Seawater consists of this amount of dissolved mineral substances, or “salts”
What is 3.5 percent?
100
The temperature of the ocean’s surface water is affected by the amount of this
What is solar radiation?
100
These are organisms that drift with ocean currents
What is plankton?
100
This is the area where the land and ocean meet and overlap
What is the intertidal zone?
100
The process by which certain micro-organisms create organic molecules from inorganic nutrients using chemical energy
What is chemosynthesis?
200
This term represents the total amount of solid material dissolved in water
What is salinity?
200
This is the layer of ocean water where there is a rapid change of temperature with depth
What is the thermocline?
200
This organism directly or indirectly provides food for the majority of other organisms
What is algae?
200
This refers to the upper part of the ocean into which sunlight penetrates
What is the photic zone?
200
The production of organic compounds from inorganic substances through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis
What is primary productivity?
300
The scientific name for the most common salt found in seawater; common table salt
What is sodium chloride?
300
Seawater density is influenced by these two main factors
What are salinity and temperature?
300
These organisms live on or near the ocean bottom
What are benthos?
300
This part of the ocean refers to open ocean of any depth
What is the pelagic zone?
300
A sequence of organisms through which energy is transferred, starting with the primary producer
What is a food chain?
400
Areas with high salinity are found in dry subtropical regions due to a reduction of freshwater by high rates of this
What is evaporation?
400
This is the layer of ocean water where there is a rapid change of density with depth
What is pycnocline?
400
These organisms are capable of moving independently of ocean currents
What are nekton?
400
This area of the ocean refers to the distance beyond the continental shelf
What is oceanic zone?
400
Bacteria in hydrothermal vents use this chemical compound as an energy source
What is hydrogen sulfide?
500
Salinity is typically expressed in this unit of measurement
What is parts per thousand (‰)?
500
This layer of the ocean is between the surface zone and the deep zone
What is the transition zone?
500
This number, which is constantly increasing as new organisms are discovered, is a low estimate of the amount of marine species that marine biologists have already identified
What is 250,000?
500
This part of the ocean is a subdivision of the benthic zone and is characterized by extremely high water pressure, low temp, no sunlight, and sparse life
What is the abyssal zone?
500
During this season, productivity in temperate oceans is very low despite nutrient concentration being at its highest