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BJU Space/Earth14
BJU - Space and Earth Science - Chapter 14 (4th edition)
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| tide | A change in local sea level and height of the crest caused by gravitational pulls of the moon and sun. |
| lunar tide | A tide produced mainly by the moon’s gravity. |
| spring tide | An unusually high solar tide that occurs when the sun, earth, and moon are lined up in a row. |
| neap tide | A small tide that occurs when the sun’s gravity works against the moon’s whenever the arrangement of the sun, earth, and moon form a single angle. This tidal change is smaller than for a normal tide. |
| surface current | A flow of seawater on a he surface of the ocean set in motion by wind through a larger area of relatively stationary water. |
| Coriolis effect | The deflection of the path of a moving object attempting to travel in a straight line over the earth’s surface as the object changes lattitude. It influences surface and subsurface ocean currents and atmospheric winds. |
| gyre | A large, circling ocean current created by prevailing winds and deflected by the Coriolis effect and continental coastlines. |
| Ekman spiral | The continual deflection of current directionwith in reasing depth beneath the current due to fluid friction and the Coriolis effect. |
| upwelling | The upward movement of dense, cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths of the ocean to the surface. It occurs when deeper seawater flows toward places where sea level is lower than average becuse surface winds blow surface water elsewhere. |
| downwelling | The downward movement of surface water in places where seawater has piled up due to the action of winds or currents. The extra sea height forces the seawater down into the depths. |
| subsurface current | Any current in deeper water that flows in directions other than those caused by surface winds. These currents can result from the Ekman spiral effect, downwelling, upwelling, or density differences. |
| density current | A current resulting from a difference in density between two masses of water in contact with each other. The higher density water will try to flow under the lower density water and replace it. |
| thermohaline current | A density current flowing along the deep ocean basin floor caused by gravity acting on large masses of cold, salty ocean water. Flow rates are far slower than for surface currents. |
| turbidity current | A fast, subsurface density current similar to an underwater mudslide or lahar. The higher density is caused by the weight of large amounts of suspended sediment. |
| wave | A repeated oscillation in matter that transfers mechanical energy from one place to another; in water waves, such oscillations at the upper surface of a body of water or at the surface between layers of different densities within it. |
| wave height | The vertical distance between a wave’s crest and its trough. A wave’s amplitude is one-half of this distance. |
| wavelength | The horizontal distance between the same point on two sequential waves, usually measured between crests or troughs. |
Created by:
marchscience
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