Exam 2
Which of the following statements best describes the causal chain behind man-made coastal "dead zones".
river runoff dramatically raises nutrient levels in coastal environment, driving algal blooms, the decay of which swiftly uses up available oxygen
An unexpected and unpredictable wave, at least twice as high as surrounding waves, often inconsistent with the prevailing wind or wave direction, is called a_____
rogue wave
One of the most important sinks of seawater ions are found primarily in the world's desert latitudes and is called...
sabhkas
Why is the rate of global sea level changes recorded by tidal gauges so much slower than the rate recorded by satellites?
satellites cover a much greater area in their measurements, and are therefore more reliable
Which of the following processes causes an increase in sea surface water salinities?
sea ice forming, evaporation
The sea is rapidly rising in the Mississippi Delta due to______________________
sediment compaction
Waves with rounded troughs and crests are known as....
sinusoidal
Morton's Table Salt consists primarily of the following chemical compound
sodium chloride
When a substance is dissolved into the oceans at the same rate at which it is removed, the substance has reached its
steady state
This piece of equipment is used in several tide gauge designs to remove the wave noise.
stillwell
Substrate-dwelling (benthic) organisms who MUST have stable substrate conditions at all times live below.....
storm wave base
Most of the world's atmospheric ozone is found in this layer.
stratosphere
The orbital velocity of an object in the middle of a rotating disk is____________
0m/sec (In order to have an initial orbital velocity, an object must be spinning around the center of the disk at some distance to it.)
You and your friends are going on a SCUBA dive. The ocean exhibits waves with wavelengths of 2 meters. How deep do you have to dive before you no longer feel the wave motion?
1 meter (L/2 where L is the wavelength)
Wind-driven surface currents are usually moving at ______ the velocity of the wind
1-3%
Officially, the highest wave ever observed at sea from shipboard was ____ meters in height and was observed aboard the _______________
34; USS Ramapo
The average salinity of the oceans is....
35 ppt
On average, what percentage of incoming solar radiation (in-sol-ation) passes through the atmosphere and gets absorbed by the Earth's surface?
50%
By how much will the global sea level rise if the Greenland ice sheet completely melted?
6 meters
By how much would global sea level rise if the entire Western and Eastern Antarctic ice sheets melted?
60 meters
The average net motion of water masses inside a well-formed Ekman Spiral is at ___________ to the surface wind direction.
90 degrees
Because of the Coriolis Effect, converging surface winds in the ITCZ blow _______________ and Ekman Transport is _______________ the equator
East to West; away from
Just North and South of the equator, surface winds are blowing....
East-West
Surface currents have built up a bulge in the Western Pacific. Deep water below will likely flow _____________
Eastwards
Which of the following TWO reservoirs hold most of the Earth's freshwater?
Glacial Ice, Groundwater
The rapid melting of which continental ice sheet could possibly cause a similar climatic upheaval as the Younger Dryas event?
Greenland Ice Sheet
H2CO3 → _________ + H+
HCO3-
The following special chemical bond probably gives water most of its strange properties, including its incredible power as a solvent.
Hydrogen Bond
________ are responsible for the greatest amount of heat transport from the lower latitudes to the higher latitudes
Ocean Currents
Wind-driven waves grow largest when all of the following conditions are present
Pacific Ocean
The first satellite to take measurements of global sea level changes was the.....
Poseidon/Topex
Which of the following statements best describes the phenomenon of the latitudinal heat imbalance of the Earth?
The higher latitudes radiate more heat back to space than they receive directly from the sun
The mm to cm size wavelets that first form as a result of windshear across a surface of water are known as....
capillary waves
The "plumbing" inside black smoker vents often becomes coated in a thick layer of this metallic compound
chalcopyrite
Which of the following processes cause eustatic sea level changes as a result of changing the total mass of the water in the oceans
changes in glacial ice balance, changes in the amount of atmospheric water storage, changes in the volume of river and lake waters, changes in the amount of groundwater extraction, changes in the number of river dams across the world
Which of the following processes cause eustatic sea level changes as a result of changing the volume (but not the mass) of the water in the oceans
changes in the rate of thermal expansion of water, ocean salinity changes
Which of the following ions is the most common in seawater?
chloride
The following greenhouse gas is solely human-made (it has no natural sources)
chlorofluorocarbons
When viewed from above the North Pole, the Northern Hemisphere is rotating counterclockwise - when viewed from above the South Pole, the Southern Hemisphere is rotating _________________
clockwise
In the Southern Hemisphere, geostrophic flow is ___________
counterclockwise
Hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate _______ but their path gets deflected towards the ______
counterclockwise; right
"The shape the sea surface takes due to differences in gravitational attractions across the planet" best describes the ___________-based definition of sea level.
