Oceans Flashcards
(2 cards)
5 MAIN OCEANS:
Pacific Ocean:
The largest and deepest of the oceans; larger than all of the Earth’s continental land mass put together.
Atlantic Ocean:
Half the size of the Pacific, covers about 20% of the Earth’s surface
Indian Ocean:
The third largest ocean that is located between India, Africa, and the Indonesian Islands
Southern Ocean:
Surrounds the Antarctic continent and is covered by ice part of the year
Arctic Ocean:
Smallest and shallowest ocean that is located near the North Pole and is also covered by ice part of the year
Salinity:
Measure of the mass of dissolved solids in a mass of water
Seawater:
Water from a sea or ocean that has an average salinity of 35 ppt {parts per thousand}, or one kg of ocean water contains about 35 g of salt
Ocean Zones:
Surface Zone:
Area of shallow seawater that receives the most sunlight; organisms that perform photosynthesis are located there
Middle Zone:
Receives very little sunlight and of it only the blue-green wavelengths
Deep Zone:
Plants that photosynthesize are not found here because there is NO light; many organisms produce light using chemicals in a process called bioluminescence
Composition of Earth’s Ocean:
Temperature:
Temperature changes from surface to about 1000m depending if located in polar or tropical regions
Salinity:
Top 500 m of water is saltier in warmer water than polar water since it evaporates faster leaving behind salt at surface
Density:
Ocean water is layered since cold water is denser than warm water and salt water is denser than fresh water
