What are tornadoes?

What are tornadoes?

Tornadoes are spirals of wind that are very powerful and very fast. They are set off by giant thunderclouds and have a low pressure centre that acts like a giant vacuum cleaner. People, cars, buildings, and trees are plucked up and thrown high into the air, as the tornado races by at speeds over 300 kms per hour. A tornado may last only minutes, but the damage it can cause is immense.

More reference : Click Here

Click Here

What are tides?

What are tides?

When you go to the beach, have you noticed that sometimes the waves creep right up the beach… and sometimes they stop way back? These movements of the ocean are the tides. Tides are the regular rising and falling of the surface of the ocean. Tides occur twice each day. When the water level rises, it is high tide. When water it falls, it is low tide.

More reference : Click Here

What are the tropics?

What are the tropics?

The tropics are broad zones of the Earth that lie north and south of the Equator. Each of the tropics is about 2,600 kilometers wide. The tropic of Cancer is 23 27' North of the equator while the Tropic of Capricorn is 23 27' south of the equator. There two parallel lines of latitude mark the boundaries of a region where the sun shines directly overhead. Most places here have warm to hot climates. All the word's tropical forests as well as some of the hot deserts fall in this region.

More reference : Click Here

What are the problems caused by ballast water?

What are the problems caused by ballast water?

A ship which has millions of gallons of sea water in its tanks, will empty this seawater at a port thousands of kilometers way. This ballast water will discharge all the organisms from another sea into the new sea or ocean. This upsets the ecological balance. The ballast water may also be responsible for transferring bacteria from one area to another.

More reference : Click Here

What are the main causes of sea pollution?

What are the main causes of sea pollution?

The sea is being polluted in five main ways.

1. Nuclear wastes from power stations are dumped into the sea.
2. Rubbish and heavy metals like lead and mercury are released into the sea by industries.
3. Chemicals, including pesticides and fertilizers are washed from the land into rivers which carry them into the sea.
4. Oil from ships, tankers and coastal industries spills into the sea.
5. Sewage is pumped into the sea.

More reference : Click Here

What are the kinds of beaches?

What are the kinds of beaches?

When you think of a beach you think of sand. But there are also other types of beaches. In addition to sandy beaches, there are pebble beaches, rocky beaches and boulder beaches. Each of these beaches is formed by different actions of the wind and the sea. They wash the sand onto the shore, and grind down remains of seashells and rock to form sandy beaches. The sea also break up cliffs with constant battering, resulting in boulder beaches. Small stones are thrown on shore by the force of storm waves to form pebble beaches, while wave action also wars away rocks resulting in rocky beaches.

Reference : Click Here Click Here

What are the different types of tides?

What are the different types of tides?

There are two different types of tides – Spring Tides and Neap Tides. Spring Tides are especially strong tides. They occur when the earth, sun and moon are in a line. The gravitational force of the moon and the sun act together, making high tides very high, and low tides very low during Spring full moon and new moon.

Proxigean Spring Tide is a rare once every 1.5 year, when the moon is unusually close to the earth during the new moon. Neap tides are weak tides. They occur when the sun and moon are perpendicular to each other, with respect to the earth. The bulges cancel each other to some extent, so that the difference between high and low tides is very small. Neap Tides occur during quarter moons.



More reference : Click Here

Click Here

What are the different types of sea shores?

What are the different types of sea shores?

The sea shore is not always made of sandy beaches. It can be rocky and edged with cliffs. Beaches can be sandy or strewn with pebbles and boulders. In some places, especially near the mouths of rivers, you will find mud banks. You will also find shores with huge sand dunes while in other places mangroves and marshes line the shore.

More reference : Click Here

What are the different types of sand you can find on the beach?

What are the different types of sand you can find on the beach?

You will find sand of many different colours and types on the beach. Did you know that there are black, white, pink and brown sands? These are formed from granite, sandstone, or other quartz-rich rocks of different colours. Some sands are the ground down remains of seashells, or coral rocks. Sometimes sand is blown by the wind into small hills known as sand dunes.

What are the different layers of the ocean?

What are the different layers of the ocean?

Did you know that if you took a trip to the bottom of the ocean, you would pass through several layers?

First you would pass through the sunlit shallow water, where you can see many beautiful fish and plants. After about 200 metres however, you will enter the twilight zone. It is shady here, and there will be fewer fish and plants because there is less sunlight.

Below 1000 metres, you will enter the dark zone. It is quite scary here because it is cold and the water appears black. Yet even here, there will be some strange looking creatures like tube worms, which feed on the bacteria that are present in the water. Occasionally, you may see tiny pinpoints of light. This light is produced in the skin of some animals which live here, and is called bioluminescence.

More reference : Click Here

What are the different creatures that live on the coral reef?

What are the different creatures that live on the coral reef?

A great many colourful animals live on the reefs, making it one of the richest wild life communities. The dangerous but beautiful spotted lionfish, the hawk fish, the long nosed butterfly fish and sea slugs are some of the animals found in the reefs.

More reference : Click Here