2.2-2.3 Vocabulary -- AICE MARINE SCIENCE

Weathering

The wearing down or breaking of rocks through physical, chemical, or organic means

Erosion

A natural process where material is worn away from the Earth’s surface and transported elsewhere.

Sedimentation

The deposition of suspended particles from water (or the delivery/accumulation of particles in a new location over time).

Deposition

A geological process where sediments, soil, and rocks are added to a landform or land mass.

Difference between sedimentation and deposition:

Deposition is the process of laying down sediment, while sedimentation is the accumulation of sediment over time

Delta

A low-lying triangular area at the mouth of a river formed by the deposition of sediments.

Morphology

The study of the forms of things.

***Littoral Zone***

(learn by heart) The area of the shore where land meets sea (also known as the intertidal region); the area of a shoreline that falls between the highest high-water mark lowest low-water mark during a spring tide

Describe what makes weathering a different process then erosion

Weathering tends to occur in the same place with little movement of the particles involved, whereas erosion involves the movement and transportation of rocks and mineral by agents such as water, wind, ice or gravity.

What is the name of the process that happens when materials that are being moved to reach their new location and are left there to accumulate? 

Sedimentation (or deposition)

List the three categories of weathering:

Chemical, Physical, Organic (biological)

Describe what happens when rain water moves over new rocks:  (Name the ion that is dissolved and where it ends up?) 

As rain water moves over the rocks, it dissolves ions in the rocks particularly calcium and transports them into the ocean as runoff.

What does the constant heating and cooling or sudden temperature do to the structure of rock?

It causes rocks to expand and contract, which weakens te rocks and can cause them to crack and break apart.

What two ways of weathering take place when waves hit rocks on the coastlines? 

Ocean waves are capable of physical weathering and chemical weathering.

And what is the effect of these two weathering factors on shorelines?

The combined work pf physical and chemical weathering increases the ability of the ocean to change the shape of the shoreline.

Weathering that relies on living organisms to complete the weathering process is: 

Organic (or biological) weathering

Organic weathering works in conjunction with chemical and physical weathering. Name one example of an organic organism that uses chemical weathering:

Lichens (they release acidic compounds that break down the rock under the organism).

And a second living organism that uses mechanical weathering to break down rocks:

Plants (specifically plant roots growing into cracks in a rock and widening them as they grow, causing the rock to break apart).

Tide

The periodic rise and fall of the surface of the ocean resulting from the gravitational pull of the Moon, Sun, and the Earth.  *******

Semi-diurnal

A tidal pattern in which there are two high tides and two low tides in  a 24 hours and 50 minutes period

Diurnal

A tidal pattern in which there is only one high tide and one low tides in a 24 hour and 50 minute period

Tidal range

the difference in height between the high-tide mark and the next low-tide mark over the course of a day; also called the tidal amplitude

Tidal surge

the coastal flooding of an abnormally high seawater level associated with low pressure weather systems(hurricanes); also called a storm surge.

Spring tide

a tide that occurs when the Sun, Earth & the moon are aligned, causing the largest tidal range. (highest high tides and lowest low tides)

Neap tide

a tide that occurs when the Moon, Earth, and the Sun are at right angles from each other, causing the smallest tidal range

Current

 a continuous physical movement of water  in a particular direction caused by wind or density

Coriolis Effect

a force that results from the Earth’s rotation that causes objects or particles in motion to deflect to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Thermohaline circulation

 large-scale  ocean circulation caused by the density differences due to temperature and salinity changes in the world’s ocean

Global ocean conveyor belt

constantly moving systems of deep-ocean water driven by thermohaline circulation

Downwelling

the downward movement of water in the sea due to density differences

Upwelling

the movement of cold, nutrient-rich water from deep in the ocean to the surface layer

El Nino

a WARM current that develops off the coast of Ecuador around December, which can cause widespread death within local food chains

La Nina

a COLD current that develops off the coast of Ecuador and spreads across the Pacific, reducing sea surface temperatures for extended periods of time.

Humboldt Current

 a cold water current with low salinity levels that flows north along the western coast of South America;also called the Peru current