Oceanography And Climate

Question 1

Name the earths oceans. Which is the smallest ? Largest?

Answer 1

Indian, pacific, Atlantic, Arctic

Largest- pacific
Smallest- Arctic

Question 2

What are the major characteristics associated with water

Answer 2

Salinity, temperature, density, surface tension

Question 3

What is salinity? Why is salinity of water so important?

Answer 3

Amount of salt composed in h20

Affects living things

Question 4

How does the atmosphere impact ocean water with respect to temperature

Answer 4

When temperature goes down, salinity goes up

Question 5

How have scientists come to know so much about the ocean floor?

Answer 5

Satellites, sonar

Question 6

Continental margin

Answer 6

Slope, rise

Question 7

Deep ocean basin

Answer 7

Oceanic crust (abyssal plain)

Question 8

Trench

Answer 8

Long crack along ocean floor

Question 9

Abyssal plain

Answer 9

Large flat areas

Question 10

Continental slope

Answer 10

Part where floor plunges steeply

Question 11

Continental shelf

Answer 11

Flat part covered by shallow h20

Question 12

What is a feature found within the deep ocean basin

Answer 12

Abyssal plain

Question 13

What are the characteristics of the sunlight zone? Why is this zone deeper than sunlight reaches

Answer 13

Warm, top layer, surface currents, mix of warm and cold h20

Question 14

How do waves change shape as they near the shore, why?

Answer 14

Slows down and builds up, surface currents

Question 15

Describe how waves are formed on the surface of the ocean

Answer 15

Wind + moon

Question 16

What factors cause the tides in ocean water

Answer 16

Sun + moon

Question 17

What is the difference between a tide and current

Answer 17

Tide- daily changes in the level of ocean water

Current- streamlike movements of water

Question 18

What is the difference between surface currents and deep currents

Answer 18

Surface- horizontal, Streamlike movements that occur at or near the surface of the ocean

Deep- streamlike movements located below the surface

Question 19

What occurs in upwelling

Answer 19

Cold h20 goes to surface nutrients

Question 20

Wha are some of the effects of upwelling

Answer 20

Support the growth of phytoplankton and zooplankton

Question 21

Warm and cold water currents

Answer 21

Warm- create warmer climates

Cold- affect the climate of the land near where they flow

Question 22

What is the impact of warm water currents and cold water currents on land

Answer 22

Cold- keeps the climate along West Coast cooler

Warm- mild climate

Question 23

How do you ocean currents flow of the equator? Poles?

Answer 23

Warm near the equator cold near the poles

Question 24

What is the Coriolis effect

Answer 24

The apparent curbing of moving objects from a straight path to the earths rotation

Question 25

North movement

Answer 25

Clockwise

Question 26

Southern movement

Answer 26

Counterclockwise

Question 27

What is Èl niño

Answer 27

Periodic change in the location of warm and cool surface Waters in the Pacific ocean, surface water temperatures along the coast of South America rise, alters the weather patterns enough to cause disasters