Oceanography!
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17 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Ocean | Vast body of saline water that occupies the depressions of Earth's surface. |
| Water on Earth | 97% in the ocean 3% in land, ice, groundwater, and all freshwater lakes and rivers |
| Oceanography (Marine Science) | The process of discovering unifying principles in data obtained from the ocean, its associated life-forms, and its bordering lands. |
| Marine Science Specializations | Marine Geologist Physical Oceanographer Chemical Oceanographer Climate Specialist Marine Biologist Marine Engineer |
| Science | A systematic process of asking questions about the observable world by gathering and then studying the data. *interprets raw data |
| Scientific Method | An orderly process by which theories are verified or rejected. |
| Big Bang | *Occurred ~ 13.7 billion years ago All of the mass and energy of the universe is thought to have been concentrated at a geometric point at the begining of space and time (start of universe expansion). |
| Big Bang (Result) | As the universe expanded, it cooled to allow the formation of atoms from the energy and particles: mostly hydrogen. This cooled matter began to congeal into the first galaxies and stars. |
| Galaxy | A huge, rotating aggregation of stars, dust, gas, and other debris held together by gravity. Example: Milky Way |
| Stars | Massive spheres of incandescent gases. |
| Solar System | A sun and its family of planets. |
| Nebulae | Large, diffuse clouds of dust and gas within galaxies. *where stars form |
| Condensation Theory (Star) | 1.) A spinning nebula begins to shrink and heat up under the influence of its own weak gravity. 2.) The sphere flattens and condenses at the center into a knot of gases = protostar. 3.) Gravitational energy causes it to contract = raises internal temperatures. 4.) When temperature reach ~ 10 million degree C, nuclear fusion begins = releases more energy. 5.) Transitions from protostar to star = stops shrinking + burns H at a steady rate. 6.) Over its lifetime, converts hydrogen to heavier atoms like C or O. |
| Nuclear Fusion | Hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium. *releases large amounts of energy |
| A Star's Life | The stable burning of hydrogen through nuclear fusion depends on the star's initial mass. Medium-mass (Sun): when it begins to consume C and O atoms, energy output rises and increases in size. Large-mass: when it is depleted of hydrogen, it collapses on itself = supernova. |
| Supernova | Cataclysmic expansion that happens after a star collapses in on itself. Nuclear forces holding apart individual atomic nuclei are overcomed = atoms heavier than iron are formed. |
| Accretion | ... |
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