| abyssal plain |
the deep ocean floor |
| bathyscaphe |
a submersible, with an overhead tank filled with ballast, able to navigate and return to the surface under its own power |
| bathysphere |
a matal sphere lowered on a cable from a support ship, into the ocean depths |
| bioluminescent |
a creature able to produce its own light |
| chemosynthesis |
process through which microorganisms use energy produced during chemical reactions between carbond dioxide and water |
| chimney |
a column of solidified minerals rising from the ocean floor |
| crust |
outermost layer of the Earth |
| crustacean |
creatures with no backbone and a hard outer shell. Lobsters, shrimps, crabs. |
| diatom |
tiny creature, a component of plankton |
| euphasid |
small, shrimplike creature |
| filter feeder |
organism which obtains its food thorugh filtering small particles from the water |
| foraminfera |
any chiefly marine protozoan, typically having a linear, spiral, or concentric shell perforated by small holes or pores through which pseudopodia extend |
| habitat |
the place and natural conditions in which a plant or animal lives |
| hydrogen sulfide |
a chemical toxic to most animals, but used by some organisms to make food through chemosynthesis |
| hydrothermal vent |
cracks in the ocean floor through which boiling hot, chemical-filled water flows. Chimneys form around these vents, and organisms surround these vents using chemosynthesis to feed |
| invertebrate |
creature without a backbone. Squid, octopi, sharks |
| marine snow |
the remains of plants and animals that drift down from the sunlit surface waters of the ocean to its depths. This "snow" is the basis of most deep-sea food chains |
| mid-ocean ridge |
a huge undersea mountain range |
| mutualism |
a relationship between two organisms that benefit both |
| oceanography |
the science of the oceans |
| ostracod |
small, seed-shaped animal with two shells |
| photic zone |
area of the ocean in which sunlight penetrates enough to allow plants to survive. [to provide for photosynthesis] |
| photophore |
the glowing organ of a creature that contains light-producing chemicals |
| plankton |
one of many tiny plants or organisms that live in the ocean |
| seep |
an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide is released by the seeping of oil or natural gas up through the ocean floor |
| submersible |
vehicle designed for underwater exploration |
| submarine |
vehicle designed for military use under underwater |
| twilight zone |
area of the ocean below the sunlit zone (photic zone) and above the area of total darkness |
