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Earth Sciences > Oceanography > Flashcards

Oceanography Flashcards

1
Q

What is the Northwest Passage?

A

A sea corridor through Canada’s archipelago

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2
Q

What is the sea corridor through Canada’s archipelago called?

A

The Northwest Passage

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3
Q

When was the first voyage attempted to find the NW Passage?

A

1497

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4
Q

When were John Franklin’s Erebus and the HMS Terror last sighted before being lost to their NW Passage expedition

A

1845

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5
Q

When did Roald Amundsen successfully sail through the NW Passage?

A

1905

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6
Q

What were the 4 interdisciplinary sciences mentioned in class in relation to oceanography?

A

Geology, Chemistry, Physics, and Biology

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7
Q

True or False: Earth’s oceans are evenly divided between northern and southern hemispheres

A

False

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8
Q

What are the four main ocean basins?

A

Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic

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9
Q

Which world ocean is not considered a true ocean basin (probably)

A

The Southern Ocean

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10
Q

What makes seas different from oceans?

A

Seas are partly enclosed by land

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11
Q

Which sea is the exception to the typical definition of a sea?

A

Sargasso sea

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12
Q

What is the measurement of ocean depths called?

A

Bathymetry

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13
Q

What is bathymetry?

A

Measurement of ocean depth and charting of the shape of the ocean floor

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14
Q

Bathymetry is the measurement of ocean depth and the…

A

…charting of the shape of the ocean floor

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15
Q

What was used to take bathometric measurements historically?

A

A line

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16
Q

What is involved in taking bathometric measurements today?

A

Sonar

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17
Q

What is Echo Sounder?

A

Signals used to take bathometric measurements

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18
Q

What is a continental margin?

A

Outer margins of continents where continental crush transitions to oceanic crush

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19
Q

Outer margins of continents where continental crust transitions to oceanic crust

A

Continental margin

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20
Q

Where are passive continental margins located?

A

Around nearly the entire Atlantic ocean and part of the Indian ocean

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21
Q

What are the two types of continental margins that were discussed in class?

A

Passive and Active

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22
Q

Which type of continental margins is tectonically inactive?

A

Passive continental margins

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23
Q

Which type of continental margins is far from plate boundaries?

A

Passive continental margins

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24
Q

Where are active continental margins mostly located?

A

Pacific ocean

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25
Q

Which type of continental margins is at plate boundary?

A

Active continental margins

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26
Q

Which type of continental margins is tectonically active?

A

Active continental margins

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27
Q

Where do accretionary wedges develop?

A

Along subduction zones

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28
Q

What develops along the subduction zone of an active continental margin?

A

An accretionary wedge

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29
Q

Accretionary wedges occur when sediment from the ocean floor is scraped from a subducting oceanic plate and…

A

…pressed against the edge of the overriding plate

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30
Q

What is subduction erosion?

A

When sediment is scraped off the bottom of the overriding plate and carried into the mantle by the subducting plate

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31
Q

What is occurring when sediment is scraped off an overriding plate and carried into the mantle by a subducting plate?

A

Subduction erosion

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32
Q

What is the voyage that is credited with the birth of oceanography?

A

The HMS Challenger

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33
Q

What are the deepest parts of the ocean?

A

Deep ocean trenches

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34
Q

Where do most deep ocean trenches occur?

A

In the Pacific ocean along the Ring of Fire

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35
Q

Trenches occur near sites of plate convergence or divergence?

A

Convergence

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36
Q

What feature is formed when thick accumulations of sediment bury an otherwise rugged ocean floor?

A

Abyssal plain

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37
Q

What oceanic features are most likely the most level places on Earth?

A

Abyssal plains

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38
Q

What is an abyssal plain?

A

A deep, flat deep ocean feature

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39
Q

Where do oceanic ridges form?

A

Along well-developed divergent plate boundaries

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40
Q

What forms along well-developed divergent plate boundaries?

A

Oceanic ridges

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41
Q

What are oceanic ridges?

A

Underwater mountain ranges

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42
Q

What are underwater mountain ranges called?

A

Oceanic ridges

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43
Q

What covers the vast majority of the ocean floor?

A

Sea-floor sediment

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44
Q

What two processes result in the deposition of sea-floor sediment?

A

Turbidity currents and snow settling

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45
Q

Loose sediment from continental shelf flows down and deposits on ocean floor

A

Turbidity currents

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46
Q

Organic debris from higher in the water column sinks to the ocean floor

A

Snow settling

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47
Q

What are the 3 categories of sea-floor sediment?

A

Terragenous, Hyrdogenous, and Biogenous

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48
Q

What is terragenous sediment derived from?

A

From land (minerals from weathering)

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49
Q

What is hydrogenous sediment derived from?

A

From water (minerals that crystallize)

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50
Q

What is biogenous sediment derived from?

A

From organisms (shells and skeletons)

51
Q

What is sea-floor sediment a storehouse for?

A

Climate data

52
Q

What is salinity?

A

The total amount of solid material dissolved in water

53
Q

How is salinity quantified?

A

Parts per thousand

54
Q

What type of salt is found in highest quantities in oceans?

A

Sodium chloride

55
Q

What two factors determine salinity levels?

A

Temperature and precipitation

56
Q

Total amount of solid material dissolved in water

A

Salinity

57
Q

Average salinity of oceans

A

3.5 ppt

58
Q

Near the equator, there are lower salinities due to…

A

…extensive rainfall that dilutes surface ocean water

59
Q

Evaporation being higher than precipitation causes higher or lower salinity?

