Marine Biology Terms
Marine biology studies life in the oceans, from drifting plankton to coral reefs. These terms cover the phytoplankton and zooplankton at the base of ocean food webs, coral reefs and estuaries, bioluminescence, and pressures such as ocean acidification and coral bleaching.
/
B
C
- Carbon cycleEcologyThe carbon cycle is the movement of carbon among the air, oceans, living things, soils and rocks through processes like photosynthesis and respiration.
- Coral bleachingMarine BiologyCoral bleaching is the paling of stressed corals as they lose the tiny symbiotic algae inside their tissue, most often because the water is too warm.
- Coral reefMarine BiologyA coral reef is an underwater ridge built over centuries from the limestone skeletons of colonial coral animals, home to some of Earth's richest sea life.
E
- EstuaryMarine BiologyAn estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water where river water meets and mixes with seawater, so that the water there is brackish.
- EutrophicationEcologyEutrophication is the over-enrichment of a lake, river or coastal sea with nutrients, fueling algal blooms that later decay and use up the water's oxygen.
I
K
O
P
- PhytoplanktonMarine BiologyPhytoplankton are microscopic photosynthetic organisms that drift near the surface of oceans and lakes and form the base of most aquatic food webs.
- PlanktonMarine BiologyPlankton are organisms that drift in oceans, lakes and rivers because they cannot swim against currents, from microscopic algae to large jellyfish.
Z
Keep going
Practice Marine Biology
Free marine biology quizzes, with an explanation for every answer.
See the QuizzesSubjects
Browse by Subject
- All subjects
- Biochemistry77
- Bioinformatics15
- Biotechnology33
- Botany29
- Cell Biology81
- Developmental Biology23
- Ecology43
- Entomology14
- Epidemiology34
- Evolution50
- Food Nutrition22
- Forensic Medicine11
- Genetics82
- Genomics22
- Human Anatomy42
- Immunology38
- Marine Biology12
- Medicine95
- Microbiology60
- Molecular Biology79
- Mycology12
- Neuroscience34
- Oncology24
- Paleontology10
- Parasitology11
- Pathology42
- Pharmacology34
- Physiology102
- Proteomics10
- Public Health36
- Stem Cell Biology13
- Surgery10
- Synthetic Biology9
- Virology19
- Zoology25