Geo 3300 Exam 4 Chapters 10-12

The scientist who in 1758 created a system that is the basis of the modern system of classification of organisms is __________.

Carolus Linnaeus

Which of the following is an example of a coastal plain estuary?

Chesapeake Bay

organisms that are light-colored on bottom and dark-colored on top.

Countershading

The pollutant responsible for major declines in the populations of pelicans, ospreys, and other marine birds was __________.

DDT

Organisms in the_________move to deeper waters during daylight hours to avoid being seen by predators.

DSL

Which of the following is the correct genus and species name of the common dolphin, a marine mammal?

Delphinus delphis

the process in which particles, nutrients, or molecules pass from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration.

Diffusion

Which of the following kingdoms of organisms lack nuclei?

Monera

In the long term, what do beach drift and longshore current do?

Move sediment parallel to the shoreline

Along U.S. coasts, a drop in sea level can be noted at __________.

Northern Maine

What would you do to both grow a large beach and protect a harbor mouth?

Place two jetties on either side of the harbor mouth, and build a breakwater upcurrent from the harbor mouth.

How would a beach be affected if a wide berm were protected from erosion during winter months?

The wintertime beach would look similar to the summertime beach.

Of the following types of estuaries, which one has the best developed "estuarine circulation pattern"?

a highly stratified estuary

Beach joggers prefer to run on the __________.

beach face

Features of a depositional coast may include spits, barrier islands, tombolos, and __________.

deltas

Dead and decaying organic matter, including waste products, is called _________.

detritus

Where does most of the sand involved in longshore transport in beach compartments eventually end up?

down submarine canyons

All of the following features are associated with emerging shorelines except _________.

drowned beaches

Submerging shorelines commonly exhibit _________.

drowned river valleys

The first (capitalized) word of an organism's two-part scientific name denotes the _________.

genus

The two most specific groupings in taxonomic classification are __________.

genus and species

The type of hard stabilization that protects a harbor or bay entrance and is almost always found in pairs is called a _________.

jetty

The correct sequence of taxonomic groupings, from the most to the least comprehensive, is __________.

kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species

the correct order of benthic environments, going from shallow water to deep-ocean depths?

littoral, sublittoral, bathyal, abyssal, hadal

The "river of sand" described in our text refers to __________.

longshore transport between the beach and the breaker line

Because of seawater's high salinity, most marine fish have the following adaptations except for ________.

being hypertonic

How do jetties protect harbor entrances?

by inhibiting the deposition of sand in the harbor mouth

The primary reason phytoplankton are "concerned" about buoyancy is that they _________.

cannot photosynthesize below the photic zone

What is the source of the majority of human-caused marine oil pollution?

consumers who use oil

The primary drawback of beach nourishment as a remedy for beach erosion is __________.

cost

Southern California beaches would have more sand if __________.

dams were removed from streams flowing to the coast

Minamata disease is caused by eating fish contaminated with ________.

mercury

Organisms that are plankton in their juvenile stage but become nekton or benthos in their adult stage are called ___________.

meroplankton

Planktonic organisms that spend part of their lives in planktonic form and the rest of their lives as either benthos or nekton are called:

meroplankton.

With rising sea level, barrier islands tend to _______.

migrate landward

the portion of the shore that extends from the low-tide shoreline to the low-tide breaker line?

nearshore

Which of the following word pairs correctly link a descriptor with the way in which the organism lives in the ocean?

nekton—swim

Water in the eastern parts of Chesapeake Bay tends to be more saline than water farther west because __________.

ocean water entering the bay hugs the eastern shore because of the Coriolis effect

Conditions favorable for the existence of barrier islands occur in the United States __________.

on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts

a process that describes the movement of water molecules from the higher-salinity solution into the lower-salinity solution.

osmosis

In which direction does the longshore current move?

parallel to shore

The greatest amount of oil pollution in the ocean from human sources is from __________.

