Storms
What direction do North Hemisphere storms spin?
What is clockwise?
What is the smallest layer in the ocean?
What is the Epipelagic Zone?
This primary force drives surface currents by transferring energy to the water.
What is wind?
These microscopic organisms are the primary producers at the base of most marine food chains.
What are phytoplankton?
Covering 30% of the Earth's surface, this is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth.
What is the Pacific Ocean?
This type of cloud is associated with thunderstorms.
What is a cumulonimbus?
Fish in this zone often have these enlarged features to help them see in the dark waters.
What are large eyes?
Due to the Coriolis effect, ocean currents in the Northern Hemisphere turn in this direction.
What is clockwise?
This term refers to an organism at the very top of the food chain with no natural predators.
What is an apex predator?
An octopus has three of these, which are used to pump blood to their organs and gills.
What are hearts?
Hurricanes in the Atlantic are called this in the Northwest Pacific.
What is a typhoon?
This, not the temperature, is the primary reason why there is no plant life in the deep ocean.
What is lack of light (or photosynthesis)?
This term describes a large, circular system of surface currents.
What is a gyre?
This percentage of energy is typically transferred from one trophic level to the next higher level.
What is 10%?
This type of relationship, such as between clownfish and anemones, means both partners benefit.
What is mutualism?
A severe, blinding snowstorm makes visibility low, a condition often called this.
What is a whiteout?
This refers to the layering of ocean water due to differences in temperature and density.
What is strafification?
These currents, comprising 90% of the ocean, are driven by differences in density, temperature, and salinity.
What is thermohaline circulation?
This term refers to the increase in toxin concentration at higher levels of a food chain.
What is biomagnification?
This is the term for light produced by marine animals.
What is bioluminescence?
Meteorologists use this type of radar to detect rotation in thunderstorms.
What is Doppler radar?
This is the deepest part of the ocean, formed where crustal plates collide.
What is a Trench (or Hadal Zone)?
This phenomenon, in which warm water is pushed away from the equator, helps to maintain this crucial aspect of Earth's climate.
What is heat distribution?
These organisms, such as bacteria, break down dead material to recycle nutrients.
What are decomposers?
This is the name for a group of jellyfish floating together.
What is a smack?