Download Chapter 13 Exploring the Oceans

Standard S6CS5a: The relationship between the ocean and other
Earth systems
Standard S6E3c: Composition of earth’s oceans
Standard S6E4a: Heat absorption by land and water
Standard E6E5e: Process of the ocean
EQ: What are the characteristics of
ocean water?
 Salty
 Sodium chloride (NaCl)
 Most common dissolved
substance in ocean
 Result of rivers flowing
into oceans
 Rivers bring dissolved
minerals
 Water evaporates &
leaves salt behind
 Salinity
 Amount of dissolved salt in a
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given amount of water
Grams of salt per kilogram of
water
Usually 35 g of salt per
1000ml of water
Hot, dry climate increases
salinity
Cool, humid climate
decreases salinity
Mouth of river decreases
salinity
Less water movement
increases salinity
 Temperature Zones
 Surface zone—warmest
 Thermocline --temp
decreases with depth
 Deep zone—coldest
 Ocean as a Thermostat
 Keeps earth suitable for life
 Regulates temp by
absorbing energy from the
sun
 Slowly absorbs & releases
thermal energy (heat)
 Ocean currents move water
& thermal energy
Summary
 Explain why hot, dry climates have high salinity while
cooler, humid climates have low salinity.
 Explain how the mouth of a river opening into the
ocean effects salinity and why.
 Explain the relationship between movement and
salinity of ocean water.
Standard S6E3c: Topography of Earth’s oceans
EQ: What are the features of the
ocean floor?
 2 Regions of Ocean Floor
 Continental Margin
made of continental
crust
 Deep Ocean Basin made
of oceanic crust
What oceanic features are in the
continental margin?
 Continental Shelf
 If the shoreline
 Gently slopes down
 Continental Slope
 Steep drop to bottom of
ocean floor
 Continental Rise
 Bottom of the
continental slope where
sediment piles up
What oceanic features are in the
Deep Ocean Basin?
 Abyssal Plain
 Flat part of ocean floor
 Mid-Ocean Ridge
 Mtn chains formed
where tectonic plates
pull apart
 Rift Zones where magma
rises, cools
 Sea Floor Spreading
 Longest mtn range on
Earth 40,000 miles or
64,000 km long
 Rift Valley
 Valley between mtns of
Mid-Ocean Ridge
 Ocean Trench
 Deep, huge cracks
 Where subduction
occurs
 Seamonts
 Individual volcanic mtns
on ocean floor
 May become an island
EQ: How deep is the ocean?
 SONAR
 Sound Navigation and
Ranging
 Sound waves are sent
from a ship to the ocean
floor.
 How long it takes for the
sound to return to the
ship tells how far down
the floor is.
 Satellites
 Geostat
 Looks for small changes in
the height of the floor
 Measures the water above
the geographic features
 Underwater Vessels
 Alvin locates organisms
near vents
 Piloted vessel
 Jason II & Medea are
robots that explore the
ocean floor