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104 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Accretion
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The clumping of small particles into large masses
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Big Bang
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13.7 bya
All of the mass and energy of the universe was concentrated at a point |
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Density Stratification
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Lasted 100my
The formation of layers in a material with each deeper layer being denser than the layer above |
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Marine Science
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Another word for oceanography
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Milky Way galaxy
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Huge, rotating aggregation of stars, dust, gas, and other debris held together by gravity
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Ocean
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Vast body of saline water that occupies the depressions of Earth's surface
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Oceanography
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The process of discovering unifying principles in data obtained from the ocean, it's associated like forms and its bordering lands
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Outgassing
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The volcanic venting of volatile substances, including water vapor
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Planets
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The smaller bodies that orbit a star & don't shine by their own light
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Protosun
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Material concentrated near solar nebulas center
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Solar nebula
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The nebula began to collapse inward from gravity, and began to spin faster & faster
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Solar System
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The sun and its family of planets. They're located about 3/4 of the way out from the galaxies center
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Stars
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Massive spheres of incandescent gases
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Theory
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A statement that explains the observations
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World Ocean
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A single entity with subtly different characteristics at different locations but with very few natural partitions
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Oceanus
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A latin variant of Ocean
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Cartographers
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Chart makers
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Charts
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Graphic representations that primarily depict water and water related information
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Library of Alexandria
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Considered the first University
Progress in marine science began here |
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Eratosthenes of Cyrene
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Second librarian
Greek The first to calculate the circumference of the Earth |
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Latitude
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Lines parallel to the equator
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Longitude
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Lines going from pole to pole
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Polynesian
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People of the eastern and central Pacific islands
Required a profound knowledge of the oceans for their voyages |
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Chinese Navigators
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Invented water tight compartments, sails on multiple masts, and the compass
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Prince Henry the Navigator
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Established a center for the study of marine science & navigation
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Christopher Columbus
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"Discovered" North America while trying to find a western route to Asia
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Ferdinand Magellan
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Initiator & leader of the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe. First voyage around the world
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James Cook
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Discovered cure for scurry
Discovered & mapped Hawaiin Islands Conducted first real scientific oceanographic voyage |
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U.S. Exploring Expedition
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Led by Captain Charles Wilkes
A lot of natural science collections, and it became the basis of Smithsonian Institute Collections Confirmed Antarctica as a continent |
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Matthew Maury
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US Navy Officer
Compiled info on winds & currents *Studied old logs and compiled data Determined the best routes "Father of physical Oceanography" |
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Challenger
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*FIRST major scientific expedition
Disproved Edward Forbes "azoic Theory" (that life below 549m was impossible) *FIRST true research ship |
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Fridtjof Nansen
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Wanted to see if there was a continental mass at the North Pole, so he created "The Fram" (ship) and froze it to drift
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Meteor Expedition
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German
The first expedition to use modern optical & electronic equiptment First real use of the Echo Sounder |
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Echo Sounder
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A device that bounces sound waves off the ocean floor to study the depth & contour of the seafloor
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NOAA
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Seeks to facilitate commercial uses of the ocean
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TOPEX/Poseidon
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Ocean circulation every 10 days
Measures ocean height, waves, water vapor & water temp |
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Jason-1
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Follow onto TOPEX
Measures global-seasonal changes in the oceans Height accuracy to 3.3cm |
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SEASTAR
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Carries a color scanner called SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing wide-field-of-view-sensor)
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AQUA
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1 of 4 of NASAs next generation of Earth-observing satellites into polar orbit
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GPS (Global Positioning System)
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A "constellation" of 24 satellites in orbit
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Asthenosphere
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Material that can flow
It includes upper mantle, ocean, and continental crust |
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Atoll
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Just the reef that is left
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Basalt
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Heavy, dark, composed mostly of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, and iron
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Buoyancy
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The ability of an object to float in a fluid by displacing a volume of that fluid equal in weight to the floating objects own weight
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Conduction
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A process to slow migration of heat along a skillets handle
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Continental crust
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Granitic
Lower density than Oceanic |
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Continental Drift
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Theory that the continents move slowly across the surface of Earth
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Convection
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Occurs when a fluid is heated, expands & becomes less dense and rises
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Convergent Plate Boundary
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When the crust come together
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Core
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Composed of mixtures of iron
Solid inner core Liquid outer core |
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Crust
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Uppermost layer
Lightweight Brittle |
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Divergent Plate Boundaries
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Spreads apart
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Fault
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A fracture in a rock mass along which movement has occured
