OCE Exam 1 (NOT INCLUDING GRAPHICS)
What is the difference between an ocean and a sea?
Seas are smaller and shallower bodies of salt water that are somewhat enclosed by land, but they are directly connected to the world ocean.
Stanley Miller's famous experiment demonstrated that __________.
organic molecules could be produced from the mixture of gases comprising Earth's early atmosphere
The oldest fossilized remains of organisms are primitive ________ bacteria recovered from rocks formed on the sea floor about 3.5 billion years ago.
photosynthetic
The study of the transmission of light and sound in the oceans is an example of ________ oceanography.
physical
Vikings
possessed excellent ships and good navigation skills to actively explore the Atlantic Ocean in the late 10th century.
Plate tectonics and evolution, which are held with a high degree of confidence because of rigorous testing and verification, are examples of:
theories.
According to the fossil record on Earth, the earliest-known life-forms were primitive ________.
bacteria
Evidence suggests that the Sun and the rest of the solar system formed about five ________ years ago.
billion
One of the reasons that free oxygen in our atmosphere is important to the development and maintenance of life on Earth is because oxygen:
can form ozone and block some UV radiation.
The separation of the Earth into layers while it was molten was the result of the:
differing densities of the elements that make up the Earth.
The study of the structure of the sea floor and how the sea floor has changed through time is an example of ________ oceanography.
geological
A cometary model of the formation of Earth's ocean must include the chemical difference between the ________ in comet ice and that in Earth's water.
hydrogen
A tentative, testable statement about the general nature of a phenomenon is called a(n) ________.
hypothesis
Arabs
were the dominant navigators of the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle Ages.
Phoenicians
were the first humans from the Western Hemisphere to develop the art of navigation.
How did the view of the ocean by early Mediterranean cultures influence the naming of planet Earth?
Mediterranean cultures believed Earth was composed of large land masses surrounded by marginal bodies of water.
The ___________ period marks the extinction of dinosaurs and many other species.
Mesozoic/Cenozoic
The method of determining latitude in the Northern Hemisphere by measuring the angle between an observer's line of site to the North Star and line of site to the northern horizon was developed by:
Pytheas.
Prior to 1768, which of the following claimed the most human lives at sea?
Scurvy
Based on physical properties, Earth consists of ________ layers
5
Which of the following ideas support our current scientific understanding of the development of life on Earth?
-Early organisms evolved into more complex organisms over time -Primitive life likely existed without the need for oxygen -The "prebiotic soup" of the primitive oceans provided favorable conditions for life to develop. -As life evolved it significantly changed Earth's environment.
Which of the following contributed to the salinity of the ocean?
-The creation of acid rain from volcanic outgassing -Chlorine gas from the atmosphere was dissolved in water -Runoff caused dissolved elements to enter the ocean
A container holds 100 atoms of an isotope. This isotope has a half-life of 1.5 months. How many total atoms will be in the container after 3 months?
100 atoms
Oxygen comprises about ________ percent of the Earth's present atmosphere.
20
A container holds 100 atoms of an isotope. This isotope has a half-life of 1.5 months. How many atoms of the radioactive isotope will be in the container after 3 months?
25 atoms
Based on chemical composition, Earth consists of ________ layers
3
The average depth of the world's oceans is approximately ________.
3,682 meters (12,080 feet)
The oceans cover approximately ________ percent of the Earth's surface.
70
An organism's response to environmental changes are called ________.
Adaptations
Which of the following statements about the Pacific Ocean is TRUE?
All of the continents could fit into the space occupied by the Pacific Ocean.
The great oxidation event resulted in the massive die-off of which of the following?
Anaerobic bacteria
*Rank the four principle oceans from smallest to largest, in terms of size.
Arctic, Indian, Atlantic, Pacific
Which layer of the Earth behaves in a plastic manner?
Asthenosphere
Consider an interdisciplinary study that is aimed at understanding how ocean currents affect the distribution of coral larvae. What two disciplines of oceanography would the researchers be focused on?
Biological and physical oceanography
Who of the following is thought to be the first Viking to have seen what is now called Newfoundland?
Bjarni Herjolfsson
Trilobites were dominant during which geologic period?
Cambrian
During the ___ phase, the atmosphere was composed of mostly water vapor (steam), small amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and other gases.
Early
Who is credited with being the first person to accurately determine Earth's circumference?
Eratosthenes
During the ____ phase, the atmosphere was composed of leftover gases from the nebula
Initial
The explorer who advanced oceanography by introducing systematic soundings, or depth measurements, was __________.