geiod
The amplitude of a wave is _________ its waveheight
half
The horse latitudes are a ______________ pressure zone
high
Density-driven currents flow from ___________ to ___________ areas.
high density; low density
Divergent winds usually occur in _____________
high pressure zones
Wind-driven waves grow largest when all of the following conditions are present
high winds, long fetches, sustained long-term wind duration
The reasons why conditions below the carbonate compensation depth are poor for organisms made of calcium carbonate, are
higher pressures in deep waters allow more ready dissolution of carbon dioxide, cooler water temperatures with depth allow more ready dissolution of carbon dioxide, anaerobic decay processes, common in the deep sea, produce increased concentrations of carbon dioxide
An airmass moving from the equator to higher latitudes is moving from a ___________ orbital velocity to a ____________ orbital velocity on the Earth.
higher; lower
The reaction of hot hydrothermal vent fluids in ocean floor basalts enrich the fluid in sodium, calcium, and this other ion.
hydrogen
Which of the following TWO volcanic gases are a rich source of sulfur ions for the oceans.
hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide
he following changes to surface waters can cause local downwelling
increased evaporation, increase in surface water salinity, surface waters being cooled
Adding mass to coastal regions, ______________ local sea level.
increases
The weathering of feldspar-rich rocks produces ions of calcium for the oceans, just like the weathering of these rocks....
limestones
The Indian Monsoonal Rains are fed by......
the Southern Hadley Cell
The current tidal gauge "of choice" across the world is....
the acoustic gauge
Geologists argue that the Younger Dryas was caused by ______________________
the catastrophic release of meltwater from Lake Agassiz
Why is the height of wave damage on lighthouses NOT necessarily an accurate indicator of the height of the wave that caused the damage?
the damage could have easily been done by wave splash, which can be much, much higher than the wave height itself
The doldrums occur along__________
the equator
The fastest orbital velocity on a rotating disk is found ____________
the outside edge
The two most important contributors to sea level rise today are....
thermal expansion, ice melting
The "noise" this type of signal creates on tidal gauge records can be removed statistically after 19 years of observations.
tides
White-capped storm waves typically have this wave shape
trochoidal
Higher (than average) sea surface salinities regularly occur in these latitudes
tropical and subtropical latitudes
Water masses along the equator experience ________________
upwelling
Most of the newly added chloride to today's oceans comes from....
volcanic gases
The Gulf Stream is a ____________ water current
warm
The Meridional Overturning Circulation works because as ____________ waters enter the Northern Atlantic, the waters _______________, and become ______________.
warm; cool and become more saline; denser
The number of wave crests that pass a given point in a given amount of time is know as the______________
wave frequency
The time it takes for a wave crest or trough to move the distance of one wavelength is known as the....
wave period
The distance between two consecutive wave troughs or crests is known as the............
wavelength
The most common source of waves in the oceans is....
wind
Below this maximum water depth, wind-driven currents usually become negligible.
~200 meters
In general, the Earth system transports heat from ________ latitudes to _________ latitudes.
lower; higher
The weathering of the following two types of rocks provides a rich source of magnesium ions to the oceans
mafic rocks, carbonate rocks
At hydrothermal vents, the seafloor basalts act as a net sink for the following dissolved seawater ion.
magnesium
In some deep parts of the oceans, hydrogenically-formed nodules litter the ocean floor. They are rich in this rare metal
manganese
Groundwater extraction causes eustatic sea level rise through a change in global ocean water ____________, as well as additional local sea level rise due to soil ________________.
mass; compaction
Water exhibits the highest surface tension among liquids, except for:
mercury
Because of the angle of insolation decreases with higher latitudes, sunlight nearer the poles travel through ___________ of the atmosphere.
more
The smaller the insolation angle, the _________ sunlight is reflected off the atmosphere
more
Which of the following gases is the most common in our atmosphere?
nitrogen
Which of the following reservoirs contains more carbon dioxide at any given time?
oceans
Offshore winds move water masses_____________
offshore
A non-rotating planet, the size of the Earth, would have ______ air circulation cell(s) per hemisphere.
one; (It is the Coriolis Effect that cuts the single air circulation cell into three on the real Earth.)
Wave energy propagates through water as _______________
orbital waves
As the last glacial period ("ice age") came to an end, the "Younger Dryas" event caused much of the Northern Hemisphere to suddenly ________________.
plunge back into a cold period
Coriolis deflection in the Northern Hemisphere is always to the ___________ because the Earth rotates from ________________
right, West to East
Air masses along the equator are generally.....
rising
On average, what percentage of incoming solar radiation (in-sol-ation) is reflected back to space?
