Oceanography Final Exam Flashcards
Match the following systems or "spheres" with the material they are made of: Water A) atmosphere B) biosphere C) lithosphere D) asthenosphere E) hydrosphere
E) hydrosphere
Match the following systems or "spheres" with the material they are made of: Brittle Rock A) atmosphere B) biosphere C) lithosphere D) asthenosphere E) hydrosphere
C) lithosphere
Match the following systems or "spheres" with the material they are made of: “Plastic”, malleable rock A) atmosphere B) biosphere C) lithosphere D) asthenosphere E) hydrosphere
D) asthenosphere
__ is a chemical change in precipitation due to air pollution.
Acid Rain
A general explanation of a natural phenomena that has been well tested and is generally accepted by the scientific community is a _________.
Theory
The Bloom’s level of cognitive skill that involves a basic understanding is ______.
Comprehension
At present which is the best explanation for the formation of the Universe?
A) stellar evolution
B) the big bang
C) the nebular hypothesis
B) the big bang
The formation of the solar system occurred about ______ years ago.
4 to 5 billion
The largest stars while in their main sequence stage are ________
Blue
Of the stages listed, the last stage of stellar evolution of medium mass stars, similar in size to the Sun, is the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ stage. A) neutron star B) supernova C) black hole D) white dwarf
D) white dwarf
What is the correct order of formation of the Earth?
accretion of nebular material, iron falls toward center, outgassing forms oceans and atmosphere.
Life probably originated in ______
The Oceans
_______ is the process of forming life from the organic compounds
Biosynthesis
Contributions by early Chinese scientists and philosophers include _____________.
A) suggesting that the Earth was very old
B) designing and developing rudders and watertight compartments
C) retrofitting their ships with multi-masts to sail more efficiently with changing winds
D) developing seagoing methods that allowed them to stay at sea for nearly four months
E) all of these
E) all of these
Which of the following statements is true about Christopher Columbus and his explorations?
A) He was the first explorer to see the mainland of North America.
B) One of Columbus’ biggest mistakes is that he estimated the Earth to be only about half of its true size.
C) Like many explorers of his day, Columbus thought the Earth was flat.
D) His goal was to discover new lands.
E) All of these.
B) One of Columbus’ biggest mistakes is that he estimated the Earth to be only about half of its true size.
True or False: One common problem of early voyaging was finding longitude (east-west position), this was solving by using the newly invented seagoing clock.
True
True or False: The first known awareness of the spherical shape and size of the Earth occurred thousands of years ago in Egypt.
True
The point within the Earth at which an earthquake starts is called the _____
Focus
Which of the following is the fastest seismic body wave?
A) p-wave
B) s-wave
C) surface wave
D) Rayleigh wave E) Love waves
A) p-wave
The layer of the Earth that is made up of solid iron with some impurities is the _____
Inner Core
The layer of the Earth that is made up of brittle rock and has earthquakes is the ____
Lithosphere
Most of the heat within the Earth comes from _______________
radioactive decay
_________________ plate boundaries are where plates are destroyed
Convergent
Seafloor spreading occurs near ___________
mid-oceanic ridges
The type of plate boundary found at the Aleutian Islands westward off the coast of Alaska is a ______________ plate boundary.
convergent
The type of plate boundary found at the San Andreas fault is a _________ plate boundary.
transform fault
The youngest seafloor occurs along ____________
mid-oceanic ridges
Why was Continental Drift not accepted by the scientific community?
Alfred Wegener was not able to explain how the continents moved.
Continental drift is a(n) ______________ and plate tectonics is a(n) __________________.
failed hypothesis; theory
The shallowest major units of the ocean are the _____________
continental margins
The average depth of the ocean is __________
2.5 miles
A continental shelf, continental slope, and a trench is a(n) _____________________.
active continental margin
Which part of the continental margin is the least sloped and is an extension of the land?
continental shelf
________ form when sediment fills in and smoothes the rough seafloor.
Abyssal plains
Convergent plate boundaries are found at ____________
trenches
Divergent plate boundaries are found at ________
mid-oceanic ridges
What is missing at an active continental margin?
continental rise
______ sediment comes from land.
Terrigenous
The seafloor sediment from dead marine plants and animals is _________ sediment
biogenous
Larger sand-sized sediment carried to the ocean by rivers tends to ________
be deposited along the continental shelf
___________ are not found in the deep ocean below the CCD because unlike other sediments
Calcareous oozes
Volcanic ash that falls in the ocean and settles to the bottom as sediment is an example of _______ sediment.