A

Higher salinity

60
Q

At what latitudes does the thermocline exist?

A

At low to medium latitudes

61
Q

The layer where temperature changes rapidly with increasing depth

A

Thermocline

62
Q

True or False: The thermocline is found at high latitudes

A

False

63
Q

What is the word denoting ocean temperature at high latitudes that stays the same and has no thermocline?

A

Isothermal

64
Q

What is ocean density?

A

Mass per unit volume

65
Q

What other factor determines ocean density?

A

Temperature

66
Q

As temperature decreases, density…

A

…increases

67
Q

What is the word denoting the rapid increase in ocean density as temperatures decrease at lower latitudes?

A

Pycnocline

68
Q

True or False: The pycnocline is absent at higher latitudes

A

True

69
Q

What are the four characteristics of ocean water that were discussed?

A

Salinity, Acidity, Temperature, and Density

70
Q

The 3 ways marine life zones are divided?

A

By available light, distance from shore, and depth

71
Q

Photic zone

A

Sunlit waters

72
Q

Aphotic zone

A

Not sunlit

73
Q

Intertidal zone

A

Between high and low tide

74
Q

Neritic zone

A

Above continental shelf

75
Q

Oceanic zone

A

Beyond continental shelf

76
Q

Pelagic zone

A

Above ocean floor

77
Q

Benthic

A

Ocean floor

78
Q

Zone above continental shelf

A

Neritic zone

79
Q

Zone beyond continental shelf

A

Oceanic zone

80
Q

Zone between high and low tide

A

Intertidal zone

81
Q

3 categories of ocean life

A

Plankton, Nekton, and Benthos

82
Q

“Bottom dwellers”

A

Benthos

83
Q

Marine life too weak to swim against the current

A

Plankton

84
Q

Marine life capable of swimming against the current

A

Nekton

85
Q

2 subcategories of plankton

A

Phytoplankton and Zooplankton

86
Q

The animal component of plankton

A

Zooplankton

87
Q

The photosynthetic component of plankton

A

Phytoplankton

88
Q

What 2 factors affect primary productivity (photosynthetic productivity)

A

Amount of solar radiation and nutrient concentrations

89
Q

The creation of new organic matter by photosynthetic producers

A

Primary productivity

90
Q

Primary productivity

A

The creation of new organic matter by photosynthetic producers

91
Q

What is the amount of solar radiation like at low latitudes?

A

Sunlight is constant

92
Q

How does constant sunlight affect the thermocline at low latitudes?

A

The thermocline is permanent and prevents the mixing of water layers

93
Q

What is the amount of solar radiation like at mid latitudes?

A

Sunlight varies with seasons

94
Q

When does a temporary thermocline develop at mid latitudes?

A

In summer

95
Q

Contaminant levels increase in a marine animal as they age

A

Bioaccumulation

96
Q

Bioaccumulation

A

Contaminant levels in a marine animal increase as they age

97
Q

Contaminant levels in marine animals increase as energy is transferred up a food chain

A

Biomagnification

98
Q

Biomagnification

A

Contaminant levels in marine animals increase as energy is transferred up a food chain

99
Q

Prevailing winds provide energy for ocean currents

A

Surface currents

100
Q

Huge, circular-moving current systems that dominate the surfaces of oceans

A

Gyres

101
Q

What are gyres?

A

Huge, circular-moving current systems that dominate the surfaces of oceans

102
Q

What are the five main gyres?

A

North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Indian Ocean

103
Q

The pattern of deflection taken by objects not firmly connected to the ground as they travel long distances around the Earth

A

The Coriolis Effect

104
Q

Coastal winds plus the Coriolis Effect cause surface water to move from shore and be replaced by cool, nutrient-rich “upwells”

A

Coastal up-welling

105
Q

What is Thermohaline circulation as known as?

A

Conveyer belt circulation

106
Q

Extends between lowest tide level and highest elevation on land that is affected by storm waves

A

Shore

107
Q

Extends inland from shore

A

Coastline

108
Q

Exposed during lowtide

A

Foreshore

109
Q

Landward of the hightide shoreline

A

Backward

110
Q

Between low tide shoreline and line where waves break at low tide

A

Nearshore

111
Q

Seaward of nearshore

A

Offshore

112
Q

Accumulation of sediment found along the landward margin of an ocean or a lake

A

Beach

113
Q

Energy traveling along interface between ocean and atmosphere

A

Waves

114
Q

Separate crests

A

Troughs

115
Q

Halfway between crests and troughs

A

Stillwater level

116
Q

Distance between wave crest and trough

A

Wave height

117
Q

The 3 factors that wave height, length, and period depend on

A

Wind speed, Wind duration, and Fetch

118
Q

What is fetch?

A

Distance wind has traveled across open water

119
Q

The distance wind has traveled across open water

A

Fetch

120
Q

How is the motion waves move in described?

A

Circular orbital motions

121
Q

As waves advance toward shore, wave bottom slows and faster waves farther out to sea catch up, decreasing wave length

A

Wave breaks

122
Q

At new and full moons, Sun and Moon aligned produce large tidal range

A

Spring tides

123
Q

At first and third quarters of Moon, gravitational forces from Sun and Moon act at right angles, offsetting each other and producing smaller tidal range

A

Neap tides

Earth Sciences (4 decks)

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