Glossary

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pelt	The skin of an animal.	View
perigee	The point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite that is nearest the earth's center .	View
perihelion	The point in the orbit of a planet or comet at which it is nearest to the sun.	View
photosynthesis	The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are made from carbon dioxide and water using sunlight as an energy source.	View
phytoplankton	Phyto means plant, Planktos means drifter. These are the tiny plants that capture the energy of the sun and turn it into food. Because they are so tiny, they can divide and grow very quickly when the more intense and longer lasting light of the summer months arrives in higher latitudes.	View
pincers	1. A claw (as of a lobster) resembling a pair of pincers. 2. An instrument having two handles and two jaws that is used to grip things.	View
plankton	Planktos means drifter. Plankton are organisms that live in water, whether sea, lake, pond, river, etc. Some plankton can move about within the water column, up and down, but they drift where the tides and currents take them.	View
plot	A small area of ground.	View
Polar-orbiting satellites		View
pollutant	Something that pollutes, especially a waste material that harms the air, soil, or water.	View
poly-	A prefix attached to most types of plastics.	View
pond	A body of water usually smaller than a lake.	View
precipitation	Forms of condensed water vapor that are heavy enough to fall to Earth; rain, sleet, snow.	View
predation	The capturing of prey in order to survive.	View
predator	An animal that lives by capturing and eating other animals.	View
preservation	To keep safe from harm or injury; protect or spare.	View
pressure	The force per unit area that one region of a gas, liquid, or solid exerts on another. Pressure is usually measured in Pascal units, atmospheres, or pounds per square inch.	View
prey	An animal hunted or caught for food.	View
producer	An organism, such as a plant, that is able to produce its own food from nonliving substances. Most producers capable of photosynthesis. Producers are diverse if form – they can be green plants, trees, green, red, or brown seaweeds; or microscopic algae (as in phytoplankton).	View
protocol	Detailed plan or rules for collecting data or carrying out an experiment or scientific study.	View
prove	To show to be true or correct.	View
quadrat	A square or rectangular plot of land marked off for the study of plants and animals.	View
radula	A hard, file-like rasping band with many tiny teeth, that extends out of the mouth on the underside of the animal to scrape algae and other small organisms off rocks in the intertidal zone.	View
random sampling	The selection of a random sample in such a way that each element of the population has an equal chance of been selected.	View
recede	To retreat or withdraw.	View
recolonize	To migrate to, settle in, and occupy again.	View
redd	A gravel area in a stream bed where a female salmon digs a hole and lays her eggs.	View
relief	The differences in elevation and slope between the higher and lower parts of the land surface of a given area.	View
Remote Autonomous Vehicle (ROV)		View
retreat	To move back. A glacier retreats when it is losing more ice due to melting, calving, and evaporation than it is gaining from the addition of new snow.	View
rift valley	Deep undersea valley located along the center of the mid-ocean ridge. It is associated with the crustal thinning spreading that causes magma to upwell onto the ocean floor.	View
river	Water flowing in a channel towards the sea or a large lake.	View
rookery	A breeding ground or colony of birds or other animals.	View
ROV - Remotely Operated Vehicle	a tethered underwater robot. ROVs are unoccupied, highly maneuverable and operated by a person aboard a vessel. They are linked to the ship by a cable.	View
runoff	Much of the water that returns to Earth as precipitation runs off the surface of the land, and flows down hill into streams, rivers, ponds and lakes.	View
rupture	To break open or burst.	View
salinity	The relative proportion of salt in a solution.	View
sample	(verb) To test or examine a portion, piece, or section that is representative of a whole. (noun) Items selected at random from a population and used to test hypotheses about the population.	View
scatterplot	A graph with points plotted to show the relationship between two variables.	View
scavenger	An animal or other organism that feeds on dead organic matter.	View
sea	A great body of salty water that covers much of the earth; ocean.	View
sea urchin	A shallow-water animal (echinoderm) that has a soft body enclosed in a thin,spiny, globe-shaped shell.	View
seamount	An underwater mountain rising from the ocean floor and having a peaked or flat-topped summit below the surface of the sea.	View
segments	Any of the parts into which a thing is divided or naturally separates.	View
semi-durnal tides	Tides that have two high tides and two low tides of about the same height.	View
semipermanent	Extending over a relatively long time; not quite permanent.	View
serial	Occurs when a predator or predators reduce their prey populations in sequence,first greatly reducing numbers of one prey species, then switching to an alternative prey speciesuntilseveral prey species become scarce.	View
shelter	Something that covers or protects.	View
side scan sonar	Creates a picture or an image of the sea floor. It measures the strength of how "loud" the return echo is, and paints a picture.	View
