This page gathers the 47 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Oceanography”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples.
- abyss noun The abyssal zone.
- aphotic adj Describing that part of deep lakes and oceans where less than one per cent of sunlight penetrates and where photosynthesis is not possible.
- aphotic zone noun That part of the deep body of an ocean or lake that receives insufficient sunlight for photosynthesis to be possible.
- bahira noun A classification of sea inlet; a depression in the land flooded by the sea during the Holocene transgression and connected to the sea by a…
- black smoker noun A kind of hydrothermal vent found on the seabed, emitting clouds of black material.
- caballing noun Alternative form of cabbeling.
- cabbeling noun The process by which two masses of water with different temperatures and salinities mix to form a new water mass with a density higher than…
- CCD noun Initialism of carbonate compensation depth.
- celerity noun The speed of an individual wave (as opposed to the speed of groups of waves); often denoted c.
- circulation time noun The time it takes oceanwater, moving via currents, to move between two points, or to complete a cycle back to its starting point.
- deep scattering layer noun A layer of the ocean lying usually 300-500 metres deep composed of dense concentrations of pelagic animal life, that moves depending on the…
- doldrums noun Usually preceded by the: a part of the ocean near the equator where calms, squalls, and light, baffling winds are common.
- establishment of the port noun A datum on which the tides are computed at the given port, obtained by observation. It is the interval between the Moon's passage over the…
- false bottom noun Synonym of deep scattering layer.
- garbage patch noun A gyre of marine debris particles caused by the effects of ocean currents and increasing plastic pollution by humans.
- gelbstoff noun The optically measurable component of dissolved organic matter in water, which primarily occurs naturally from tannin released from…
- gyre noun An ocean current caused by wind which moves in a circular manner, especially one that is large-scale and observed in a major ocean.
- intertidal zone noun The part of a shore between high water and low water, especially the beach exposed at maximum ebb spring tides.
- isobathytherm noun An isoline connecting the points on the Earth's surface where a certain temperature is found at the same depth.
- Kelvin wave noun A non-dispersive wave in the ocean or atmosphere that balances the Earth's Coriolis force against a topographic boundary such as a…
- knoll noun A rounded, underwater hill with a prominence of less than 1,000 metres, which does not breach the water's surface.
- mean sea level noun The mean altitude of the ocean surface, averaged over all high and low tides at a particular location.
- mediterranean sea noun A mostly enclosed sea that has limited exchange of deep water with outer oceans, and where the water circulation is dominated by salinity…
- megatsunami noun An extremely large tsunami-like wave caused by an avalanche or landslide displacing large amounts of water very quickly.
- mesopelagic adj Describing the pelagic zone of the ocean between the photic epipelagic and the aphotic bathypelagic zones, characterized by very minimal…
- messenger noun A weight dropped down a line to close a Nansen bottle.
- microstructure noun Fine-scale structure in such variables as temperature, salinity, velocity, etc.
- ooze noun A pelagic marine sediment containing a significant amount of the microscopic remains of either calcareous or siliceous planktonic debris…
- polynya noun A naturally formed transient area of open water surrounded by sea ice, especially in polar or subpolar seas.
- pteropod ooze noun A type of soft, calcareous pelagic sediment found on the deep-sea floor, consisting primarily of the skeletal remains of pteropods.
- ridge noun A long narrow elevation on an ocean bottom.
- rosette noun A rosette sampler.
- run up noun The extent of a wave's reach onto land as the result of a tsunami or storm such as a cyclone.
- sargasso noun A part of an ocean or sea characterized by floating masses of sargassos, like the Sargasso Sea.
- scroll bar noun A sandbar on the inside of a riverbend.
- sea surface noun The top layer of the ocean, where it meets the atmosphere.
- seamount noun An underwater mountain with a prominence of more than 1,000 meters, which does not breach the surface of the water.
- seamount chain noun A series of underwater volcanoes, or seamounts, that are arranged in a line with a relatively flat seafloor between their bases.
- seawave noun A typical wave formed by the interaction of the wind with the ocean's surface.
- shell ice noun A form of ice which is no longer supported by the water beneath it, and instead has a cavity underneath.
- spring noun The rising of the sea at high tide.
- superbackground adj Forming a background with unusually high concentrations of something.
- sverdrup noun A unit of measure of volume transport, used in oceanography, equal to 1 million cubic metres per second.
- tidal wave noun A crest of ocean water resulting from tidal forces.
- upsweep noun The unidentified sound detected on the American NOAA's equatorial autonomous hydrophone arrays, consisting of a long train of narrow-band…
- wave processing noun The act or technique of measuring an ocean wave.
- white smoker noun A kind of hydrothermal vent that emits lighter-hued minerals than those of a black smoker, such as those containing barium, calcium and…