Term Time
concentration of salt in a solution
salinity
a submerged mountain range at the margins of diverging tectonic plates.
mid-ocean ridge
The mean sea level is slowly ________ around the world. (1 word)
rising/increasing
Most ________________ in our atmosphere comes from photosynthetic organisms living in the oceans
Which ocean basin covers the largest percentage of the earth’s surface?
x2 for number of ocean basins worldwide
Pacific
5
relatively flat, deep sea floor covered with sediments = the ________ plain
abyssal
In which life zone must organisms cope with the greatest variability of conditions?
intertidal
Sound in _______ travels 4.5x faster than in _______
seawater, air
The most abundant salt found in ocean water is ________________.
sodium chloride
Manmade fertilizer can cause harmful ________________ blooms, leaving a lifeless dead zone.
x2 for the reason WHY _____ blooms kill environments
algal, oxygen/light depletion
The mathematical model that approximates the earth’s average surface elevation is called the ______ model.
Geoid
underwater ridge of rocklike structures formed by organisms that support a large variety of life
coral reef
_______, Littoral, ________, ________, Abyssal
Intertidal, Photic, Aphotic
What is the main chemical building block of all living things?
carbon
Every 10 meters of depth, the ocean pressure increases:
Oceans fed by a large freshwater river become more _______ closer to the river.
brackish
feature often found at convergent subduction zones
trenches
Seawater contains which dissolved gases? List 3.
oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, argon
The element ________________ in fertilizer can runoff into water and harm the environment.
nitrogen
The higher the salinity, the ________ water needs to be to freeze
colder
Between the low-tide mark and the edge of the continental shelf, has light
littoral
Island arcs are most often associated with ____________.
(oceanic) trenches
Where do some of the minerals in seawater go when they leave the solution? Give 1 reason
Organisms take minerals from the seawater, Minerals settle out of the water, forming sediments.
dissolved minerals are forced out of the ice and sink to the bottom under the ice, causing the water to be __________
brine
About what percentage of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans?
71%