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| the branch of science that deals with the physical and biological properties and phenomena of the sea |
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| Oceanography, also known as oceanology and marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean. ... |
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| Marine geology or geological oceanography involves geophysical, geochemical, sedimentological and paleontological investigations of the ocean floor and coastal margins. Marine geology has strong ties to physical oceanography. . |
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| Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. ... |
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| Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters. Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is divided. ... |
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| Chemical oceanography is the study of ocean chemistry: the behavior of the chemical elements within the Earth's oceans. The ocean is unique in that it contains - in greater or lesser quantities - nearly every element in the periodic table. .. |
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| a scientist who studies physical and biological aspects of the seas |
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| Magellan: Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain; he commanded an expedition that was the first to circumnavigate the world (1480-1521) |
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| Franklin: printer whose success as an author led him to take up politics; he helped draw up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; he played a major role in the American Revolution and negotiated French support for the colonists; as a scientist he is remembered particularly for |
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| Darwin: English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection |
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| The Challenger expedition of 1872–76 was a scientific exercise that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the mother vessel |
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| Norwegian explorer of the Arctic and director of the League of Nations relief program for refugees of World War I |
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| The difference between the sea-surface height and the ocean geoid. |
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| The continental margin is the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust. Together, the continental shelf, continental slope, and continental rise are called continental margin. Continental margins constitute about 28% of the oceanic area |
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| the area of seabed around a large landmass where the sea is relatively shallow compared with the open ocean. The continental shelf is geologically part of the continental crust. |
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| The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but it is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. |
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| the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the deep ocean floor |
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| The continental rise is an underwater feature found between the continental slope and the abyssal plain. This feature can be found all around the world, and it represents the final stage in the boundary between continents and the deepest part of the ocean |
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| the deeper parts of the ocean, esp. those beyond the edge of the continental shelf. |
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| An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 m. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface |
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| a long, seismically active submarine ridge system situated in the middle of an ocean basin and marking the site of the upwelling of magma associated with seafloor spreading. An example is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
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| a large elongated depression with steep walls formed by the downward displacement of a block of the earth's surface between nearly parallel faults or fault systems. |
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| forming or belonging to a continent. |
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| the ocean waters from the low tide mark to a depth of about 100 fathoms |
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| The oceanic zone begins in the area off shore where the water measures 200 metres deep or deeper. It is the region of open sea beyond the edge of the continental shelf and includes 65% of the ocean’s completely open water |
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| The photic zone, euphotic zone, or sunlight zone is the depth of the water in a lake or ocean that is exposed to sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis to occur |
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| The aphotic zone is the portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight. It is formally defined as the depths beyond which less than 1% of sunlight penetrates. Consequently, bioluminescence is essentially the only light found in this zone |
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| Any water in a sea or lake that is neither close to the bottom nor near the shore can be said to be in the pelagic zone. The word pelagic comes from the Ancient Greek: πέλαγος “open sea” |
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| The mesopelagic is that part of the pelagic zone that extends from a depth of 200 to 1000 metres below the ocean surface. It lies between the photic epipelagic above and the aphotic bathypelagic below, where there is no light at all. |
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| The bathyal zone or bathypelagic – from Greek βαθύς, deep – is the part of the pelagic zone that extends from a depth of 1000 to 4000 metres below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The average temperature hovers at about 39 °F. |
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| The abyssal zone is the abyssopelagic layer or pelagic zone that contains the very deep benthic communities near the bottom of oceans. "Abyss" derives from the Greek word ἄβυσσος, meaning bottomless |
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| The hadal zone, also known as the hadopelagic zone and trench zone, is the delineation for the deepest trenches in the ocean. This zone is found from a depth of around 6,000 metres to the bottom of the ocean. The hadal zone has low population and low diversity of marine life. |
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| a theory explaining the structure of the earth's crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates that move slowly over the underlying mantle. |
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| a body of water or air moving in a definite direction, esp. through a surrounding body of water or air in which there is less movement |
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| An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun. |
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| the alternate rising and falling of the sea, usually twice in each lunar day at a particular place, due to the attraction of the moon and sun |
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| the rate at which a vibration occurs that constitutes a wave, either in a material (as in sound waves), or in an electromagnetic field (as in radio waves and light), usually measured per second |
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| a tide just after the first or third quarters of the moon when there is the least difference between high and low water. |
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| an irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes affecting the equatorial Pacific region and beyond every few years, characterized by the appearance of unusually warm, nutrient-poor water off northern Peru and Ecuador, typically in late December. |
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| the distance between successive crests of a wave, esp. points in a sound wave or electromagnetic wave |
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| n fluid dynamics, the wave height of a surface wave is the difference between the elevations of a crest and a neighbouring trough. Wave height is a term used by mariners, as well as in coastal, ocean and naval engineering |
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| the small and microscopic organisms drifting or floating in the sea or fresh water, consisting chiefly of diatoms, protozoans, small crustaceans, and the eggs and larval stages of larger animals. Many animals are adapted to feed on plankton, esp. by filtering the water. |
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| plankton consisting of microscopic plants |
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| plankton consisting of small animals and the immature stages of larger animals |
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| aquatic animals that are able to swim and move independently of water currents |
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| of or relating to or happening on the bottom under a body of water |
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| the branch of science concerned with the bodily structure of humans, animals, and other living organisms, esp. as revealed by dissection and the separation of parts. |
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| a large aperture in a sponge through which water is expelled. |
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| a free-swimming sexual form of a coelenterate such as a jellyfish, typically having an umbrella-shaped body with stinging tentacles around the edge. In some species, medusae are a phase in the life cycle that alternates with a polypoid phase. |
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| a solitary or colonial sedentary form of a coelenterate such as a sea anemone, typically having a columnar body with the mouth uppermost surrounded by a ring of tentacles. In some species, polyps are a phase in the life cycle that alternates with a medusoid phase |
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| a specialized cell in the tentacles of a jellyfish or other coelenterate, containing a barbed or venomous coiled thread that can be projected in self-defense or to capture prey. |
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| a yellowish-brown symbiotic dinoflagellate present in large numbers in the cytoplasm of many marine invertebrates. |
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| a coral reef that lies close to the shore. |
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| a coral reef running parallel to the shore but separated from it by a channel of deep water. |
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| a ring-shaped reef, island, or chain of islands formed of coral. |
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| Filter feeders are animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish. |
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