30%
Match the following precipitates to their chemical formulae A. CaCO3 B. MgCO3 C. CaSO4 • H2O D. MgCa(CO3)2 E. CaSO4 F. NaCl G. KCl
1. anhydrite E 2. sylvite G 3. halite F 4. gypsum C 5. limestone A 6. dolomite D 7. magnesite B
Match the process to its impact on global sea level A. increase in sea level B. increase in sea level C. increase in sea level D. decrease in sea level E. increase in sea level F. increase in sea level G. increase in sea level H. increase in sea level I. increase in sea level
1. melting glaciers A 2. increased absorption of heat by the ocean B 3. decrease in salinity C 4. increase in seafloor spreading rates E 5. Increase in sediment input to the ocean F 6. decrease in evaporation rates G 7. an increase in the volume of rivers and lakes D 8. increase in groundwater use for agriculture H 9. removal of inland river dams I
Deep water waves collapse when their height grows taller than _____ their wavelength
1/7 of
The internationally recognized distance from Earth at which "pilots" can be recognized as "astronauts or cosmonauts" is....
100 km
By 2100 global sea level will most likely rise _______
3-4 feet
The average rate of global sea level change as measured by satellites since 1993 is....
3.4mm/year
What percentage of Earth's water is freshwater?
3.5%
Match the Northern Hemisphere circulation cells to their general latitudes A. ~30°-60° latitude B. ~0°-30° latitude C. ~60°-90° latitude
A 1. Ferrel Cell C 2. Polar Cell B 3. Hadley Cell
The following are all effects caused by a La Niña state of the ENSO (click all that apply)
A.unusually warm waters in the Western Pacific, B.Warm and wet conditions in Australia and the Indonesian archipelago, D. coral bleaching in Western Pacific, E.elevated sea levels in the Western Pacific
The longest fetch can be found in this ocean
Antarctic Ocean (the longest possible fetch is around 22,000km long!)
Significant amounts of deep cool waters are created by downwelling along the coast of.......
Antarctica
Match the following changes in conditions to their impacts on the concentrations of dissolved gas in the ocean A. Less gas can dissolve B. More gas can dissolve
B 1. Temperature Decrease A 2. Salinity Increase
Match the beach slope to the kinds of waves that will form there. A. surging breaker B. spilling breakers C. plunging breaker
B 1. low slope C 2. steep slope A 3. very steep slope
The Trade winds blow _____________ inside the ____________.
East to West; Hadley Cell
Match the following compounds and ions, to their names A. carbonate ion B. hydrogen ion C. bicarbonate ion D. carbon dioxide E. calcium carbonate F. carbonic acid
D 1. CO2 F 2. H2CO3 C 3. HCO3- B 4. H+ A 5. CO32- E 6. CaCO3
The three highest, instrument-measured, waves were recorded at the following locations
Draupner Platform, North Atlantic, Naval Pressure Gauges, Gulf of Mexico, Max Wave Project, Global Oceans
True or False? Currently the amount of incoming insolation is perfectly balanced with the amount that is reradiated back to space at any given moment.
False
True or False? Human activities have no impact on the concentrations of the worst greenhouse gases of the all, namely water vapor.
False
True or False? Like any other self-respecting liquid, when water turns into a solid (ice) it becomes more dense.
False
True or False? The International Space Station orbits the Earth in the void of empty space.
False
True or False? The greenhouse effect is caused by humans and did not exist before the advent of the industrial revolution.
False
True or False? Water rapidly reacts to additions of heat energy by changing its temperature quickly.
False
True or False? Moving air masses on a non-rotating planet would experience a Coriolis deflection.
False (It is the rotation of the Earth that creates the Coriolis Effect, not the fact that it is a sphere.)
True or False? Sea level rise projections are best done using linear prediction models based on historical data.
False. (Emission rates, temperature changes, ice melt rates, and groundwater extraction rates are more likely to increase non-linearly in the future.)
The horse latitudes mark the high elevation wind convergence between these two circulation cells
Ferrel and Hadley Cells
Which of the following bodies of water has the highest average sea surface salinities
Mediterranean Sea
In the Northern Hemisphere Winter, the Intertropical Convergence Zone lies ________________ of the equator near the Indian subcontinent.
South
A floating log is slowly moved towards shore by incoming waves. This is due to_____________
Stokes Drift
Two canons are fired due North along the prime meridian (0th Longitude) at the same time from the same equatorial city. One cannonball is flying at 400km/h, the other at 800km/hr. At the moment that each ball crosses the 30° N latitude, which ball has experienced the greater horizontal Coriolis deflection (which cannonball is farther away from the prime meridian at this moment?)
