Robin Cook: Abduction

LithosphereThe rigid crust of the earth; it includes the sea floor as well as the continents.

MantleAn inner layer of the earth, between the lithosphere (see above) and the central core.

MicrosomeAny of the various minute subcellular structures.

Mohorovicic discontinuityAn area within the earth where there is a large change in the transmission of seismic waves. It is between 5 and 10 km below the ocean floor and about 35 km below the continents.

PangaeaA single continent that began breaking up in the Mesozoic era by the action of plate tectonics to form the present-day continents.

PeridotiteA dark rock deep within the mantle.

PlanktonMicroscopic plants (phytoplankton) and animals (zooplankton) that exist in such prodigious numbers that they form the base of the oceanic food chain.

Richter scaleA method of expressing the magnitude of earthquakes.

SeamountAn underwater mountain usually formed by volcanic activity.

ThermoclineA relatively stable, abrupt temperature change in a body of water.

ZygoteA cell formed by the union of two gametes (see above) which has the potential to form a new individual.

Ballard, Robert, Explorations: A Life of Underwater Adventure. New York: Hyperion, 1995.

Ellis, Richard, Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss. New York: Knopf, 1996. The illustrations alone make this a joy!

Ellis, Richard, Imaging Atlantis. New York: Knopf, 1998.

Kunzig, Robert, The Restless Sea. New York: Norton, 1999. An extremely well-written, enjoyable book that gives one a sense of the importance and breadth of oceanography.

Verne, Jules, Voyage au Centre de la Terre. Paris: 1864. (English translation:Voyage to the Center of the Earth. New York: Kensington, 1999.)

Verne, Jules, Vingt Mille Lieues Sous les Mers. Paris: 1870. (English translation: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Annapolis, Md.: United States Naval Institute, 1993.)