Chapter 13: Oceans By: Sallie Back & Whitney Traynham
Salinity: the amount of salt in the ocean Water Cycle: the process in which Earth’s water leaves and returns to Eart h
between 3 & 7 hundred feet sea level where temperature drops faster than any other place on Earth Thermocline:
flat area of the continental margin Steepest part of continental margin
Base of continental slope Continental Rise:
Abyssal Plain: Portion of the deep-ocean basin
Mid-Ocean Ridge: Long mountains chain formed from divergent boundaries
Rift Valley: Valley forming a rift zone between divergent boundaries Seamount: individual mountain created from volcanic material on the abyssal plain
Ocean Trench: crack in the deep ocean basin that forms where an oceanic plate is forced under another plate
Plankton : microscopic organisms that float on the ocean’s surface Nekton: free-swimming organisms in the ocean
Benthos: Organisms that live on the ocean floor Benthic Environment: The ocean floor &all the organisms that live In or on it
Pelagic Environment: the entire of the ocean excluding the ocean floor Desalination: process of evaporating sea water so that water & salt separate
Nonpoint Source Pollution: pollution that comes from many sources with no specific source
Summary: In closing oceans are a dynamic part of our earth. They are made up of many different types of features and have many different elements that make them unique.