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Definition
| Abyssal plains stetch between the areas of trenches and mid-ocean ridges. They make up about 30 percent of the Atlantic Ocean floor and more than 70 percent of the Pacific Ocean floor. Also, the sediments covering abyssal plains can get up to 1 kilometer thick. |
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| The flat area that makes up continental margins, it extends from he continent's shoreline to the ocean basin like a shelf. The average width of continental shelves are about 80km, and the depth varies from 300m to 600m. |
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| A steep area that drops off rapidly to the ocean basin from the edge of the continental shelf. |
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| The rise between the continental slope and the abyssal plain tha is formed by turbidity currents depositing gently sloping piles of sediment. |
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| Canyons on the continental shelf and slope created by powerful turbidity currents. Sometimes submarine canyons are found in regions where large rivers reach the ocean. |
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Term
Tectonic Processes
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Definition
| The process that greatly influences the shape of the ocean floor. As magma heats up from energy from the Earth's core, the molten rock rises. This force can push two plates apart. |
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Turbidity Currents
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Definition
| The result of sediments collapsing when the build-up along the continental slope is too great. This current is an underwater landslide that can move as fast as 100km/h and can travel hundreds of kilometers down the continental slope and along the ocean floor. |
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Definition
| A long V-shaped groove that marks the boundry between an oceanic plate and a continental plate, is formed when subduction occurs. |
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| A large amount of ocean water moving in a particular and unchanging direction. These water also transport an amount of dissolved minerals, solar energy, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. |
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Definition
Microscopic plants and animals that are food for all the other organisms in the oceans.
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Definition
| Large, rolling waves that form in open ocean. Most are only a few meters high, but the highest was over 30 meters high. |
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| The daily cycle of rising and dalling ocean water. Caused by the gravitational attraction between earth and the moon. |
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Definition
| Caused by earthquakes beneath the ocean floor. |
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An action that causes movement of surface currents.
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Definition
The middle and the largest of the two parts on the ocean floor.
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Continental Margins
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Definition
| Regions of the ocean floor that lie underwater along the edge of the continents, also surrounds the ocean basin. |
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Definition
| The effect that redirects winds and currents to a side depending on which side of the equator they are on. |
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Definition
| Creates excellent ocean fishing to bizzare weather. This happens when cold water sinks under warmer water, then the water will move along the ocean floor. |
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Definition
| One of the three layers in ocean water. It is the layer that the effects of the Sun cannot be felt, there the water temperature drops rapidly. The thermocline can reach the depth of 1km below the ocean surface. |
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Definition
| The rising of water from the deep, it brings nutrient-rich waters to the surface, which feeds plankton. |
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| Sections of the coastline that extends out into the ocean, usually composed of rocks harder than it's surroundings, that way, they are not eroded back as much as the bays. As a result, headlands reach farther into the oceans, that way, headlands usually recieve more concentrated force than bays. |
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| Indented areas in the coastline where the ocean reaches into the land, usually the waves slow down before they reach bays, so they will deposit some of the washed away sediments. |
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Definition
| The average weather in a particular region over a long period of time. |
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Definition
| Happens when Sun heats up the surface of the ocean , some of the heat is transferred to the air above. As this air gets warm, it starts to rise upwards. When termal reaches the cooler level in the atmosphere, they lose heat and therefore sinks back towards the ocean. |
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Definition
| A phenomenon that causes warmer than usual water temperature around Ecuador and Peru that happens every year. |
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Definition
| A measure of how long it takes for water to warm up or cool down. Water has a high heat capacity. |
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| When upwelling causes colder than normal water to come to the coast of South America. It often produces the opposite climatic effects than El Nino. |
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| The condition of the atmosphere at a specific time. Weather can be described in terms of temperature, wind speed and direction, air pressure, and moisture. |
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