petroleum consumption

Of the following groupings, which one is the most inclusive (contains the greatest number of species)?

phylum

Which type of marine organism comprises the greatest percentage of marine biomass?

plankton

The international Law of the Sea treaty __________.

provides for arbitration of disputes

Geologic evidence suggests that eustatic (global) sea level rises have been caused by __________.

rapid seafloor spreading at divergent plate boundaries

In general, the sand on most beaches comes from _______.

rivers

Which of the following features are associated with erosional shores?

sea cliffs and sea stacks

Along the U.S. West Coast, longshore transport generally moves ______, and along the U.S. East Coast, longshore transport generally moves ______.

south; south

Which of the following human-made structures or natural features does not interfere with the natural flow of sand on the beach?

spits

Organisms that can tolerate only a narrow range of salinity conditions are said to be ___________.

stenohaline

A fjord is a type of estuary that was created by _______.

submergence of a glacially carved valley

Normally, beaches would have the greatest amount of sand on the berm near the end of _________.

summer

The scientific discipline concerned with naming and grouping organisms is called __________.

taxonomic classification

San Francisco Bay is a __________ estuary.

tectonic

During periods of very heavy wave activity, _________.

the berm shrinks and the longshore bar grows

The environmental bioassay is used to determine _______.

the concentration of a pollutant in the water

Marine fishes usually do not survive in freshwater because of _________.

the effects of osmotic pressure

Biomagnification of toxic substances means that __________.

toxic substances become increasingly concentrated in the tissues of organisms in each higher level of the food web

What is the longshore current?

water forced by waves to move along the shore

Which of the following structures are types of coastal stabilization structures?

- breakwater -jetties - groins

Why are coastal stabilization structures built along coastlines?

- to protect coastal property from wave erosion - to stop beach sand erosion

What is the total number of marine species that have been catalogued?

228,000

What percentage of marine species live in or on the ocean floor?

98%

In general, what do beaches look like at the end of winter?

Beaches tend to have a narrow berm and a prominent longshore bar.

In general, what do beaches look like at the end of summer?

Beaches tend to have a wide berm and no longshore bar.

Only 13% of Earth's species live in the ocean. Which is the most logical explanation of why there are so few marine species?

The relatively uniform conditions of the open ocean create an easier life for marine organisms than terrestrial organisms.

Which U.S. coast would most likely experience the least amount of shoreline retreat related to a 1-meter rise in sea level?

West Coast

How are winter beaches different from summer beaches?

Winter waves are short and high, whereas summer waves are long and shallower.

The coastal wetlands of Louisiana are being lost primarily because of __________.

a combination of subsidence and rising sea level

In a typical coastal region, the berm is _________.

a dry, nearly level or gently sloping platform

How long does it take berms to become narrow and rocky after summer has passed?

a few weeks

Which way would sediment move if NO beach drift existed?

at an angle to shore

Where in the world's oceans can large garbage patches be found?

gyres

Important plants in a coastal wetland at 45°N latitude are most likely to be __________.

halophytic grasses and pickleweed

Southern California beaches in winter typically are narrow and rocky. That is because __________.

heavy winter wave activity moves the sand out to the longshore bar and uncovers the rocks underneath the sand

An isothermal temperature profile from surface to seafloor may exist in coastal ocean waters __________.

in either low-latitude waters or high-latitude waters

All of the following are alternatives to hard stabilization except ______.

increasing the rate of glacial ice cap melting so that there is a rise in eustatic sea level

Bioremediation ________.

is a method of oil cleanup that uses microbes to break down oil

The oxygen minimum layer (OML) ___________.

is a zone of low dissolved oxygen concentration

All of the following events can produce a global (eustatic) rise in sea level except _________.

isostatic rebound of the land following glacial melting

All of the following adult-stage organisms are considered nektonic organisms except _________.

jellyfish

All of the following adult-stage organisms are considered benthos except _________.

jellyfish, they float so they are not considered benthos