Oceanography

Question 0

Dissolved gasses

Answer 0

Nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide in seawater
Carbon dioxide and oxygen VERY IMPORTANT
Plants- carbon dioxide w/ sunlight and water: photosynthesis
Photosynthesis releases oxygen into water
Oxygen used to turn food into energy for sea creatures
Sea creatures use gills to take oxygen from water

Question 1

Salinity

Answer 1

Amount of salt in water/ Measure of amount of dissolved solids in a liquid
Measured in parts per thousand (ppt)
Average salinity of oceans: 34-35 ppt

Question 2

Thermocline

Answer 2

The middle heat zone of the ocean
There are three heat zones: the surface layer, the main thermocline, and the deep-water layer
Water here gets colder the deeper the ocean

Question 3

Continental Shelf

Answer 3

The continental shelf goes from the shore to the continental slope, the ‘drop-off’
The continental shelf’s depth can reach 200 meters
The continental shelf is a part of the continental margin of the ocean, which includes the continental shelf, continental slope, and continental rise
The continental margin is more shallow in comparison to the deep-ocean basin
The continental margin is made of continental crust, and the deep-ocean basin is made of oceanic crust

Question 4

Continental Slope

Answer 4

“The drop-off”
The continental slope goes from the edge of the continental shelf to the flattest part of the ocean
The continental slope can reach 4,000 meters deep
The continental slope is a part of the continental margin, which includes the continental shelf, continental slope, and continental rise
The continental margin is more shallow than the deep-ocean basin
The continental margin is made up of continental crust, and the deep-ocean basin is made of oceanic crust

Question 5

Ocean trench

Answer 5

Ocean trenches are cracks in the deep-ocean basin formed when one oceanic goes under a continental or oceanic plate
The Mariana Trench is the deepest place in the world, reaching a depth of 10.9 km
How deep a spot on the ocean floor is can be determined using sonar, Sound Navigation and Ranging, when sound is bounced from the bottom of the ocean back to a ship

Question 6

Mid-ocean ridge

Answer 6

The mid-ocean ridge is a mountain ridge that goes all around the world
It is 80,000 kilometers long
The mid-ocean ridge is formed when tectonic plates separate and let magma through, which cools and causes the ridge to expand, forming the mountains

Question 7

Abyssal Plain

Answer 7

The abyssal plain is the flat part at the bottom of the deep-ocean basin
The abyssal plain is covered in mud and the remains of marine organisms
It is about 4,000 meters deep

Question 8

Seamounts

Answer 8

Seamounts are mountains on the bottom of the ocean floor made of volcanic materials
They form when magma goes through the tectonic plates and cools
Seamounts that go above sea level form volcanic islands

Question 9

Sonar

Answer 9

Sound Navigation and Ranging
Is a way to see how deep the ocean floor is from above water
Based off of how bats use echolocation
The longer it takes for a sound beam to reach the boat again, the deeper the water
Depth= speed of sound in water x half the travel time

Question 10

Deep zone

Answer 10

The deep zone is the most dense layer of the ocean, and the coldest
There are three layers of density: the surface mixed zone, the pycnocline, and the deep zone
Only in polar regions is the deep zone ever exposed because there is not a pycnocline there
Density of water is determined by pressure, salinity, and temperature

Question 11

Aphotic zone

Answer 11

The aphotic zone is the darkest layer of the ocean
There is no light, a- no, not; photic- light-related
Also called the midnight zone
Is 90% of the ocean
There are three zones of light in the ocean: euphotic zone, disphotic zone, and aphotic zone

Question 12

Hydrothermal vent

Answer 12

Forms when seawater meets magma exposed by convergent plate boundaries and ridges
Water is warmed up and can get up to a heat of 700 degrees Celcius!
The water coming out of hydrothermal vents does not boil because of the extreme pressure at the bottom of the ocean

Question 13

Crest

Answer 13

The top of a wave
Breaks at shore
The crest to the trough is the wave height
The length from crest to crest is the wavelength
The smaller the wave length is the larger the wave height

Question 14

Trough

Answer 14

The trough is the bottom of a wave
The measurement from the crest to the trough is the wave height
The length from crest to crest is the wavelength
No water is actually being moved side to side, it is actually moving in circles in one spot

Question 15

Wavelength

Answer 15

The wavelength is the distance from crest to crest on a wave
The crest is the top part of a wave
The trough is the lower part of a wave
The wave height is the height from the crest to the trough on a wave
Water does not actually move side to side on a wave, rather in circles in the same spot

Question 16

Wave height

Answer 16

The wavelength is the distance from crest to crest on a wave
The crest is the top part of a wave
The trough is the lower part of a wave
The wave height is the height from the crest to the trough on a wave
Water does not actually move side to side on a wave, rather in circles in the same spot

Question 17

Fetch

Answer 17

Fetch is the amount of area over which wind blows
Fetch can be measured in nautical miles
Fetch impacts a wave’s size because it matters how much area a wave travels
Windspeed and duration also impact a wave’s size

Question 18

Tsunami

Answer 18

Tsunamis are giant waves that form when a large volume of water is moved up or down
This moving can be caused by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, underwater explosions, or meteor or a comet’s impact
Many tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean because of how many earthquakes occur there
Tsunamis can reach more than 30 meters in height!

