Pacific Ocean, Coral Reefs, Island Formation, Weather and Climate

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts about the Pacific Ocean, coral reefs, island formation, weather, and climate from the notes.

Pacific Ocean

The largest ocean; central to the first islanders' food, travel, and resources; today it also supports global shipping, trade, and access to natural resources, but remains dangerous with storms and waves.

Overfishing

Fishing at unsustainable levels that deplete fish stocks and threaten ecosystems and cultures.

Pollution

Contamination of the ocean that harms marine life and habitats.

Coral

Marine animals that build calcium carbonate skeletons to form reefs; require warm water (at least ~21°C), minerals, shallow depth, and clear water for algae to grow.

Calcium carbonate skeleton

The hard skeleton that coral animals secrete to form reefs.

Larvae

Free-swimming offspring produced by sexual reproduction that start new coral colonies.

Budding

Asexual reproduction in which new coral colonies grow on the reef to increase size.

Atoll

A circular reef with a central lagoon; forms as a volcano sinks and coral continues to grow.

Reef

An underwater ridge built by coral and other organisms, home to many marine species.

Reef island

Above-water land built from reef sand and soil; supports plants, some animals, and freshwater.

Porous limestone

Limestone with pores that let rainwater soak in, contributing to a freshwater supply atop underlying seawater.

Freshwater lens

A body of freshwater that floats on top of seawater within porous rock and supplies water for plants and people.

Volcano island

An island formed when lava rises from the seafloor and builds up above the water.

Hot spot

A mantle plume that creates volcanic activity; as a plate moves over it, volcanoes and islands form.

Pacific Plate

One of Earth's major tectonic plates; its movement over hot spots forms island chains like Hawaii.

Hawaiian Islands

A chain of volcanic islands formed as the Pacific Plate moved over a hot spot.

Weather

Short-term conditions of temperature, wind, rain, and clouds at a given time and place.

Climate

The average weather conditions (over many years) for a region.

Axial tilt

Tilt of the Earth's axis, causing variations in sunlight and driving seasons and climate zones.

Seasons

Periodic changes in weather patterns driven by the axial tilt and orbit around the sun.

ITCZ

Intertropical Convergence Zone; near the equator where warm, moist air rises to create rain, producing rainy and dry seasons.

Rainy season

Season when the ITCZ brings higher rainfall; warm, moist air rises and rains occur.

Dry season

Season with less rainfall when the ITCZ moves away.

Coriolis effect

Deflection of moving air and water due to Earth's rotation, influencing the spin of storms such as typhoons.

Typhoon

A tropical cyclone in the Western Pacific that requires warm ocean water, moist air, and the Coriolis effect to spin.