Exploration
What do you call scientists that study conditions under the ocean surface
Oceanographers
Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean
Name the 5 ocean zones from top to bottom
Sunlit, Twilight, Midnight, Abyss, Trench
In what zone do we find deep sea vents?
Midnight zone
What is the name of the largest barrier reef in the world and where is it located?
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
What is Aquarius?
Underwater laboratory
How are ocean trenches formed?
Tectonic plates shift toward each other and one goes under the other creating a trench - called subduction
Contains all plant life in the ocean
How is a deep sea vent formed?
shifting of tectonic plates creates a rift in ocean floor. Water seeps into rift and is heated by the magma beneath. Superheated water shoots out of floor creating a vent.
What is a fringing reef?
extends from shore out into the ocean
Go through a 17 hr decompression
How are ocean ridges formed?
Tectonic plates move apart and magma below bubbles up and hardens creating a ridge
Zone with little to no animal life
Trench
Give 3 examples of animal life near deep sea vents
What reef begins as a fringing reef around a volcano, but remains after volcano sinks, creating a circular island?
atoll
What are ROVs?
Remotely operated vehicles used for deep sea exploration
What is a flat topped seamount called?
Guyot
What do you call the zone between high and low tide?
Intertidal zone
formed by sulfur precipitating out of superheated water that shoots from deep sea vents. Sulfur hardens when it mixes with the cold water. Black because of the high mineral content in the heated water.
What is the main way that coral obtain food?
algae in their bodies converts sunlight to food.
What is the name of the portable air tank developed in 1942 by Jacques Cousteau?
Aqua-Lung
What are the 3 general areas of the ocean floor? Describe each.
Continental shelf - extends from land gently sloping down.
Continental slope - drops off sharply from continental shelf.
Abyssal Plain - relatively flat ocean floor, though it has valleys and mountains similar to earth.
zone where bioluminescent creatures live
Twilight zone
What provides the food source for animals living near deep sea vents?
Bacteria that thrives on the sulfur in the water
the growth of the coral reef depends on food availability, water temperature, and mineral content and those things do not remain the same, so there is not a constant rate of growth. Some years the reefs will grow rapidly, other years they will grow slowly.