Question 19

Current

Answer 19

A large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans
A current can be warm or cold depending on if it came from the Equator or the Poles
A current usually moves to the opposite place they came from
Some currents, like the North Equatorial current, are the same temperature as the surrounding ocean and are a “black arrow”
Surface currents go to a few hundred meters deep and are affected mainly by wind
Currents move in circular patterns because of the fact that the Earth rotates, so that the winds are currents curve in relation to the Earth’s surface (North curve right, South curve left)
This is called the Coriolis Effect
Surface currents affect the climate of areas around them
Climate is the pattern of temperature and precipitation over an area over a long period of time
Warm currents can bring warm weather with rain?
Cold currents can bring cold and dry weather

Question 20

Surface Current

Answer 20

A large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans
A current can be warm or cold depending on if it came from the Equator or the Poles
A current usually moves to the opposite place they came from
Some currents, like the North Equatorial current, are the same temperature as the surrounding ocean and are a “black arrow”
Surface currents go to a few hundred meters deep and are affected mainly by wind
Currents move in circular patterns because of the fact that the Earth rotates, so that the winds are currents curve in relation to the Earth’s surface (North curve right, South curve left)
This is called the Coriolis Effect
Surface currents affect the climate of areas around them
Climate is the pattern of temperature and precipitation over an area over a long period of time
Warm currents can bring warm weather with rain?
Cold currents can bring cold and dry weather

Question 21

Warm current

Answer 21

A large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans
A current can be warm or cold depending on if it came from the Equator or the Poles
A current usually moves to the opposite place they came from
Some currents, like the North Equatorial current, are the same temperature as the surrounding ocean and are a “black arrow”
Surface currents go to a few hundred meters deep and are affected mainly by wind
Currents move in circular patterns because of the fact that the Earth rotates, so that the winds are currents curve in relation to the Earth’s surface (North curve right, South curve left)
This is called the Coriolis Effect
Surface currents affect the climate of areas around them
Climate is the pattern of temperature and precipitation over an area over a long period of time
Warm currents can bring warm weather with rain?
Cold currents can bring cold and dry weather

Question 22

Cold current

Answer 22

A large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans
A current can be warm or cold depending on if it came from the Equator or the Poles
A current usually moves to the opposite place they came from
Some currents, like the North Equatorial current, are the same temperature as the surrounding ocean and are a “black arrow”
Surface currents go to a few hundred meters deep and are affected mainly by wind
Currents move in circular patterns because of the fact that the Earth rotates, so that the winds are currents curve in relation to the Earth’s surface (North curve right, South curve left)
This is called the Coriolis Effect
Surface currents affect the climate of areas around them
Climate is the pattern of temperature and precipitation over an area over a long period of time
Warm currents can bring warm weather with rain?
Cold currents can bring cold and dry weather

Question 23

Deep current

Answer 23

A large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans
A current can be warm or cold depending on if it came from the Equator or the Poles
A current usually moves to the opposite place they came from
Some currents, like the North Equatorial current, are the same temperature as the surrounding ocean and are a “black arrow”
Surface currents go to a few hundred meters deep and are affected mainly by wind
Currents move in circular patterns because of the fact that the Earth rotates, so that the winds are currents curve in relation to the Earth’s surface (North curve right, South curve left)
This is called the Coriolis Effect
Surface currents affect the climate of areas around them
Climate is the pattern of temperature and precipitation over an area over a long period of time
Warm currents can bring warm weather with rain?
Cold currents can bring cold and dry weather
Deep currents are streams of water moving very far below the surface of the water
Deep currents form in dense water
Density: ratio of mass to volume
Temperature and salinity contribute to density
Deep currents can form by: decreasing temperature, or increasing temperature by freezing or evaporation
More dense deep currents flow underneath the less dense ones
Deep currents end up replacing surface currents that are leaving the equatorial region, and surface currents replace the deep currents in the polar regions

Question 24

Upwelling

Answer 24

Upwelling occurs when the colder, denser deep water replaces the surface water
The surface water is blown back by the wind
This upwelling brings up tiny organisms, nutrients and minerals from the bottom of the ocean
Phytoplankton like these nutrients, and whales like phytoplankton, so whales like areas of upwelling

Question 25

Downwelling

Answer 25

Downwelling occurs when water is pushed back into the ocean
Downwelling pushes oxygen back with it
This oxygen is important to sea creatures for food and other things (see dissolved gasses)

Question 26

The conveyer belt system

Answer 26

The conveyer belt system helps to connect surface currents and deep currents
Upwelling and downwelling occur all over the world in a cycle that takes 1,000 years!
Currents are moving water all over the world, and this whole system is caused by density (mass x volume)
Cold deep water is pushed towards the surface with nutrients, minerals, and tiny organisms, and warm surface water is pushed back into the ocean with dissolved oxygen

Question 27

The Great Garbage Patch

Answer 27

A gathering of lots and lots of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
Litter off the coasts of California and Japan
Over years, the currents have moved this litter and it has come together in the middle of the Pacific Ocean