Survey of the Seas
What type of current is made of seawater mixed with mud or silt and can erode the ocean floor to produce submarine canyons?
turbidity current
How does air normally move in the atmosphere?
high pressure to low pressure
What is the process in which rain forms from melted snowflakes?
Bergeron-Findeisen process
What portion of a lightning bolt produces thunder?
return stroke
What is a chunk of space debris that has reached Earth’s surface?
meteorite
What oceanographic tool charts currents far beneath the surface and sends back accurate measurements of those currents and water properties?
profiling float
Which type of current causes most of the earth’s weather?
convection current
From what does a frontal cyclone draw its energy?
When does a rotating column of air become a tornado
when it reaches the ground
What star is located at the north celestial pole?
Polaris
Why can icebergs float in seawater?
icebergs are less dense than seawater
What portion of Earth’s magnetic field stretches away from the sun?
magnetotail
With what type of front does a frontal cyclone usually begin with?
stationary front
What is a tropical low-pressure system that does not have rotating winds?
tropical disturbance
What is the primary factor that determines the brightness of average stars in the main sequence?
temperature
What is an upward-flowing current that occurs when a land breeze pushes surface water away from the coast?
upwelling
What is the most important and abundant greenhouse gas?
water vapor
How does an occluded front form?
What instrument indicates the direction of wind?
weather vane
Which of Neptune’s satellites experiences the coldest known temperatures in the solar system?
Triton
What is a wave that grows taller and steeper as it travels to shore and topples forward with a white crest called?
breaker
What doughnut-shaped regions surround the earth and trap particles from the solar wind?
Van Allen radiation belts
What process occurs when a liquid becomes a gas?
evaporation
What is a map that summarizes the weather conditions throughout the entire country at a single point in time?
surface weather map
What type of star is cool, small, and dim?
red dwarf