide

Back 35

the daily rise and fall of earths waters on shores caused mostly by the moon's gravity

Front 36

gravitational pull

Back 36

the force or attraction between the earth sun and moon that keeps the earth rotating on its axis

Front 37

tidal bulge

Back 37

results when the moon pulls the earths waters the ocean beneath the moon the moon move toward the moon resulting in a tidal bulge

Front 38

Wave

Back 38

is a way in which energy travels from one place to another

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crest

Back 39

is the highest point the wave reaches

Front 40

trough

Back 40

is the lowest point on the wave

Front 41

wavelength

Back 41

is the distance from one crest to the next crest

Front 42

breaker

Back 42

is a wave whose crest falls forward and crashes into the trough

Front 43

benthic zone

Back 43

is the ocean floor this zone extends from the continental shelf to dark sparsely populated depths shallow lighted water extending over shelf contains 90% of marine species

Front 44

neritic zone

Back 44

this zone extends from the low tide to the edge of the continental shelf it is usually only as deep as 200m this zone has the richest life because it has the best conditions for life light is plentiful allowing plants to thrive the temperature is stable and the pressure is low

Front 45

intertidal zone

Back 45

this zone lies between the low and high tide lines sometimes it is covered in water and sometimes it is dry plants and animals that live in this zone have evolved special structures and techniques to survive in fast moving waters and changing tides

Front 46

pelagic zones

Back 46

is the water in deep oceans

Front 47

Humboldt Current

Back 47

a current off the coast of South America that feeds huge schools of fish

Front 48

Coriolis effect

Back 48

Currents north of the equator move in a clockwise direction; currents south of the equator move in a counter-clockwise direction

Front 49

fetch

Back 49

the distance wind blows over open water