Oceanography

Oceanography

The scientific studies of the ocean.

Industry: Earth science

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Oceanography

Continental slope

Earth science; Oceanography

The declivity from the outer edge of the continental shelf or continental borderland into greater depths.

The cyclical rise and fall of the water level in the oceans and other large bodies of water that is caused by the interaction of the rotating Earth with various forces, principally the gravitational ...

Reduced gravity

Earth science; Oceanography

The effective change in the acceleration of gravity acting on one fluid in contact with a fluid of different density due to buoyancy forces. Explicitly, the reduced gravity is g'=g ...

Fathom

Earth science; Oceanography

The common unit of depth in the ocean, equal to six feet. It is also sometimes used in expressing horizontal distances, in which case 100 fathoms make one cable or very nearly one-tenth nautical ...

Calving

Earth science; Oceanography

The breaking away of a mass of ice from a glacier, an ice shelf, or an iceberg.

Heat flux

Earth science; Oceanography

The flow of heat across a surface of unit area in a unit amount of time; commonly expressed in units of cal/cm2-sec or W/(M2-A).

Oceanic conveyor belt

Earth science; Oceanography

The global oceanic conveyer belt, is a unifying concept that connects the ocean's surface and thermohaline (deep mass) circulation regimes, transporting heat and salt on a planetary scale. Oceanic ...