James Cook
Who left Spain in September 1519 and became the first person to complete a circumnavigation of the globe when he returned to Spain three years later?
Juan Sebastian del Caño
Which of the following is Earth's rigid layer that includes the crust plus the topmost portion of the mantle?
Lithosphere
Which of the following represents Earth's plates that are involved in plate tectonic motion?
Lithosphere
What does NOAA stand for?
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The mechanism by which populations evolve and new species develop is called:
Natural Selection
The Kuiper Belt is located beyond the orbit of which planet?
Neptune
What are the major steps involved in the process of science?
Observation, hypothesis, testing, and theory
In which period did the first fishes appear?
Ordovician
Which layer of the Earth is composed of a liquid?
Outer Core
Which of the following was not abundant in the early atmosphere?
Oxygen
The largest of the ocean basins, which currently covers more than half of the ocean surface, is the:
Pacific Ocean.
The __________ is characterized by the extinction of 90% of marine life.
Paleozoic/Mesozoic
What happens during radioactive decay?
Parent isotopes turn into daughter isotopes.
The first recorded circumnavigation of Africa was made by the ________.
Phoenicians
During the _____________, the first organisms with shells developed
Precambrian/Proterozoic
During the ___ phase, the atmosphere was composed of increased amounts of atmospheric oxygen, which caused the ozone concentration in the stratosphere to increase.
Present
Which of the following was true about the Protoearth?
Protoearth's deep structure was homogeneous.
What did Stanley Miller's experiment demonstrate?
Stanley Miller's experiment demonstrated that vast amounts of simple organic molecules could have been produced in Earth's early oceans (a "prebiotic soup").
Based on definition, it is more appropriate to consider which ocean as a sea?
The Arctic Ocean
Which of the following statements comparing ocean to land is correct?
The Pacific Ocean covers more of Earth's surface than all the land combined.
Which ocean is actually a part of three other oceans?
The Southern Ocean
Which of the following is not a sea?
The Yellow Sea
How do the physical properties of the asthenosphere differ from the lithosphere?
The athenosphere is plastic or malleable and capable of slow flow. The lithosphere is a brittle and rigid solid region comprised mostly of basalt and granite.
*Which of the following statements about the average depths of the four principle oceans is correct?
The average depths of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans are very similar, while the depth of the Arctic Ocean is much shallower than the other three.
How are the materials that make up Earth's interior stratified in relation to their densities?
The highest-density materials are concentrated at Earth's core, whereas lower-density materials are located closer to Earth's surface.
Two containers hold the same radioactive isotope. Container A contains 1000 atoms, and container B contains 500 atoms. Which of the following statements about containers A and B is true?
The rate of decay of atoms (half-life) in container B is the same as the rate of decay of atoms (half-life) in container A.
Which statement best describes the origin of Earth's oceans?
The water that fills our oceans was mostly derived from outgassing, with a minor component coming from ice comets.
Which of the following would best describe the principal goal of science? Select only one answer.
To explain the causes and effects of observable natural phenomena
According to the geological time scale, which selection lists the correct order of coexistence, from earliest to latest?
Trilobites and amphibians, insects and dinosaurs, dinosaurs and birds, flowering plants and fishes, humans and reptiles
Most of the explorations by northern and western Europeans during the Middle (Dark) Ages were undertaken by:
Vikings of Scandinavia
What is Scurvy?
Vitamin C deficiency
In science, which one of the following would be considered an observation? Select only one answer.
Waves approach the beach at an angle
Radioactive materials can sometimes be used to determine the:
ages of rocks.
The nebular hypothesis suggests that ________.
all bodies in the solar system formed from an enormous gas cloud
________ are events and phenomena that we can detect with our senses.
observations
The most likely place for the basic building blocks for the development of life to interact and produce life is in Earth's ________.
oceans
Our world ocean can be divided into four principal oceans plus an additional ocean, based on the ________ of the ocean basins and the ________ of the continents.
shape; position
What is the scientific definition of half-life?
the amount of time over which the number of parent isotopes decreases by half
Greeks
used the polar North Star to determine latitude (distance from the equator).
Captain James Cook
was an English navigator who determined the outline of the Pacific Ocean and was the first person known to cross the Antarctic Circle.
Christopher Columbus
was an Italian navigator who made a total of four trips across the Atlantic. He was erroneously credited with discovering North America.
Current scientific knowledge indicates that the most likely origin of most of Earth's oceans was due to ________.
water vapor released from volcanic outgassing
Pacific Islanders
were some of the first navigators; they used stick charts to navigate the sea.