Earths oceans unit Flashcards
What are all five oceans and list them greatest to least
Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, southern, Arctic
How many years ago did the oceans form
4.5 BILLION
How did the ocean form
The Earth cooled and water vapor fell as rain filling in the deeper parts of the earth.
Why is the oceans salty?
Rivers and streams dissolve materials on land and it flows into the ocean
What is a cool fact about the oceans salts
Water evaporates but the dissolved solids are left behind
What are the three ocean zones
Surface/ Thermocline/Deep
Name 2 facts about the Surface zone
It is about 0-300 meters/ Sunlight heats upper 100 meters surface currents heat the rest.
2 facts on the thermocline
300-700 meters/ Huge temprature drop
2 facts on the deep zone
Deeper than 700 meters/ Water tempratures are the coldest out of the three zones
Thermal exchange?
Ocean absorbs and realeses thermal energy much slower than dry land
What would happen if thermal energy was not true
Air tempratures would vary aboves 100C during the day and -100C at night
What is a tool to study the ocean floor
Sonar
How does a sonar work?
Sound waves bounce off the ocean floor and bounce back
What is a fact about the Sonar?
The amount of time before the wave returns depends on the depth
name ALL the features of the ocean floor
Continental shelf/continental slope/continental rise/ abyssal plain/ Mid-ocean ridge/ rift valley/ ocean trench
