intro and oceanography Flashcards

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1
Q

3 main pillars of marine biology

A
  1. functional biology
  2. ecology
  3. biodiversity
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2
Q

functional biology

A

how organism carries out basic functions (eg. reproduction)

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3
Q

ecology

A

how organisms interact with their env

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4
Q

biodiversity

A

variety of species

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5
Q

what 4 factors determine the density of seawater?

A
  • TEMP
  • SALINITY
  • depth
  • pressure
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6
Q

hypsographic curve

A

comparing land and oceans

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7
Q

ring of fire

A

string of volcanoes

-> seismic activity and earthquakes all caused by PLATE TECTONICS

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8
Q

pacific plate

A
  • huge
  • its fringes interact with smaller plates around it -> causing activity
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9
Q

Mariana Trench

A

in NW pacific - deepest trench in world

CONVERGENT boundary -> pacific plate faster than philippine plate

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10
Q

isostasy

A

rising / settling of bit of Earth’s lithosphere

-> where gravity & buoyancy act on earth’s outer layers to bring them closer together

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11
Q

bathymetry

A

mapping ocean floor

-> measurement of ocean depths & charting of shape of ocean floor

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12
Q

3 regions of ocean floor

A

continental shelf - shallow

mid-atlantic ridge

abyssal region - v v deep

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13
Q

describe how and who created the first bathymetric contour map of the world’s oceans

A

HMS challenger in 1872 for 4 yrs

-> covered 127,600km

-> 1st voyage to record scale of Mariana Trench

-> 4,700 new species of marine life discovered

-> collected DEPTH MEASUREMENTS and “SOUNDED” THE SEA FLOOR using variety of sounding devices

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14
Q

ocean ridges

A

occupy 33% of oceanic floor and always spreading

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15
Q

4 principal oceans (plus 1)

A
  • pacific
  • atlantic
  • indian
  • arctic
  • (southern)
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16
Q

abyssal plains

A
  • gradients < 0.05°
  • flattest ocean feature -> only interrupted by seamounts
  • covered in deep layers of sediment
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17
Q

sea mounts

A

-> most are ocean-floor volcanoes that don’t rise above sea level

-> rise abruptly and usually found rising from seafloor to 1,000–4,000 m in height

eg. Mauno Loa sea mount -> as high as mount Everest

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18
Q

guyots

A

flat topped seamounts -> planed off by wave erosion

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19
Q

hydrological cycle

A

cycle of water through atm, water and earth

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20
Q

residency time of water in atm (clouds)?

A

6.9 days

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21
Q

residency time of water in ocean

A

3060 yrs

22
Q

how long does water spend in lakes

A

6.6 yrs

23
Q

residency time of water in earth / underground?

A

600 yrs

24
Q

how is cod shape useful to function?

A

v hydrodynamic

so used in ship design

25
Q

how are aquatic animals adapted to sea water

A

saltwater (in sea) has HIGHER VISCOSITY than fresh water

-> so has driven morphological evolution in all marine life so they are adapted to it

-> speed in sea water requires morphology that …

↑ laminar flow through a fairly viscous and dense liquid

26
Q

**THE CORIOLOS EFFECT

A
  • earth’s rotation causes deflection in surface current direction (Coriolis effect)…
  • which affects water flow on many geographic scales.
27
Q

gyres

A

large system of rotating ocean currents

28
Q

how are oceans split into zones?

A

zones defined by depth & proximity to continents

29
Q

lithosphere

A

earths crust

30
Q

oceanic crust vs continental crust

A

oceanic crust much thinner

31
Q

divergent plate boundary

A
  • drifting away from each other
  • constructive -> oceanic lithosphere created from magma below
  • volcanoes
32
Q

transform plate boundary

A
  • lateral sliding (rubbing in opp directions against each other)
  • conservative -> oceanic lithosphere neither created nor destroyed
  • NO VOLCANOES
33
Q

convergent plate boundary

A
  • subduction -> one plate moves under other -> MAKES TRENCH
  • destructive -> oceanic lithosphere destroyed
  • volcanoes
34
Q

mid-atlantic ridge

A

divergent plate boundary

35
Q

why are zones in ocean useful?

A

easier to consider distributions of life in those oceans

36
Q

why do marine biologists study oceanography?

A

use satellites to generate chlorophyll map to analyze phytoplankton distribution

  • e.g. MODIS
37
Q

zones of ocean temp

A
  • surface zone / mixed layer
  • thermocline -> rapid ↓ in temp as surface heat diffuses down and advection of cool water
  • deep zone (below 1000m) -> stable temp ~1℃
38
Q

mixed layer

A

layer where there is active turbulence and mixing of oceanic waters …

due to …

  • winds
  • heat fluxes
  • evaporation
  • salinity fluxes
39
Q

thermocline

A

transition layer between warmer mixed water at surface & cooler deep water below

40
Q

halocline

A
  • vertical zone in the oceanic water column…
  • where SALINITY CHANGES RAPIDLY with depth
  • located below well-mixed, uniformly saline surface water layer
41
Q

pycnocline

A

boundary separating 2 liquid layers of diff densities

42
Q

stratification

A
  • when 2 distinct layers occupy vertical water column in sea…
  • near-surface one = less dense than near-bed one
43
Q

salinity

A

measure of dissolved salts in water

44
Q

how is temp and salinity measured in ocean?

A
  • CTD -> used to detect how conductivity and temp of water changes relative to depth

-> conductivity is measure of how well sol conducts electricity and is directly related to SALINITY

for salinity:

  • niskin bottle water samples
  • electronic meter (measure conductivity)
45
Q

ocean currents can be driven by 2 diff things….

A
  • wind driven -> generally surface currents
  • density driven
46
Q

Global Overturning Circulation

A
  • influences climate by transporting heat north in Atlantic by supplying warm water at Antarctic margin…
  • … & by controlling **exchange of carbon and nutrients **between deep ocean & euphotic zone where p/s occurs
47
Q

littoral zone

A

part of ocean close to shore

48
Q

why does temp vary with ocean depth?

A
  • water gets colder with depth
  • … cause cold, salty ocean water sinks to bottom of ocean basins below less dense warmer water near surface
49
Q

constraints on biological production in ocean?

A
  • light
  • nutrients
50
Q

suggest why tropical oceans are highly stratified

A

surface layers separated from deep & quickly become nutrient depleted

51
Q

how is conductivity related to salinity?

A

salinity = dissolved ions present (Na+ and Cl-)

presence of ions = conductivity as ions are mobile