sinewave	An s-shaped, smooth, regular wave that oscillates above and below zero.	View
slough	A marshy or reedy pool, pond, inlet, or backwater.	View
smolt	A young salmon preparing to enter salt water.	View
sonar	SOund NAvigation and Ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater) to navigate, communicate or to detect other vessels. The study of underwater sound is known as underwater acoustics or sometimes hydroacoustics.	View
sonar screen	A screen on which sonar measurements are observed.	View
sonobouy	A buoy equipped with an acoustic receiver and a radio transmitter that emits radio signals when it detects underwater sounds.	View
spawn	The act of fish depositing eggs or sperm directly into the water.	View
spectrogram	A photograph, map, or diagram of a spectrum.	View
spring tides	The exceptionally high and low tides that occur at the time of the new moon or the full moon when the sun, moon, and earth are approximately aligned.	View
stewardship	The responsibility to take care of our natural resources to ensure that they are sustainably managed for current and future generations. Stewardship of the environment can include recycling, conservation, and restoration.	View
submersible	A vessel capable of operating or remaining under water.	View
subsistence	A system of farming or fishing or gathering that provides all or almost all the goods required by a family.	View
subtidal	Describes the area below the intertidal zone, which is always under water.	View
sustainability	To be able to keep in existence; maintain at a certain level.	View
sustainable	Use of an ecosystem’s resources (such as water or trees) so that is has time to replenish what is used and continues to meet the needs of the organisms that depend on it.	View
systematic sampling	A statistical or field sampling method involving the selection of samples at set intervals. For example, every fifth number might be selected, or a sample might be taken every 3 meters.	View
tally	A number or group of items recorded.	View
tectonic	The forces or conditions within the earth that cause movements of the crust.	View
telepresence	A set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present at a location other than their true location.	View
temporary	Lasting for a short period of time; not permanent.	View
terminus	The end or extremity of anything; the end of a glacier at any given point in time.	View
thermal expansion	The tendency of matter to change in volume in response to a change in temperature.	View
thermocline	A distinct layer in a large body of water, such as an ocean or lake, in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below.	View
thermohaline	Derives from thermo- referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water and thus create currents and circulation within the ocean.	View
tidal current	A current caused by the motion of tides.	View
tidal range	The difference in height between high and low tides.	View
tide	The periodic rise and fall of the waters of the ocean and its inlets, produced by the attraction of the moon and sun, and occurring about every 12 hours.	View
timed	Counting something or several things for a certain period of time.	View
topographic map	A map showing the relief features of the earth's surface, usually by means of contour lines to show changes in elevation.	View
topography	The relief features or surface configuration of an area.	View
transect		View
transect		View
transient	Staying in a place only a short time.	View
transparency	The property or quality of transmitting rays of light through its substance so that bodies situated beyond or behind can be distinctly seen.	View
transpiration	As plants absorb water from the soil, the water moves from the roots through the stems to the leaves. Once the water reaches the leaves, some of it evaporates from the leaves, adding to the amount of water vapor in the air. This process of evaporation through plant leaves is called transpiration.	View
trehalose	A substance that protects brine shrimp from drying out, or getting too hot or cold.	View
trough	The part of a wave with the least magnitude; the lowest part of a wave.	View
tsunami	A very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption.	View
turbidity	Muddiness created by stirring up sediment or having foreign particles suspended.	View
underfur	The fine, soft, thick, hairy coat under the longer and coarser outer hair in certain animals, as seals, otters, and beavers.	View
uniform	The same always or everywhere; not changing or varying.	View
unmanned aerial vehicle (AUV)		View
unmanned aerial vehicle (AUV)		View
urchin	(See sea urchin).	View
vernal	Temporary pools of water that usually form in the spring, dries out in the summer and reforms in the fall.	View
vertical circle	A great circle on the celestial sphere passing through the zenith (the point that is directly above the observer) and perpendicular to the horizon.	View
vocalization	The act of making sounds with the voice.	View
volcanic arc	A usually arc-shaped chain of volcanoes located on the margin of the overriding plate at a boundary where two crustal plates come together.	View
water cycle	Continuous movement of water from the oceans and fresh water sources to the air and land and then back to the oceans.	View
watershed	An area of land from which rainwater and snowmelt drain into a particular river, stream, or lake, which is the lowest point in the surrounding landscape. All watersheds are connected, directly or indirectly, to the ocean.	View
wave	One of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water).	View