Download Unit 2 Vocabulary Review

Unit 2 Oceanography
Lesson 1 Earth’s Ocean and the Ocean Floor
Lesson 2 Ocean Waves
Lesson 3 Ocean Currents
a movement of ocean water
that follows a regular pattern
ocean current
the distance from any point on a
wave to the corresponding point on
the next wave
wavelength
a measure of the amount of dissolved
salts in a given amount of liquid
salinity
a giant ocean wave that forms after a
volcanic eruption, submarine
earthquake, or landslide
tsunami
the movement of deep, cold, and
nutrient rich water to the surface
upwelling
a layer in a body of water in which water
temperature drops with increased depth
faster than it does in other layers
thermocline
a wave that requires a medium
through which to travel
mechanical wave
any movement of matter that
results from differences in density;
may be vertical, circular, or cyclical
convention current
the shallow sea floor that is located between
the shore-line and the deep ocean bottom; it
is divided into the continental shelf, the
continental slope, and the continental rise
continental margin
a horizontal movement of water that
is caused by wind and that occurs at or
near the ocean’s surface
surface current
the highest point of a wave
crest
the ocean floor under the deepocean water
deep-ocean basin
time required for corresponding points
on consecutive points on consecutive
waves to pass a given point
wave period
a long under-sea mountain chain
that forms along the floor of the
major oceans
mid-ocean ridge
a disturbance that transfers energy from
one place to another; a wave can be a
single cycle or it can be a repeating
pattern
wave
the lowest point of a wave
trough
the curving of the path of a moving
object from an otherwise straight path
due to Earth’s rotation
Coriolis Effect
a long, narrow, and deep depression on the
ocean floor that forms when one tectonic
plate subducts beneath another plate;
trenches run parallel to volcanic island
chains or to the coastlines of continents;
also called a trench or a deep ocean trench
ocean trench
a stream-like movement of
water far below the surface
deep current
a disturbance on the ocean that
transmits energy and takes the
shape of a swell or a ridge
ocean wave