practice Flashcards
Which color of visible light is absorbed first in the ocean?
Red
Which process is NOT a source of the salt found in seawater?
Subduction
What causes cold, salty water to sink in the North Atlantic?
Thermohaline circulation
Which organism does NOT form part of the benthos during its adult life stage?
Dinoflagellate
Which statement about diatoms is NOT true?
They are the largest sized phytoplankton
What is the genus of the symbiotic dinoflagellate that lives in corals?
Symbiodinium
Why are small cyanobacteria, such as Prochlorococcus, successful competitors?
They have a high surface area to volume ratio allowing for efficient nutrient uptake
What is the name of the air bubbles found in the bodies of many types of macroalgae?
Pneumatocyst
Which process or processes will increase the density of seawater?
A. A decrease in temperature
B. A decrease in pressure
C. An increase in salinity
D. Both A and C
E. Options A, B, and C are all correct
Both A and C
What was the name of an early marine biologist who hypothesized that no life existed below a depth of 300 fathoms?
Edward Forbes
Which part of a continental margin is found closest to the coast?
Continental shelf
What type of instrument could be used to study the migration route of a seal?
Satellite telemetry
Discovery of these symmetrical patterns on either side of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge provided evidence in support of _______.
seafloor spreading
The amount of dissolved ions in seawater occurs in the same proportion across different regions of the globe. This is known as the _______.
Rule of constant proportions
A term referring to organisms that remain part of the plankton throughout their whole lives is called _______.
Holoplankton
An organism that uses chemicals found in seawater to build organic matter is called a _______.
Chemoautotroph
A geological feature characterized by volcanism where the source of the magma comes from the mantle-core boundary is known as a _______.
Hot spot
Zone where ocean temperature cools rapidly with increasing depth is called the _______.
Thermocline
A type of phytoplankton characterized by two flagella and theca made out of cellulose is called a _______.
Dinoflagellate
Green algae belong to the phylum _______.
Chlorophyta
The use of satellites to study the ocean from space is known as _______.
Remote sensing
A type of virus that infects marine bacteria is called a _______.
Bacteriophage
A tool used to map the seafloor that involves listening to the echo of transmitted noises is called _______.
SONAR
Water masses formed at high latitudes in the North Atlantic and Southern Oceans are transported around the globe by the _______.
Ocean conveyor belt
A type of phytoplankton that has an ornate set of shells made out of calcium carbonate is called a _______.
Coccolithophore
This property of seawater explains why the temperature of the ocean varies less than the temperature of land: _______.
Heat capacity
An important site for photosynthesis in macroalgae, this part of a macroalgae colony is analogous to the leaves of plants: _______.
Blade
The pull of gravity from the _______ has a major influence on ocean tides.
Moon
Term describing marine organisms that can independently move around is _______.
Motile
Unique ecosystems are formed at locations where super-heated water spews out of chimney-like structures called _______.
Hydrothermal vents
Organisms that form part of plankton for only one stage of their life history are called _______.
Meroplankton
An ancient ocean basin is known as _______.
Panthalassa
Two continental plates sliding past each other describes a _______.
Transform fault
The depth where there is no longer sufficient light for photosynthesis is called the _______.
Euphotic depth
A question puzzling over why so many types of plankton can exist in a seemingly homogeneous environment is known as the _______.
Paradox of the plankton
A location where two tectonic plates collide is called a _______.
Convergent boundary
At progressively deeper depth, the motion of a current is deflected by the Coriolis force and slows due to drag, which is known as _______.
Ekman spiral
A term for fishes that live near the ocean floor is _______.
Demersal
The process of _______ refers to the flow of energy through the microbial loop affecting metazoans organisms in higher trophic levels.
Microbial loop
The _______ refers to the historical development of marine biology, highlighting key events and historical figures.
history of marine biology
Compare and contrast active and passive continental margins, describing _______.
five differences between these areas
Three properties of seawater influenced by hydrogen bonds are _______.
density, heat capacity, and viscosity
The term for the first major scientific expedition to study the ocean is _______.
Challenger Expedition
The process by which carbon is fixed into organic compounds by marine organisms is known as _______.
Net primary production
A deep underwater trench is formed by _______.
subduction
The _______ describes the apparent deflection of moving objects caused by the Earth’s rotation.
Coriolis force
Organisms that can swim independently of currents are known as _______.
Nekton
Organisms classified as _______ are single-celled and belong to the domain Archaea.
Archaea
