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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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| study of the shape and geologic features of the ocean floor |
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| study of life in the oceans, includes marine biology and ecology |
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| study of the motions of seawater, particularly waves currents and tidal motion |
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| chemistry of seawater and reactions between the atmosphere and hydrosphere. More recently looks at how changes in seawater temperature (El Nino) and salinity affect global climate |
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| First to sail across the Pacific Ocean |
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| Identifies the significance of the Gulf Stream |
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| Discovers many new organisms on land as well as in the sea |
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| Deep sea journey unraveled many new deep ocean organisms |
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| Discovered that Greenland lay on a bed of Ice |
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| Topography: Continental Margin |
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| The continental margin is the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust |
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| Topography: Continental Shelf |
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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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| A submerged border of a continent that slopes gradually and extends to a point of steeper descent to the ocean bottom |
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| Topography: Continental Slope |
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| the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the deep ocean floor. |
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| Topography: Continental Rise |
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| A wide, gentle incline from an ocean bottom to a continental slope. A continental rise consists mainly of silts, muds, and sand, and can be several hundreds of miles wide. Although it usually has a smooth surface, it is sometimes crosscut by submarine canyons |
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| Topography: Abyssal Plains |
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| a large area of extremely flat or gently sloping ocean floor just offshore from a continent, at depths of 13,000-20,000 feet |
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| a submarine mountain rising several hundred fathoms above the floor of the sea but having its summit well below the surface of the water |
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| Topography: Mid-Ocean Ridge |
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| any of several seismically active submarine mountain ranges that extend through the Atlantic, Indian, and South Pacific oceans: each is hypothesized to be the locus of seafloor spreading |
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| a subsea chasm extending along the crest of a mid-ocean ridge, locus of the magma upwellings that accompany seafloor spreading |
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| a long, steep-sided, narrow depression in the ocean floor |
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| a vent in the earth's crust through which lava, steam, ashes, etc., are expelled, either continuously or at irregular intervals |
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| Topography: Continental Volcanic Mountain Range or Volcanic Island |
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| a curving chain of active volcanoes formed above a subduction zone and adjacent to a convergent plate boundary |
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| Passive Margins are not tectonically active, have continental rise, low angle sediment, and have abyssal plains. While Active Margins are tectonically active (earthquakes), lack continental rise and abyssal plain, continental slope ends in a trench, topography is marked with hills |
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a system for the detection of objects under water and for measuring the water's depth by emitting sound pulses and detecting or measuring their return after being reflected.
a system for the detection of objects under water and for measuring the water's depth by emitting sound pulses and detecting or measuring their return after being reflected. |
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| Zonation in the Ocean: Neritic zone |
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| shallow marine environment extending from mean low water down to 200-metre (660-foot) depths, generally corresponding to the continental shelf. Neritic waters are penetrated by varying amounts of sunlight, which permits photosynthesis by both planktonic and bottom-dwelling organisms. The zone is characterized by relatively abundant nutrients and biologic activity because of its proximity to land. Coarse, land-derived materials generally constitute the bottom sediments, except in some low-latitude regions that favour production of calcium carbonate sediments by such organisms as algae, bacteria, and corals. |
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| Zonation in the Ocean: Photic zone |
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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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| Zonation in the Ocean: Aphotic zone |
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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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| Zonation in the Ocean: Epipelagic 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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| Zonation in the Ocean: Mesopelagic zone |
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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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| Zonation in the Ocean: Bathypelagic zone |
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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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| Zonation in the Ocean: Abyssopelagic zone |
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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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| Zonation in the Ocean: Hadopelagic zone |
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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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