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Oceanography > Marine pollution - 19 > Flashcards

Marine pollution - 19 Flashcards

1
Q

What is pollution?

A

The introduction by humans, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the environment resulting in detrimental effects, such as harm to living resources, hazards to human health and hindrance of marine activities

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2
Q

Which three parts of the ocean does pollution accumulate?

A
  • Sea floor
  • Pyconocline
  • Neuston layer
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3
Q

Why do we need to have a ‘baseline’ when studying pollution?

A

To make sure we have a level from which to measure human activity on the environment. Some pollution could be occurring naturally.

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4
Q

How does pollution interact with the sea floor?

A

It either settles out in particles or reacts chemically with the sediment, mainly affecting the benthos

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5
Q

Why does pollution accumulate at the pycnocline?

A

It’s too light to sink through the denser bottom water (common in estuaries - strong haloclines)

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6
Q

What is neuston layer?

A

The air-water interface

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7
Q

How much waste do humans produce a year?

A

Over 20 billion tonnes, with much of this making its way into oceans

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8
Q

What does waste tend to concentrate?

A

In harbours, bays and estuaries

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9
Q

What is a contaminant plume?

A

A plume of pollution created by effluents, that increases in size with distance

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10
Q

What causes marine pollution? (%)

A
  • 5% litter
  • 10% marine transport
  • 20% air pollution
  • 10% industrial effluents
  • 20% farm run off
  • 30% sewage effluents
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11
Q

What affect does pollution have outward from point of entry?

A
  • influence decreases the further out you go

- gradational change is seen in the bottom fauna

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12
Q

How does bottom fauna change due to pollution?

A
  • At the source … sludge, no in fauna
  • Farther from source … dwarfed individuals
  • Greater distance … fauna unusually abundant
  • Great distance … unaffected
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13
Q

What is found in sewage effluent?

A

Organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals and pathogens

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14
Q

What is BOD?

A

Biological Oxyden Demand

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15
Q

What is eutrophication?

A

A process whereby excessive BOD causes hypoxic and anoxic conditions in bottom water and the water column, killing off organisms

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16
Q

What are heavy metals?

A

(Loose term) Applied to metals that normally occur in trace amounts but can become toxic when in larger quantities e.g. Mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic and copper

17
Q

How are heavy metals added to the environment?

A
  • Chemical weathering of rocks and soil
  • Volcanic activity
  • Manufacturing and industrial processes
18
Q

What are artificial biocides?

A

Human made toxic chemical compounds that do not occur naturally e.g. DDT and PCN

19
Q

Why are artificial biocides harmful?

A

They are not biodegradable … absorbed onto silt, ingested by deposit and filter feeders, stored in fatty tissues, highly toxic

20
Q

What is the different between bioaccumulation and biomagnification?

A

Bioaccumulation is the process whereby organisms retain and concentrate toxic material in their bodies whereas biomagnifications the increase in toxic material with each higher trophic level of a food chain

21
Q

For all material dumped at sea, what % is from dredging?

A

80-90%

22
Q

What is the issues associated with dumping dredged material back into oceans?

A
  • Often dumped too rapidly … smother benthic organisms and they can die
  • Material dumped not the same as material of that area … different group of organisms could colonise the area
  • pollutant reintroduction … also disturbs bottom which could stir up further buried pollutants
23
Q

Where does oil in the oceans come from?

A
  • 31.1% from contaminated rivers
  • 21.8% from cargo and oil vessels
  • 13.3% from coastal refinery leakages
  • 29.4% from natural oil seeps, atmospheric fallout and general ship traffic
24
Q

What happens to oil slicks in the ocean?

A

Light oil evaporates, soluble portion dissolves and heavy fraction emulsifies (eventually form globules which become floating tar balls and sink or wash ashore)

25
Q

What impact does an oil spill have in a coastal environment?

A

Kills benthic, pelagic and nektonic organisms by poisoning or smothering

26
Q

What impact does an oil spill have on a muddy intertidal flat?

A

Decimates the benthos

27
Q

What impact does an oil spill have in the open ocean?

A

Impact not as great … volume of water into which oil can be mixed is much larger and the sea bottom is largely unaffected

28
Q

What methods can be used to clean an oil spill?

A
  • Floating booms
  • Chemical dispersants
  • Burn the oil off
  • Skimming (removing surface water and separating oil)
  • Bioremediation (stimulating growth of oil removing microbes)
29
Q

Where have large algal blooms occurred?

A

The Baltic Sea

Oceanography (13 decks)

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