Title: Unit 11 Glossary
Course: BIS 105 Environmental Biology > Section: BIS 105 Environmental Biology

Unit 11 Glossary

Terms

Term | Definitions
abyssal zone | The deepest part of the ocean at depths of 4000 m or greater.
aphotic zone | The part of the ocean where light does not penetrate, and therefore, photosynthesis cannot occur.
benthic zone | The part of the ocean that extends along the ocean bottom from the shoreline to the deepest parts of the ocean floor.
bottom trawling | Fishing by dragging deep nets along the ocean floor, so that they gather up living creatures along the bottom of the ocean.
continental shelf | The shallow, gradually sloping seabed around the edge of a continent. Usually less than 200 meters in depth. The continental shelf can be thought of as the submerged edge of a continent.
continental slope | The sloped bottom of the ocean that extends from the continental shelf down to the deep ocean bottom.
Coriolis effect | The apparent deflection of a moving object like water or air caused by Earth's rotation.
cryptofauna | The invertebrates found within the cracks and crevices of coral reefs.
downwelling | The downward movement of water in the ocean that transports oxygen to deep water.
estuary | A region where fresh water and salt water mix where a river discharges into an ocean or sea.
intertidal zone | The part of the ocean that is closest to land; parts extend above the water at low tide.
mid-ocean ridge | Mountain range on the ocean floor where magma upwells and new ocean floor is formed.
neap tide | A tide that occurs when the Moon, Sun, and Earth are at 90° angles to one another. Tides have the smallest tidal range during a neap tide.
neritic zone | The part of the ocean that extends from low tide to the edge of the continental shelf.
oceanic zone | The part of the ocean that begins offshore where the water measures 200 m deep or deeper.
pelagic zone | The open ocean waters that are not close to the bottom or near the shore.
photic zone | The upper layer of ocean water in which photosynthesis is able to take place.
planktivore | An animal that eats plankton.
plankton | Microscopic organisms that drift in the ocean's currents. They include organisms such as krill, copepods, algaes, diatoms, and larval crustaceans and fish.
seamount | A mountain rising from the seafloor that does not reach above the surface of the water. Usually formed from volcanoes.
spring tide | A tide that occurs when the Moon, Sun, and Earth area all in a line. Tides will have the greatest tidal range during a spring tide.
tide | The daily rise and fall in the level of the ocean water.
trench | Deepest areas of the ocean; found where subduction takes place.
upwelling | Cold, nutrient-rich water that rises from oceanic depths usually near the continents, when wind blows the overlying surface away or along the equator.