Marine Biology Terms

a continuous chain of underwater volcanic mountains encompassing the earth

• Mid-Ocean Ridge

• Oceanic Crust

• Oceanic Fault lines

• Mid-Ocean Fault

A portion of the earth’s crust that primarily contains basalt, is relatively dense, and is about 5 km thick

• Oceanic Crust

• Gyres

• Continental Crust

Large mostly circular systems of surface currents driven by the wind

The way in which the rotation of the earth blends the path of winds and sea currents

• Gyres

• Centrifuge

• Coriolis

The portion of earth’s crust that primarily contains granite, is less dense than the other kind of crust, and is about 20/50 km thick

• Continental Crust

• Oceanic Crust

Autotrophs

Heterotrophs

The process by which food is converted into useable energy for life function

• Reprocessing

• ATP Production

• Respiration

• Atomic Energy Processing

Poikilotherm

• An organism whose body temperature changes with its surrounding environment

• Organisms that cannot make their own food and must obtain it from other organisms

• Organisms that are able to produce their own food

Heterotrophs

• Organisms that cannot make their own food and must obtain it from other organisms

• An organism whose body temperature changes with its surrounding environment

• An animal whose internal body temperature does not change