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Granite
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Familiar speckled rock composed mainly of Oxygen, Silicon and Aluminum
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Guyot
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Flat-topped seamounds. Doesn't rise above sea level
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Hot Spot
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Stationary zones of volcanic activity
Creates a chain of volcanoes that progressively get older toward the end |
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Isostatic Equilibrium
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Balanced support of lighter material in a heavier, displaced supporting matrix
Analogous to buoyancy |
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Lithosphere
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The upper mantle and crust
Rigid, solid rock |
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Lower Mantle
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Extends to the core
Even though it's hotter it doesn't melt |
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Magma
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Molten rock capable to fluid flow
Called lava above ground |
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Magnetometer
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Shows magnetism (Normal and reverse)
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Mantle
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THe layer beneath the crust
Mainly oxygen, iron, magnesium, and silicon |
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Oceanic Crust
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Basaltic
Higher density (low in silica & high in iron & magnesium) |
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"Pacific Ring of Fire"
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The zone of seismic and volcanic activity that encircles the Pacific Ocean
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Paleomagnetism
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The "fossil", or remnant, magnetic field of a rock
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Pangaea
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250 mya
means "all earth" |
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Panthalassa
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Means all ocean
The surrounding ocean of Pangaea |
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Abyssal Hill
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Small sediment-covered inactive volcano or intrustion of molten rock less than 200m high, thought to be associated with seafloor spreading
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Abyssal Plain
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Flat, cold, sediment-covered ocean floor between the continental rise and the oceanic ridge
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Active Margin
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The continental margin near an area of lithospheric plate convergence
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Bathymetry
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The discovery & study of submerged contours
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Bathyscaphe
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Deep-diving submersible designed like a blimp, which uses gasoline for buoyancy and can reach the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches
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Continental Margin
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The submerged outer edge of a continent, made of granitic crust
Includes the continental shelf and continental slope |
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Continental rise
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The wedge of sediment forming the gentle transition from the outer edge of the continental slope to the abyssal plain
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Continental Shelf
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The gradually sloping submerged extension of a continent
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Continental Slope
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The sloping transition between the granite of the continent and the basalt of the seabed
(The true edge of a continent) |
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Epicenter
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The point on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake
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Fracture Zone
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Area of irregular, seismically inactive topography marking the position of a once-active transform fault
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Gravimeter
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A sensitive device that measures variations in the pull of gravity at different places on Earth's surface
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Hydrothermal Vent
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A spring of hot, mineral and gas rich seawater found on some oceanic ridges in zones of active seafloor spreading
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Island Arc
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Curving chain of volcanic islands & seamounts almost always found paralleling the concave edge of a trench
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Ocean Basin
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Deep-ocean floor made of basaltic crust
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Oceanic Ridge
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Young seabed at the active spreading center of an ocean.
The boundary between diverging blates |
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Passive margin
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The continental margin near an area of lithospheric plate divergence
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Seamount
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A circular projection from the seafloor
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shelf break
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The abrupt increase in slope at the junction between continental shelf and continental slope
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Submarine canyon
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A deep, V-shaped valley running roughly perpendicular to the shoreline and cutting across the edge of the continental shelf & slope
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Transform Fault
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A plane along which rock masses slide horizontally past one another
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Trench
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An arc-shaped depression in the deep-ocean floor with very steep sides & a flat sediment-filled bottom coinciding with a subduction zone
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Turbidity Current
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An underwater "avalanche" of sediments thought responsible for the deep sculpturing of submarine canyons
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Plate Tectonics
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The theory that Earth's lithosphere is fractured into plates that move relative to each other
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Plates
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Rigid sediments of Earth's lithosphere that move independently
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Radioactive decay
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The disintegration of unstable forms of elements, which releases subatomic particles and heat
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Radiometric dating
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The process of determining the age of rocks by observing the ratio of unstable radioactive elements to stable decay products
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Seafloor Spreading
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Theory that new ocean crust forms at spreading centers and pushes the continents aside
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Seismic Waves
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A low-frequency wave generated by the forces that cause earthquakes
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Seismograph
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An instrument that detects & records earth movement associated with earthquakes
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Spreading center
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The junction between diverging plates at which new ocean floor is being made
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Subduction
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The downward movement into the asthenosphere of a lithospheric plate
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Transform Plate Boundary
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Places where crustal plates shear laterally past one another
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Terrane
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An isolated segment of seafloor, island arc, plateau, continental crust, or sediment transported by seafloor spreading to a position adjacent to a larger continental mass
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Hypsographic Curve
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Graph that shows proportion of land area at various elevations
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Alfred Wegener
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German
Proposed theory of continental drift |
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John Tuzo Wilson
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Canadian
Proposed the theory of plate tectonics |