Cambrian
42
with a high fat content and low proportions of water and inorganic material. Therefore, caloric values are preferably expressed in joules per gram of
either ash-free dry weight or carbon. Roughly, 1 g of carbon yields 12 kcal or
50 kJ.
Cambrian ---?geological time scale.
camouflage ---?coloration in (marine) animals.
canyon ---?submarine canyon.
capillary wave a surface wave where the surface tension is the main restoring force.
Their wavelength is shorter than 5 cm, because for longer wavelengths the
gravity takes over as a restoring force. ---?gravity wave.
carapace the shield-like part of the exoskeleton that covers the thoracal segments
in many species of Crustacea.
carbohydrates a heterogeneous group of compounds with the empirical formula Cx(HzO)y (hydrates of carbon). They are prominent constituents of plants,
owing to the abundance of cellulose and starch, but they also occur in animals as glycogen, where this serves as the chief source of energy. Carbohydrates, as polyhydroxyaldehydes or ketones and derivatives of them,
may be classified into groups according to their complexity. (1) Monosaccharides or simple sugars: single straight chain molecules, not to be
hydrolyzed into simpler substances; (2) oligosaccharides: union of 2 to 12
monosaccharide units; (3) polysaccharides: union of more than 12 monosaccharide units; (4) derived carbohydrate oxydation and reduction products, aminosugars and deoxysugars. The content of carbohydrate in marine
organisms varies between ca. 60 % on a dry weight basis in brown and red
algae, ca. 20 % in bacteria, ca. 12 % in phytoplankton, and ca. 2 % in zooplankton and zoobenthos. Mono- and disaccharides and low molecular
polysaccharides excreted by living organisms are readily utilized by
microorganisms. Carbohydrates such as cellulose and hemicellulose undergo much slower decomposition.
carbonate compensation depth ---?carbonate dissolution.
carbonate dissolution carbonate sediments are rare below a water depth of about
5 km in the Atlantic and about 4.5 km in the Pacific. This distribution
depends partly upon the property of CaC0 3 , that it is more soluble in cold
than in warm water, but mainly on the hydrostatic pressure in the deep ocean.
The carbonate equilibrium will shift with increasing pressure towards more
bicarbonate and hydrogen ions, so that the system becomes undersaturated in
42
with a high fat content and low proportions of water and inorganic material. Therefore, caloric values are preferably expressed in joules per gram of
either ash-free dry weight or carbon. Roughly, 1 g of carbon yields 12 kcal or
50 kJ.
Cambrian ---?geological time scale.
camouflage ---?coloration in (marine) animals.
canyon ---?submarine canyon.
capillary wave a surface wave where the surface tension is the main restoring force.
Their wavelength is shorter than 5 cm, because for longer wavelengths the
gravity takes over as a restoring force. ---?gravity wave.
carapace the shield-like part of the exoskeleton that covers the thoracal segments
in many species of Crustacea.
carbohydrates a heterogeneous group of compounds with the empirical formula Cx(HzO)y (hydrates of carbon). They are prominent constituents of plants,
owing to the abundance of cellulose and starch, but they also occur in animals as glycogen, where this serves as the chief source of energy. Carbohydrates, as polyhydroxyaldehydes or ketones and derivatives of them,
may be classified into groups according to their complexity. (1) Monosaccharides or simple sugars: single straight chain molecules, not to be
hydrolyzed into simpler substances; (2) oligosaccharides: union of 2 to 12
monosaccharide units; (3) polysaccharides: union of more than 12 monosaccharide units; (4) derived carbohydrate oxydation and reduction products, aminosugars and deoxysugars. The content of carbohydrate in marine
organisms varies between ca. 60 % on a dry weight basis in brown and red
algae, ca. 20 % in bacteria, ca. 12 % in phytoplankton, and ca. 2 % in zooplankton and zoobenthos. Mono- and disaccharides and low molecular
polysaccharides excreted by living organisms are readily utilized by
microorganisms. Carbohydrates such as cellulose and hemicellulose undergo much slower decomposition.
carbonate compensation depth ---?carbonate dissolution.
carbonate dissolution carbonate sediments are rare below a water depth of about
5 km in the Atlantic and about 4.5 km in the Pacific. This distribution
depends partly upon the property of CaC0 3 , that it is more soluble in cold
than in warm water, but mainly on the hydrostatic pressure in the deep ocean.
The carbonate equilibrium will shift with increasing pressure towards more
bicarbonate and hydrogen ions, so that the system becomes undersaturated in