The Ocean's Resources Practice Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering marine policies, mineral and energy resource extraction, and the fishing and mariculture industries.

President Truman's 1954 Proclamation

Extended U.S. control of marine resources from the shoreline to a depth of $100\text{ fathoms}$ ($183\text{ m}$).

Territorial seas

Waters under direct jurisdiction of the adjoining coastal nation extending seaward for $12\text{ nautical miles}$.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

An area extending $200\text{ nautical miles}$ offshore or to the edge of the continental shelf where a coastal state regulates fishing, minerals, and research.

High seas

The portion of the ocean remaining outside of national EEZs, comprising approximately $600\%$ of the ocean.

Hydrocarbons

Compounds consisting mostly of hydrogen and carbon, such as petroleum, oil, and methane ($CH_4$), derived from marine sedimentary rocks.

Anoxic water

Oxygen-depleted water that helped preserve mud and plankton remains on the sea bottom in the geologic past to form hydrocarbon deposits.

Gas Hydrates

Hydrocarbon deposits consisting of frozen water molecules entrapping a single molecule of methane ($CH_4$), generally found in polar sediments or continental slopes.

Sand and Gravel

Natural aggregates of unconsolidated sediment with grain sizes larger than $0.0625\text{ mm}$, used for construction and beach replenishment.

Manganese Nodules

Deep-sea deposits composed of approximately $20\%$ to $30\%$ manganese and $10\%$ to $20\%$ iron oxide, along with nickel, cobalt, and copper.

Cobalt

A strategic metal used for jet engines that forms as a crust on seamounts and islands between depths of $1\text{ km}$ and $2.5\text{ km}$.

Dark Oxygen

A discovery regarding oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor documented by Sweetman et al. (2024).

Phosphate Nodules

Deposits that grow at a rate of $1$ to $10\text{ mm}$ per $1,000\text{ years}$, used by chemical and agricultural companies.

Pelagic fish

A division of marine finfish that live in the water column.

Groundfish

A division of marine finfish that live near or on the seafloor.

1989 UN Convention for the Prohibition of Long Drift Nets

A treaty that prohibited the use of drift nets longer than $2.5\text{ km}$.

Mariculture

The marine agriculture or fish farming of finfish, shellfish, and algae under favorable conditions until they are large enough for harvest.

Trophically efficient

One of the economic criteria required for a species to be viable for mariculture production.