The ball going at 400km/hr
Two piloted rockets are fired off at the same time and with the same velocity from a base exactly on the equator. They both head North. One flies to 30 degrees North of the equator when the pilot parachutes from the cockpit. The other flies until 50 degrees North of the equator before the pilot jumps. Which rocket has experienced the greatest amount of horizontal Coriolis deflection from its due-North flightpath at the time the pilot jumps from each?
The rocket that went to the 50 degree latitude
True or False? The amount of heat energy that can be stored in the atmosphere at any given moment depends on the amount of greenhouse gases contained therein.
True
True or False? The western coastal cities of Europe are kept largely ice free in the winter due to the warm Gulf-Stream.
True
True or False? Water masses at different depths in the Atlantic flow in different directions
True
True or False? A tide gauge attached to a settling pier will record a local rise in sea level that is faster than eustatic sea level rise.
True (The total rate recorded would be eustatic rise plus the rate of settling.)
The following statement best describes the El Niño state of the ENSO
Warm waters sit off the coast of South America, effectively blocking upwelling in the region
The Westerlies blow _____________ inside the _____________
West-East; Ferrel Cell
Eustatic sea level is rising at 3.4 mm/year. A stretch of coastal mountains in Chile is being uplifted at 3.0mm/year. What is the rate of local sea level change as measured by local tide gauges?
a net sea level increase of 0.4mm/year
In the long term, the weathering of terrestrial rocks provides a steady source of carbonate ions to the oceans. What is the most common source of carbonate ions in the short-term?
atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolving in seawater
What is the primary mechanism by which dissolved oxygen is removed from deep waters?
aerobic decay processes
What environmental variable must be recorded alongside the acoustic gauge record for an accurate assessment of the data?
air temperature in the stillwell
Calcium ions brought in by hydrothermal vent fluids and calcium ions directly dissolved from the ocean floor basalts, react with sulfates to form deposits of....
anhydrite
This precipitate is primarily responsible for building the structure of hydrothermal vents or black smokers.
anhydrite
The fastest rate of sea level rise in North Carolina occurs......
at the Duck pier
What are the two primary sources of dissolved oxygen in the ocean?
atmosphere, photosynthesis
Why is isolated, older, deep water usually poor in oxygen?
because aerobic decay bacteria, feeding upon marine snow, dramatically reduce oxygen levels in the deep sea
The production of calcium carbonate skeletons by the following organisms, acts as an important sink for calcium and carbonate ions in the oceans.
calcareous algae, clams, foraminifera, pteropods, coccolithophores, coral
The most commonly precipitated mineral by invertebrates in the oceans is....
calcium carbonate
The weathering of feldspars is a rich source of the following three ions in seawater
calcium, sodium, potassium
Exiting hydrothermal vent fluids are enriched over seawater in the following two ions.
calcium, sulfur
When deep water waves move into shallow water, their wave velocity______________
decreases
Currently, Earth is the only place in the solar system where significant amounts of this chemical substance can be found in solid, liquid, and gaseous states.
dihydrogen oxide
When you hear "Intertropical Convergence Zone" you should also think....
doldrums
Aside from downward diffusion, what is the primary means by which the deep ocean receives a supply of oxygenated waters?
downwelling
The melting of continental glaciers causes eustatic sea level rise, and an apparent sea level ___________ in the location the ice melted due to glacial rebound.
drop
Aside from mechanical failure, what other phenomenon requires constant maintenance of mechanical float gauges?
encrustation of stillwell, float, and cables by organisms
Your oceanography professor challenges you to fire a cannonball on Earth, so that the ball does NOT experience any horizontal Coriolis deflection during its travel path. Where would you fire your cannon?
exactly West along the equator
The outermost layer of the Earth's atmosphere is called....
exosphere
The deepest that non-storm wave motion propagates into the sea is known as the
fair-weather wave base
In the horse latitudes, airmasses are __________ and surface winds are blowing ______________
falling; North and South
What is the most common mineral in the Earth's crust?
feldspar
The two primary sources of calcium ions in the oceans are
feldspar-rich rock weathering, weathering of carbonates
Increasing dissolved carbon dioxide content in the ocean, affects calcium carbonate-shell-precipitating organism in two ways
it results in more H+ ions in the ocean, therefore dramatically decreasing pH (an increase in acidity), increasing dissolution rates of existing shells, it results in more H+ ions to which available carbonate ions bond to, rather than the latter being available to shell-building organisms
Shallow bodies of water that have limited in and outflow of new seawater are known as
lagoons
A given beam of solar insolation has to heat a(n) ________ area near the poles than it does at the equator.
larger
Sea salt is primarily a mixture of sodium chloride, this compound, and other magnesium, calcium, and sulfate containing chemicals.
potassium chloride
The mean length of time an atom spends in the ocean before being removed from it is called its....
residence time
