Oceanography Glossary

Subject	Date Published	Contributer	Language	Total Questions	File Name
Marine Biology	14th February 2009	Andy Gee	USA	897	wbe55.zip

Absolute Dating	Determining the age of a geological sample by calculations of radioactive decay and/or its position in relation to other samples
Absorption	Conversion of sound or light energy into heat
Abyssal Clay	Lithogenous sediment on the deep-sea floor composed of at least 70% clay-sized particles by weight
Abyssal Hill	Small sediment-covered inactive volcano or intrusion of molten rock less than 200 meters high, thought to be associated with sea-floor spreading
Abyssal Plain	Flat, cold, sediment-covered ocean floor between the continental rise and the mid-oceanic ridge at a depth of 3,700 to 5,300 meters
Abyssal Storm	Storm-like occurrences of rapid current movement affecting the deep ocean floor. They are believed to be caused by warm- and cold-core eddies of surface currents
Abyssal Zone	The ocean between 13,120 and 19,680 feet deep
Abyssopelagic	Oceanic zone from 4000m to the deepest depth
Accessory Pigment	One of the class of pigments (such as fucoxanthin, phycobilin, and xanthophyll) present in various photosynthetic plants and that assist in the absorption of light and the transfer of its energy to chlorophyll. Also called masking pigment
Accretion	An increase in the mass of a body by accumulation or a clumping of smaller particles
Acid	A substance that releases a hydrogen ion (H+) in solution
Acid Rain	Rain containing acids and acid-forming compounds such as sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen
Acoelomate	Without a secondary body cavity (coelom)
Acoustic Profiling	The use of seismic energy to measure sediment thickness and layering on the sea floor
Acoustic Thermometry Of Ocean Climate	ATOC; the measurement of ocean-wide changes in water properties such as temperature by transmitting and receiving low frequency sound signals