terrigenous
___________ is able to retrieve sediment samples from deep within the ocean floor.
Deep sea drilling
_______________ is often used for oil and gas exploration because it shows layering in the ocean sediments but it does not bring samples to the surface
Seismic surveying
A polar molecule is one that ___________
has separated charge so one end has a + charge and the other has a - charge
_______ is the amount of thermal energy contained by a substance.
Internal energy
Which has more internal energy, the water in a water heater or the water in a glass of ice tea?
The water in a water heater.
How does the heat capacity of water compare to other common substances?
It is one of the highest.
Which of the following is least dense? A) ice at 0° C B) liquid water at 0° C C) liquid water at 4° C D) liquid water at 100° C
ice at 0° C
Which of the following is least dense? A) warm fresh water B) cold fresh water C) warm salty water D) cold salty water
warm fresh water
The process that changes water vapor to liquid water is ___________
deposition
______ in the change from liquid water to ice.
Heat is removed
The density of water ________ as temperature increases from 0°C to 30°C.
increases to 4°C and then decreases
_______ uses sound produced by the “lookers” to measure underwater distances
Active sonar
The average surface salinity of the open oceans is ____________
35 ppt
The amount of _________ dissolved in the water is relatively stable because, unlike the other gases listed, there are no processes that add or remove significant amounts of it from the water.
A) oxygen
B) nitrogen
C) carbon dioxide
nitrogen
Of the following primary components of air, which has the highest percentage in air? A) argon B) nitrogen C) oxygen D) carbon dioxide
B) nitrogen
Of the following primary components of air, which has that most effect on weather? A) argon B) nitrogen C) oxygen D) carbon dioxide
D) carbon dioxide
In which of the layers of the atmosphere is the ozone layer, which has been depleted by human pollution, found?
stratosphere
Which of the layers of the atmosphere is nearest the surface?
troposphere
In a ______ breeze the air blows from the sea to the land because the land is ________ than the sea.
sea; warmer
A _____________ air mass is cold and moist and drops a lot of precipitation out west.
maritime polar
A(n) ___________ front is represented on a weather map as a line with red semicircles
warm
Surface currents are driven by __________
winds
The Coriolis force causes winds and currents to ___________________ in the southern hemisphere.
turn right
The winds found between 30º and 60º latitude that drive the northern transverse currents in the northern hemisphere and the southern transverse currents in the southern hemisphere are called the _____________.
westerlies
The largest gyre currents that carry heat away from the equator are the __________________.
western boundary current
Coastal upwelling occurs when Ekman transport moves water _______
offshore
Downwelling along the California coast occurs when the wind is blowing ________
northward
Thermohaline circulation is driven by _________
density differences
The normal wind conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are ___________.
from east to west
The ocean conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean during an El Nino are ____________
downwelling in the east along the coast of South America
The particle motion for an ocean wave in deep water is ___________
circular
The vertical distance between the crest and the trough is the _________
wave height
The disturbing force and restoring force of capillary waves are ____________.
wind and surface tension
The disturbing force and restoring force of tsunamis are ___________
water displacement and gravity
The wave property that makes two waves interact with the resulting wave bigger is ________.
constructive interference
The wave property that makes waves spread out after it passes around an obstacle is ________.
diffraction
_____ form on the surface between two water masses.
Internal waves
______ occur when bulges of water come ashore with a cyclone
Storm surges
_______ occur when water in a closed basin is disturbed and oscillates.
Seiches
Tsunamis are not caused by \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ A) lunar eclipses B) earthquakes C) underwater landslides D) volcanic eruptions
A) lunar eclipses
Out in the deep ocean (not near their source) tsunamis are _____________.
fast, small above the surface, and deep (all the way to the seafloor)
The energy for tides comes from _____________
the rotation of the Earth
The driving force of tides is _____________
the gravity of the Moon and the Sun
The dynamic theory of tides relates to tides _____________
on an Earth with continents and bathymetry
When the Moon is lined up with the Earth and the Sun it is a ___________.
spring tide
Diurnal tides have ______________.
one high tide and one low tide per day
Meteorological tides are ____________
due to onshore and offshore winds
