Coccolithophore. Jeremy Joung / Natural History Museum, London

Tara Expeditions lexicon

Beagle: Ship on which Darwin made a 5-year voyage around the world, collected samples and conceived the theory of evolution.

Biodiversity: Diversity of life

Biology: Science of life.

Biomass: Total mass of living organisms.

Circumnavigation : to proceed completely around

Coccolithophores: Microscopic unicellular organisms which use sunlight and calcium to build calcium carbonate shells that deposit to make sediments.

Corals: Marine organisms which populate and build coral reefs.

Darwin: 19th century English naturalist who conceived the theory of evolution and published “On the origin of species by natural selection” 150 years ago.

Ecology: Study of interaction between communities of organisms and their environment.

Evolution: Origins and changes over time of species and populations.

Genomics: Science dealing with genes of species and populations.

Geochemistry: Science dealing with the chemistry of the earth.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch : It’s a calm zone in the Pacific Ocean where marine currents meet, carrying floating trash which accumulates in layers. This sea of rubble, only visible from boat decks, was discovered in 1997 by Captain Charles Moore. It took him almost a week to cross it -- he was amazed to have found it in this infrequently travelled part of the globe.

Hydrothermal vents: Volcanic areas on ocean floors that emit hot fluids, gases and minerals.

Lamarck: French naturalist who proposed a theory of evolution 50 years before Darwin.

Microorganisms: Organisms below 0.1 mm observed with microscopes.

Oceanography: Science of the oceans.

Pelagic: Open sea.

Photosynthesis: Transformation of light energy into sugars by plants and other photosynthetic microorganisms.

Plankton: Living organisms drifting in the oceans.

Rosette: Oceanographic instrument than can take samples of water at different depths.