Oceans vs. Seas
Broad expanses of seawater that fill large basins between continents.
What are oceans?
This gently sloping seafloor extends from the continent beneath shallow ocean water.
What is the continental shelf?
The saltiness of seawater.
What is salinity?
This zone lies between high tide and low tide.
What is the intertidal zone?
The Moon’s gravity causes most of these daily changes in sea level.
What are tides?
Smaller extensions of oceans that are partially or completely surrounded by land.
What are seas?
This steep drop marks the beginning of the deep ocean basin.
What is the continental slope?
Average ocean salinity is approximately this percentage.
What is 3.5%?
This warm, well-lit, nutrient-rich zone supports coral reefs and high biodiversity.
What is the littoral zone?
These tides occur when the Sun and Moon work together.
What are spring tides?
Earth has this many major ocean basins.
What are five?
This feature forms a smooth transition between the continental slope and the deep ocean floor.
What is the continental rise?
These two elements make up most of the dissolved salts in seawater.
What are sodium and chlorine?
This ocean zone receives enough sunlight for photosynthesis.
What is the photic zone?
Large circular surface currents that rotate clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
What are gyres?
The ocean basin that surrounds Antarctica.
What is the Southern Ocean?
These long, narrow depressions are the deepest parts of the ocean and form at subduction zones.
What are trenches?
When seawater freezes, dissolved salts are forced out, forming dense water that sinks.
What is brine?
This zone receives no sunlight and relies on marine snow or predation for energy.
What is the aphotic zone?
A warm surface current that helps create mild climates in northern Europe.
What is a warm ocean current?
Which ocean is located between the Americas and Africa?
What is the Atlantic Ocean?
New oceanic crust forms at these long underwater mountain chains.
What are mid-ocean ridges?
This type of water forms where freshwater mixes with seawater near river mouths.
What is brackish water?
This deep ocean zone is dark, cold, and under extreme pressure.
What is the abyssal zone?
Narrow, fast currents that flow away from shore and can be dangerous to swimmers.
What are rip currents?