The Ocean Flashcards
What are the 5 main oceans?
Pacific (largest)
Arctic (smallest)
Atlantic
Indian
Southern
The oceans cover ~___% of the earth’s surface
- Does it cover more in the N or S hemisphere?
70
more ocean in the southern hemisphere (80%) than in the northern hemisphere (61%)
What’s the deep sea challenger?
A submersible that went to the bottom of the Marianas Trench in 2012 (in 2.5hrs!)
Marginal Seas=
a small part off of a main ocean, affected by regional climate
Give 3 examples of marginal seas and list some things they’re affected by
- Straight of Georgia
- Gulf of Mexico
- Mediterranean Sea
- regional climate
- precipitation- evaporation balance
- river input (fresh water and dissolved solids)
- limited exchange with open ocean (eg sill)
- geological history
Continental slopes have a __ degree slope and are full of ______
- explain their characteristics and what they’re important for
1 degree
sedimentation
- they’re long and shallow (300m) and an important area for organisms and our harvesting
What are sills?
a barrier on the seafloor that can prevent exchange between the open ocean and an enclosed area of water (like a lip)
Earth’s surface is divided into ___, and the borders of these are ___ systems and ____
ridges
ridge systems
faults
Oceanic ___ is formed at ___, moved laterally, and destroyed by ____ (which forms trenches)
This is called:
crust
ridges
subduction
seafloor spreading
T/F
Continents are embedded in ocean crust
true
that’s why there’s continental drift
List 3 pieces of evidence for continental drift
- fossils of similar fauna are found on different continents
- seafloor mapping and radiometric dating found the seafloor younger than the continental crust (= there’s new crust forming)
- magnetic anomalies
- magnetic stripes on the ocean floor near spreading ridges show movement of the oceanic crust
Asymmetry of charge distribution on the water molecule causes ___. What does that do?
polarity
- increases its ability to form bonds with other ions
- makes water a good solvent
Explain the bond types in the water molecule
- H-O bonds: strong covalent bonds between H and O
- Weaker hydrogen bonds between water molecules (H20-H20)
- gives water ‘sticky’ property (meniscus)
- can form and unform, strength differs (water, ice gas)
What are the 4 main water properties
- excellent solvent (b/c it’s polar)
- High heat capacity
- it takes a lot of energy to break the hydrogen bonds
- energy transported in the ocean is huge
- water has a large thermal buffer capacity and acts as a climate buffer - High Heat of Vaporization
- lots of energy needed to change liquid at its boiling point into gas - High heat of fusion
- requires a huge amount of heat to change ice to water at 0 degrees
- eg requires a huge amount of energy to melt an iceberg
What are some implications linked to water properties?
- lands heats and cools faster than adjacent water bodies, so land temps near water bodies are moderated
- northern land masses do not necessarily experience arctic climates because of warm water currents (eg Norway)
- water transports heat/ cold over huge distances, so a temp change in Arctic can affect Antarctic water
