an eastern subfamily of Malayo-Polynesian languages constituting or living in the open sea; "oceanic waters"; "oceanic life" resembling the ocean in apparent limitlessness in extent or degree; "the oceanic violence of his rage" relating to or occurring or living in or frequenting the open ocean; "oceanic islands like Bermuda"; "oceanic currents"; "oceanic birds"; "pelagic organisms"; "pelagic whaling
relating to or occurring or living in or frequenting the open ocean; "oceanic islands like Bermuda"; "oceanic currents"; "oceanic birds"; "pelagic organisms"; "pelagic whaling
Acronym for Ocean Information Center, a data center that maintains information on WOCE, TOGA, research ships and cruise schedules, and other oceanographic information sources [http: //diu cms udel edu/]
Oceanic means belonging or relating to an ocean or to the sea. Many oceanic islands are volcanic. relating to the ocean. adj. oceanic trench Oceanic arts oceanic plateau Oceanic religions oceanic ridge
Literary, performing, and visual arts of the Pacific islands of Oceania, including Australia as well as Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. Their isolation and wide range of environmental conditions led to the development of a rich variety of artistic styles. Religion and ritual strongly influence every aspect of Oceanic life, and their association with the arts is especially close. Religious symbolism infuses not only the objects, dances, and speeches used in ritual but also the materials and tools used to create them. Oceanic literature includes both complex oral traditions and a more modern body of works written primarily in English. The traditional oral transmission of literature necessitated rhythmic cadences and stock formulas to aid memory. Favoured subjects are tales of the gods and spirits and creation myths. Musical styles are multitudinous, though all regions, with some Melanesian exceptions, emphasize vocals using instruments to produce supranormal voices. Consequently most instruments are technically crude though often elaborately decorated in keeping with their extramusical function as gifts and cult objects. Polynesian song and dance is rooted in societal structure, and chants praise chiefs or high-ranking guests while the dancers' movements narrate rather than act out the meaning. Australian and Melanesian dance has a historical function describing the activities of gods and ancestors in the latter instance, dancers don elaborate costumes and masks. In all the islands the significant movements are made with the upper half of the body, while the feet merely keep time. The visual arts display ingenious use of environmental possibilities: a staggering range of materials are used, often in collage-style combination. Wood is the main artistic medium; secondary materials included clay, shell, and stone. Extant works include wooden masks, clubs, and religious effigies; carved stone sculptures; feather cloaks and helmets; and bark cloth stenciled with bold, dense geometric designs The most famous monuments of Oceanic art are the gargantuan stone figures of Easter Island. With the arrival of European colonists, the arts in these regions began to reflect European traditions and styles. See also bisj pole
Non-Christian religions practiced in Oceania. Traditional Melanesian religions, which are giving way under the pressures of Christianity and capitalism, hold that ancestral ghosts and other spirits are participants in daily life. Their presence and effects are manifested in dreams, in divination, and in human successes and failures. Magic is widely practiced, and sorcery is seen as the major cause of death and illness. The traditional religions of Micronesia, which have largely died out, recognized several high gods and many other spirits, including the spirits of ancestors and the dead. Magic played an important role. In Polynesia, each of the gods, whether high or local, had its own ritual requirements, and schools of priests were often required to carry them out. All things were believed to possess mana, which had to be protected by complicated rules and taboos. The Polynesians often offered human sacrifices on important occasions, such as the formal investiture of a priest or chief. With the introduction of modern goods, the peoples of all these islands became susceptible to cargo cults
or submarine plateau Large submarine elevation rising sharply at least 660 ft (200 m) above the surrounding seafloor and having an extensive, relatively flat or gently tilted summit. Most plateaus are steplike interruptions of the continental slopes. Some, however, occur well beyond the continental margins. They stand alone, high above the surrounding seafloor, and are believed to be fragments of continents that were isolated during continental drift and seafloor spreading
Continuous, submarine mountain chain extending approximately 50,000 mi (80,000 km) through all the world's oceans, separating them into distinct basins. The main ridge extends down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, passes between Africa and Antarctica, turns north to the Indian Ocean, then continues between Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica and across the Pacific basin to the mouth of the Gulf of California. Lateral ridges extend from islands on the axis of the oceanic ridge to coasts of adjacent continents. The oceanic ridge system is the largest feature of the Earth's surface after the continents and the ocean basins themselves; it is explained by the theory of plate tectonics as a boundary between diverging plates where molten rock is brought up from deep beneath the Earth's crust. See also subduction zone
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a federal government agency dedicated to scientifically studying the oceans and atmosphere. The NOAA is a part of the Department of Commerce
an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; provides weather reports and forecasts floods and hurricanes and other natural disasters related to weather
Generally, the whole body of salt water which covers nearly three fourths of the surface of the globe The average depth of the ocean is estimated to be about 13,000 feet (3,960 meters); the greatest reported depth is 34,218 feet (10,430 meters), north of Mindanao in the Western Pacific Ocean The ocean bottom is a generally level or gently undulating plain, covered with a fine red or gray clay, or, in certain regions, with ooze of organic origin The water, whose composition is fairly constant, contains on the average 3 percent of dissolved salts; of this solid portion, common salt forms about 78 percent, magnesium salts 15-16 percent, calcium salts 4 percent, with smaller amounts of various other substances The density of ocean water is about 1 026 (relative to distilled water, or pure H2O) The oceans are divided into the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic Oceans
What the bathroom floor looks like after bath night for kids, assorted pets, two or three full-sized towels and several dozen toy boats, cars and animals
A body of saline water found occupying all or part of the Earth's ocean basins There are six recognized oceans: North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Arctic
The intercommunicating body of salt water occupying the depressions of the earth's surface, or one of its major primary subdivisions, bounded by the continents, or the equator, and other imaginary lines A sea is subdivision of an ocean
Acronym for Ocean Colour European Archive Network, a project of CEC and ESA established in 1990 The aim of the project was to generate a data base of CZCS data for the European seas and to set up the scientific tools needed for its exploitation OCEAN processed about 25,500 CZCS images at various levels in its five years of activity and generated an archive of about 400 GB of data from this processing Some of the processed images are available online [http: //me-www jrc it/OCEAN/ocean html]
emphasis If you say that something is a drop in the ocean, you mean that it is a very small amount which is unimportant compared to the cost of other things or is so small that it has very little effect on something. His fee is a drop in the ocean compared with the real cost of broadcasting. Large, continuous body of salt water. Ocean covers nearly 71% of the Earth's surface and is divided into major oceans and smaller seas. The three principal oceans, the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian, are largely delimited by land and submarine topographic boundaries. All are connected to what is sometimes called the Southern Ocean, the waters encircling Antarctica. Important marginal seas, primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, are partially enclosed by landmasses or island arcs. The largest are the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas, Caribbean and adjacent waters, Mediterranean, Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Yellow and China Seas, and Sea of Japan. ocean perch Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean ocean current ocean liner Pacific Ocean
emphasis If you say that there is an ocean of something, you are emphasizing that there is a very large amount of it. I had cried oceans of tears APEC seems be drowning in an ocean of jargon
The salt water surrounding the great land masses The land masses divide the ocean into several distinct portions, each of which also is called an ocean The oceans include the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean
The salt water surrounding the great land masses, and divided by the land masses into several distinct portions, each of which is called an ocean The five oceans of the world are the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic