Vocabulary

Anomaly - irregularity: something that deviates from the norm or from expectations.

Downwelling - falling of water from the surface: a process in which warm water falls and warms the cold nutrient-rich water at the ocean depths.

ENSO - El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO is a natural part of our climate system arising from interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere.

Euphotic - allowing light for photosynthesis: used to describe the upper layer of a body of water that allows the penetration of enough light to support photosynthetic, or green, plants

Thermocline - layer of water with temperature change: a layer of water where there is an abrupt change in temperature that separates the warmer surface water from the colder deep water. The buffer zone between the upper layer of water and the frigid ocean below

Trade winds - prevailing tropical wind: a prevailing tropical wind blowing toward the equator from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or from the southeast in the southern hemisphere. The trade winds are major components of the global weather system.

Trophic - relating to nutrition: relating to the nutritive value of food

Upwelling - rising of water to surface: a process in which cold nutrient-rich water rises to the surface from the ocean depths