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| covers more than 70% of the planets surface |
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| the study of the earth's ocean |
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| the measure of the quantity of dissolved salt in seawater |
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| although small amounts of water often appear colorless, water's natural blue ______ is revealed when water is found in larger quantities |
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| __________ in the ocean vary widely with latitude. It may drop as low as 28* F in Polar Regions, but can reach 86* F in tropical weather. |
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| the region where cold, deep water meets the sun-warmed, near-surface water |
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| two main factors determine the density of seawater |
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| also affects water's density; cold water is considerably denser than warm water of the same salinity |
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| with low salinity (and thus low density) may be found floatng on warmer but saltier water |
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| pounds per square inch (psi) |
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| oceanic pressure increases by _____ for every 33 feet (10 m) of depth |
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| in Polar Regions, where the temperature drops far below this point, salt water freezes and forms this |
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| in frigid regions, glaciers may eventually reach the cold sea and fragment, forming huge chunks of floating glacial ice |
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| some glaciers, instead of breaking up immediately upon reaching the sea, extend into the ocean to form an _________, the outer edge of a glacier that floats on the ocean's surface |
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| found in the Antartic and covers an area of ocean about the size of France |
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| icebergs float because they are _________ than seawater |
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| ocean currents, waves, and tides |
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| there are three primary types of water movement in the oceans |
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| are large streams of ocean water that flow at or below the surface |
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| are generally limited to the first 1300 feet below the surface |
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| California Current and Gulf Stream |
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| What are the two important surface currents? |
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| the earth's rotation influences surface currents so that they move in a circular path |
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| ocean currents may also flow beneath the surface, forming these, also known as deep currents |
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| a common type of subsurface current, results from differences in density |
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| unusual type of density current, occurs when mud or silt mixes with seawater |
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| cooler water moves to the surface to fill a void forming an upward-flowing current |
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| The cool waters of upwellings are usually extremely _______ bringing organic matter from the deep sea to the surface |
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| a warm Pacific current appears and flows southward along the coast of Ecuador |
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| rhythmic back-and-forth motions of water that transfer energy through the water |
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| the highest point of a wave |
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| the depression in the water between crests |
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| the length of time between one crest and the next |
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| most waves are created by this blowing along the surface of the water |
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| gusty winds, which shift direction and speed, frequently cause waves that are different sizes and move in various directions |
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| strong winds often whip the crest of waves into spray causing waves to have white foamy crests |
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| gentle, rolling waves that may appear even during calm weather |
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| the wave eventually "topples" forward to form this, a wave with a white crest |
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| breakers wash up onto the beach in a mass of foaming water |
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| this current, which may wash sand from beneath the feet of swimmers |
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| if a sandbar lies just offshore, some of this outflowing water may be trapped near the beach by the sandbar and flow parallel to the beach |
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| carry large volumes of water from the shore to the sea, form when large quantities of water from heavy breakers surge ashore and then seek to flow back offshore but are trapped by sandbars |
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| gigantic waves that usually begin far from land with an earthquake, volcanic explosion, or undersea landslide |
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| Almost ______ of all tsuanamis result from strong earthquakes |
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| several countries of the world have implemented this, it entails a network of sensors to detect earthquake activity and a communications network to relay the warning |
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| earthquake information, tide guages (which measure sea level), tsunami detection buoys |
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the most regular and predictable movements of water in the oceans
they are caused primarily by the moon |
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| the period when the ocean levels are at their highest point |
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| the period when the ocean levels are at their lowest |
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some coastal regions have these, with one high tide and one low tide each day
Gulf of Mexico have these |
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| if both high tides rise to the same level and both low tides fall to the same level |
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| one high is higher than the other high tide and one low tide is lower than the other low tide |
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| gravitational pulls "team up" to produce this, a tide that is higher than normal at high tide and lower than normal at low tide |
