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Glossary
adaptation
A characteristic or feature of a plant or animal that helps it survive, adaptations evolve over long time periods e.g. birds that become flightless
Ice that forms on the sea floor
An ocean current that flows clockwise from west to east around Antarctica
Caused by people e.g. ocean acidification is caused by people increasing carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial revolutions
The air around us
The smallest unit that anything can be easily broken down into, containing protons, neutrons and electrons
Small broken pieces of iceberg
The range or variety of living things in a particular area
The part of the Earth system to do with all living things
Slightly salty
brine
As salt is squeezed out of freezing sea water a slushy mixture known as brine is formed (a salty liquid mixture)
When icebergs break away from ice shelves
carbon
A natural chemical element found in all living, or once living things
carbon-13
A natural form of carbon found more in sea ice algae than in open ocean algae
Just as the "water cycle" describes the transfer of water molecules between rivers, oceans, land and the atmosphere, the "carbon cycle" refers to the flow of carbon through different parts of the Earth system – including the air and the bodies of plants and animals
When a carbon atom joins with two oxygen atoms, a lot of carbon dioxide comes from burning things containing carbon
Molecules made up of different types of atoms bonded together
The average weather over many years
Rapid change in climate due to human activity (mainly burning fossil fuels) increasing heat trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
All the living things in a particular area
condensation
The process of changing water from a gas to a liquid is called condensation
One of the seven large areas of land on earth
This is all the living (e.g. animals, plants) and non-living (e.g. light, water) things within a particular area
evaporation
The process of changing water from a liquid to a gas is called evaporation
Sea ice that is held in place year after year
This shows what eats what in a community
The first ice crystals that form on the sea's surface when the water temperature dips below 1.8 degrees Celsius, are known as frazil
A river of ice
When the average temperature on earth naturally falls
When the average temperature on earth naturally rises
The natural way the earth is warmed 33 degrees by its atmosphere
Gulf Stream
A powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida
All the waters on the Earth's surface, such as lakes and seas
An explanation of why things happen that can be tested by scientists
A period when the earth's climate is colder
A large area of ice formed when glaciers join together
A large area of floating ice, formed when glaciers flow out to sea
Part of a glacier or ice shelf that has broken off and floated away
When cold air descends from high mountains down into lower areas because the cold air is denser (heavier)
The solid rocky layer covering the surface of the Earth including the crust and upper mantle
mass
The quantity of matter contained in an object
matter
Anything that takes up space and has mass - everything around us
The iceshelf that fills McMurdo Sound, Antarctica
The area of the Ross Sea between Ross Island and the TransAntarctic Mountains
A greenhouse gas CH4 produced from the breakdown of once living things
A group of atoms bonded together
Sometimes called laughing gas, a greenhouse gas produced by bacteria and by people through agriculture
The lowering of the pH of the oceans due to their absorbtion of carbon dioxide
Large flows of water in the oceans
A living thing
A gas made up of three oxygen atoms which is naturally present in the upper atmosphere, it helps protect Earth from harmful UV radiation
particles
A very small amount of something, or the smallest possible part of something
A measure of how acidic (or alkaline) a substance is
The process that plants carry out to harness the sun's energy and carbon dioxide to make sugars for food
polynya
An area of open water surrounded by sea ice
The force of something upon a surface eg air pressure is the force or weight of air above a particular point on the Earth's surface
A fold or buckle in ice, often where ice collides with land
A piece of equipment between a diver's airtank and mouthpiece that controls the airflow to the diver
The huge Antarctic ice shelf directly south of New Zealand
The island in Antarctica formed by Mt Erebus, also the location of Scott Base
Part of the Pacific Ocean that juts into Antarctica and ends in the Ross Ice Shelf
sea ice
Sea ice is formed on the ocean surface when the water temperature falls to –2 degrees Celsius. It floats because it is less dense than sea water
Sea Ice Microbial Community, a group of microorganisms that live in or on the underside of sea ice
The term scientists use to describe a liquid that is below its freezing point but remains a liquid
A line made through an area to be studied along which samples are taken
Day to day changes in the atmosphere