Weeks 1 & 2

Question 1

What are the five major oceans typically recognized?

Answer 1

Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, Southern/Antarctic

Question 2

How can the ocean be considered as one body of water?

Answer 2

It is a single uninterrupted body of water covering 71% of Earth

Question 3

What percentage of the Earth is covered by water?

Answer 3

71%

Question 4

What percentage of Earth’s water is salt water?

Answer 4

97%

Question 5

What percentage of Earth’s water is fresh water?

Answer 5

3%

Question 6

What percentage of fresh water is usable?

Answer 6

0.3%

Question 7

How deep is the average ocean?

Answer 7

3,688m

Question 8

What is the deepest part of the ocean?

Answer 8

Mariana’s Trench (Challenger Deep): 10,935 ± 6m

Question 9

Who were the first to measure the depth of the Mariana Trench?

Answer 9

HMS Challenger expedition led by Charles Wyville Thomson and John Murray

Question 10

Which explorers have reached the Mariana Trench?

Answer 10

• Piccard and Walsh (1960)
• Cameron (2012)
• Limiting Factor x19 (2019-current)
• Fen Dou Zhe (2020)

Question 11

What drove exploration of the oceans historically?

Answer 11

• Food
• Politics/power
• Money
• Quest for knowledge

Question 12

Who were the key contributors to ancient Mediterranean exploration?

Answer 12

• Phoenicians
• Ancient Greeks
• Egyptians

Question 13

What significant scientific repository was established by the Ancient Greeks?

Answer 13

Library of Alexandria

Question 14

Who confirmed that the Earth is round and calculated its circumference?

Answer 14

Eratosthenes

Question 15

What did Pytheas use to travel north?

Answer 15

Latitude based on the angle of the North Star with the horizon

Question 16

What navigational techniques did Polynesians use?

Answer 16

• Wayfinding
• Stick charts
• Bird migration patterns
• Winds
• Bioluminescence

Question 17

Who was Admiral Zheng He?

Answer 17

An important explorer who undertook 7 voyages with over 300 ships

Question 18

What innovations did Chinese explorers contribute?

Answer 18

• The compass
• Central rudder
• Water weight compartments
• Sails on multiple masts

Question 19

What was Christopher Columbus known for?

Answer 19

His major explorations including the Caribbean and North America

Question 20

What was the impact of the transatlantic slave trade?

Answer 20

Estimated 12.5 million slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas

Question 21

What was the Doctrine of Discovery?

Answer 21

Land is free for claims if not established by Catholics

Question 22

What was the role of deep-sea drilling in ocean research?

Answer 22

Critical role in discovering tectonic plates

Question 23

What is the significance of Sylvia Earle?

Answer 23

An aquanaut and conservationist known as the ‘sturgeon general’

Question 24

What is the Big Bang?

Answer 24

The event that led to the formation of the universe 14 billion years ago

Question 25

What is the first atmosphere of Earth primarily composed of?

Answer 25

Hydrogen, helium, and other hydrogen gases

Question 26

What was the role of cyanobacteria in Earth's history?

Answer 26

Led to the Great Oxidation Event (2.4 billion years ago)

Question 27

Where is it believed that life most likely originated?

Answer 27

In the early ocean at hydrothermal vents

Question 28

The first ocean formed approximately how many billion years ago?

Answer 28

3.8-4.2 billion years ago

Question 29

What atmospheric conditions contributed to the formation of Earth's second atmosphere?

Answer 29

* Mainly CO2 and water vapor * Formation of a magnetic field through outgassing