Oceanography - Introductory

Interested in "current" events? Then you'll want to review this list of words related to oceanography. Get your feet wet and learn all about waves, tides, and marine life.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. algae
    primitive chlorophyll-containing aquatic organisms
  2. Antarctic Ocean
    the southern waters surrounding Antarctica
  3. Arctic Ocean
    ice covered waters surrounding the North Pole
  4. Atlantic Ocean
    the 2nd largest ocean
  5. atmosphere
    the mass of air surrounding the Earth
  6. continental shelf
    the relatively shallow seabed surrounding a continent
  7. crest
    the top line of a hill, mountain, or wave
  8. crustacean
    mainly aquatic arthropod usually having a segmented body
  9. current
    a steady flow of a fluid or gas
  10. equator
    an imaginary line around the Earth forming a great circle
  11. food chain
    community of organisms where each member is eaten by another
  12. friction
    the resistance when a body is moved in contact with another
  13. glacier
    a slowly moving mass of ice
  14. gravity
    the force of attraction between all masses in the universe
  15. ice floe
    a flat mass of ice floating at sea
  16. iceberg
    a large frozen mass floating at sea
  17. Indian Ocean
    the 3rd largest ocean
  18. krill
    small shrimp-like crustaceans
  19. neap tide
    a less than average tide occurring at the first and third quarters of the moon
  20. ocean current
    the steady flow of surface ocean water in a prevailing direction
  21. oceanography
    the branch of science dealing with physical and biological aspects of the oceans
  22. Pacific Ocean
    the largest ocean in the world
  23. plankton
    aggregate of small organisms that float or drift in water
  24. pole
    either of the two endpoints of the Earth's axis of rotation
  25. rift valley
    a valley with steep sides
  26. salinity
    the relative proportion of salt in a solution
  27. seamount
    an underwater mountain rising above the ocean floor
  28. sonar
    a method of finding objects under water using sound waves
  29. swell
    a rising and falling movement of the surface of the sea
  30. tide
    the periodic rise and fall of the sea level
  31. trench
    a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor
  32. trough
    a narrow depression, as between waves
  33. undertow
    a current that flows away from the shore after waves break
  34. wave
    a ridge that moves across the surface of a liquid
Created on Mon Feb 13 12:13:06 EST 2017 (updated Wed Apr 05 13:34:40 EDT 2017)

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