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Glossary of Chemical Oceanography Terms
I. Descriptive Oceanography
Adiabatic: A process occurring without exchange of heat with the surroundings.
Adiabatic Temperature: The change in temperature of seawater due to the effect of
pressure.
Agulhas Current: An Indian Ocean current that flows south along the southeastern coast
of Africa.
Alaska Current: Flows northward from the coast of Alaska to the Bering Strait.
Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW): Formed in the Weddell and Ross Seas. A mixture of
circumpolar and shelf water. Formed due to its high density.
Antarctic Convergence Zone: Where Antarctic intermediate water forms, the surface
temperature rapidly increases 2–3°C (50° S in Atlantic and Indian, 60° S in the
Pacific).
Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW): Forms at the Antarctic convergence. Includes
Antarctic surface water and circumpolar water. Salinities less than 34.5 are found
due to the melting of ice.
Antarctic Surface Water: Water that forms the Antarctic intermediate waters from the
circumpolar waters.
Antarctic Zone: Area from the continent to the Antarctic convergence. Surface temperature of the water is –2 to 1°C in winter and –1 to 4°C in the summer.
Antilles Current: Flows northward from northern South America on the northern side of
the Antilles to join the Florida Current, composed mostly of North Atlantic water
(125 Sv).
Aragonite: Crystalline form of calcium carbonate, formed by pteropods (Bahama Banks).
Bar Built Estuary: An estuary that has a narrow channel between the shore and a bar
built as a result of waves and sedimentation.
Basin: Relatively flat area; a large portion of the deep- sea bottom.
Benguilla Current: A continuation of the Brazil current with a lower salinity that flows
north and northwest along the western coast of Africa and contains cold waters.
Bering Seawater: Warmer and denser water than the water in the Canadian Basin. Has a
higher salinity and leads to the halocline in the Canadian Basin as it flows inward.
Biogenous: One of the four sediment types; formed by biological processes (e.g., shells of
calcite).
Brazil Current: A current of warm, saline water that is a southern continuation of the
South Equatorial Current and becomes part of the Circumpolar Current after
flowing southward along the eastern coast of South America.
Break in Slope: The outer limit of the shelf with a slope of 1 to 20 and an average depth
of 130 m.
Calcite: Crystalline form of calcium carbonate (rhombohedral form) that formed foraminifera and cocoliths—an example of biogenous sediment.
Glossary of Chemical Oceanography Terms
I. Descriptive Oceanography
Adiabatic: A process occurring without exchange of heat with the surroundings.
Adiabatic Temperature: The change in temperature of seawater due to the effect of
pressure.
Agulhas Current: An Indian Ocean current that flows south along the southeastern coast
of Africa.
Alaska Current: Flows northward from the coast of Alaska to the Bering Strait.
Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW): Formed in the Weddell and Ross Seas. A mixture of
circumpolar and shelf water. Formed due to its high density.
Antarctic Convergence Zone: Where Antarctic intermediate water forms, the surface
temperature rapidly increases 2–3°C (50° S in Atlantic and Indian, 60° S in the
Pacific).
Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW): Forms at the Antarctic convergence. Includes
Antarctic surface water and circumpolar water. Salinities less than 34.5 are found
due to the melting of ice.
Antarctic Surface Water: Water that forms the Antarctic intermediate waters from the
circumpolar waters.
Antarctic Zone: Area from the continent to the Antarctic convergence. Surface temperature of the water is –2 to 1°C in winter and –1 to 4°C in the summer.
Antilles Current: Flows northward from northern South America on the northern side of
the Antilles to join the Florida Current, composed mostly of North Atlantic water
(125 Sv).
Aragonite: Crystalline form of calcium carbonate, formed by pteropods (Bahama Banks).
Bar Built Estuary: An estuary that has a narrow channel between the shore and a bar
built as a result of waves and sedimentation.
Basin: Relatively flat area; a large portion of the deep- sea bottom.
Benguilla Current: A continuation of the Brazil current with a lower salinity that flows
north and northwest along the western coast of Africa and contains cold waters.
Bering Seawater: Warmer and denser water than the water in the Canadian Basin. Has a
higher salinity and leads to the halocline in the Canadian Basin as it flows inward.
Biogenous: One of the four sediment types; formed by biological processes (e.g., shells of
calcite).
Brazil Current: A current of warm, saline water that is a southern continuation of the
South Equatorial Current and becomes part of the Circumpolar Current after
flowing southward along the eastern coast of South America.
Break in Slope: The outer limit of the shelf with a slope of 1 to 20 and an average depth
of 130 m.
Calcite: Crystalline form of calcium carbonate (rhombohedral form) that formed foraminifera and cocoliths—an example of biogenous sediment.