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twice a month, halfway between the spring tides, a weaker-than-normal tides
these occurs when the sun and moon are at right angles to each other |
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| the deep depressions in the earth's surface that contain the oceans |
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the coasts of the continents are bordered by a sandy, gently sloping underwater plain
it reaches a depth of 656 feet |
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| outer edge of the continental shelf is fairly sharp drop-off |
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| shelf break marks the beginning of this |
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| gently slopped region may stretch away from the continental slope for up to several hundred miles |
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| the continental shelf, the continental slope, and the continental rise are sometimes referred to together |
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| seafaring mile is larger, equaling 1,852 km (6076 feet) or 1.15 statute miles |
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| equal to 3 nautical miles |
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| measure a ship's speed in nautical miles per hour |
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most often, used to measure depth, not distance
was usually between 5 and 6 feet |
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| large underwater fissures cut through the continental shelf and the continental slope in many places |
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| of the largest of the submarine canyons |
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| at the base of the continental rise, the ocean floor levels off, at an average depth of aroung 14,760 feet |
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| portions of the abyssal plains are covered with a thin layer of snowlike dust made from the remains of microscopic plankton and other animals |
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| unusual flat-topped seamounts |
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circular, coral reef islands that grow aroung seamounts
Midway
Bikini Atoll |
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| while the seamount's peak is still above the surface of the water, the coral that grows around forms this |
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| the sinking seamount leaves a small island in the center of the coral reef |
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| the water that collects between the barrier reef and the island |
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| underwater mountain ranges are found in every ocean |
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| the most widely known underwater mountain chain because it extends down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean |
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| part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
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| many ocean ridges appear to have twin mountains ranges due to a huge valley where the crust appears to be seperating that runs down the middle of them |
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| any area of the sea that exceeds 6000 meters (3.7 miles) in depth |
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| huge muddy valleys that cut through portions of the abyssal plains |
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| The deepest known point in the sea, it is located in the Marianas Trench in the South Pacific near Guam |
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| The Challenger Deep was first explored by the mammed research submarine in a record-breaking dive in January 1960 |
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| a Christian who learned much about the oceans by simply observing wind currents, and temperature |
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| began a pioneering four-year voyage around the world, mapping the sea bottom, capturing samples of ocean creatures, and dredging material from the deep-sea floor |
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| it was discovered by the HMS Challenger |
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| The HMS Challenger expedition |
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| collected so much information that it took 30 years and 50 volumes to publish it all |
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| perhaps the most important tool of the oceanographer |
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| modern research vessel of the ocean |
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(Floating Instrument Platform)
one of the most important oceanographic vessels, it has no engines |
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| small research submarines allow oceanographers to visit deeper portions of the ocean |
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| Deep Submergence Vehicles (DSVs) |
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| modern manned submersibles come in variety of shapes and sizes |
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| manned undersea laboratories |
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| developed in the 1960s, could be manned for several months at a time |
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| anchored floating observation stations that automatically take measurements and transmit the date to oceanographers |
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| in the past, if an oceanographer wished to study the speed and direction of an ocean current, he would set adrift weighted bottles, a technique pioneered by Matthew Maury |
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| modern variants of the drift bottle, now chart currents far beneath the surface |
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| water samples from the ocean deptgs can be obtained with these, plastic tubes on a weighted line that is lowered into the ocean |
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| a convenient method for collecting multiple water samples at various depths, a framework to which many Niskin bottles are attached |
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| it is a simple and reliable method of bringing back narrow columns of sediments |
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| plunged into the sediment and capable of extracting cores up to 90 feet long |
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| the device was dubbed for Sound Navigation and Ranging |
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| sends out a fan-shaped pulse of sound from a full of a boat or a towed device |
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| without this, an oceanographer can stay underwater as long as he can hold his breath |
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in 1943, he invented the first successful self-contained breathing device that allowed for deeper dives
it was originally called the aqualung and is better known today as scuba gear |
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| stands for Seld-contained underwater breathing apparatus |
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