Oceanography Vocabulary Flashcards

Oceanic Zones and Features

• Pelagic Zone: Refers to the open ocean, characterized by deeper waters away from the coast.
• Continental Shelf: A gently sloping area of shallow ocean floor extending from a continent's edge, crucial for marine biodiversity.
• Benthic Zone: The ocean bottom layer with very little light penetration, resulting in minimal life forms.
• Abyssal Plains: Vast, flat regions of the ocean floor, found at great depths, offering unique habitats.

Oceanic Processes and Phenomena

• Upwelling: A coastal water current that brings nutrient-rich waters from the depths to the surface, vital for supporting marine ecosystems.
• Coriolis Effect: Influences the direction of winds and ocean currents due to Earth's rotation, impacting climate and weather patterns.

Oceanographic Measurements

• Sonar: A technique utilized to measure ocean depth and distances underwater, essential for navigation and research.
• Density: Represents the mass of matter per unit volume, important for understanding water stratification and ocean circulation.

Tidal Dynamics

• Spring Tide: Occurs when the sun and moon are aligned with the Earth, resulting in the highest tidal range.
• Neap Tide: Characterized by the smallest difference between high and low tides, occurring when the sun and moon are at right angles to each other.

Wave Characteristics

• Wave Height: The vertical distance from a wave's crest to its trough, indicating wave strength.
• Wave Length: The horizontal distance between consecutive wave crests, important for understanding wave energy.
• Crest and Trough: The crest is the peak of the wave, while the trough is its lowest point, essential for studying wave patterns.

Geological Structures

• Oceanic Ridge: An underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonics, creating a continuous range across oceans.
• Mid-Ocean Ridge: Specifically refers to the central, continuous mountain range in the ocean floors globally.
• Mid-Atlantic Ridge: A significant segment of the mid-ocean ridge system located in the Atlantic Ocean.

Marine Life and Ecosystems

• Plankton: Microscopic organisms, either plant (phytoplankton) or animal (zooplankton), that drift in ocean waters, foundational to aquatic food webs.
• Guyot: A flat-topped underwater mountain, often indicative of past volcanic activity.

Ocean Floor Gradients

• Continental Rise: The area transitioning from the continental shelf to the deep ocean floor, connecting shallow waters to the abyss.
• Continental Slope: A steep descent from the continental shelf to the ocean floor, critical for understanding oceanic sediment deposits.

Salinity

• Salinity: Refers to the total concentration of dissolved salts in ocean water, influencing water density and ocean circulation patterns.