midterm

James Cook discovered _____.

New Zealand and Hawaii

in the deep sea ___ is very important for communication

bioluminescent

if the earths magnetic field reached zero we would be at greater risk from ____

cosmic rays

micrometeorites impact oceans and although rare form of ____ sediments

cosmogenous

the presence of salt ____ the freezing point of water

decreases

When two plate margins converge and one is pulled down into the mantle, _____ are formed.

deep trenches

the second strongest currents in oceans are ____ current

equatorial

sound waves travel ___ in ____ water than in ___ water

faster, fresh , salt

The origin of the most abundant marine sediments is ______.

land

If new seafloor is being created at spreading centers why don't we find a lot of old oceanic crust on the surface of earth

oceanic crust is being subducted where it collided with continental plates

which color of light is most absorbed by seawater

red

Earth holds the solar system record as the _____ planet.

wettest

A big push for oceanographic research after World War Two was due to our wartime lack of knowledge to support _____.

Amphibious landings

Plates come together at _____ boundaries.

convergent

the andes mountain is a result of a ___ boundary

convergent

the conveyor belt theory of oceanic circulation states that a major driver is

cooling at the poles

after a water mass delivers heat to a region it

cools, sinks and recirculate

Photosynthesis is important because that's where ___ comes from

oxygen

what caused the depletion of iron from the ocean 2 billion years ago

oxygen production by plants

the surface of the ocean is important because that where ___ takes place

photosynethesis

the presence of abundant liquid water on other planets in our solar system

remains in question

Plates are pulling apart at

diverg

True or False earthquakes always occur at plate boundaries

false

the prevailing winds in the continential united states are typically

from west to east

For deep ocean currents, the primary driving force is _____.

gravity

the ___ of earth tends to deflect the path of any moving object from its initial course

rotation

Corals are very similar to _____.

sea anemones

The most common location for hydrothermal vents is near areas of

seafloor spreading

The continental rise is formed by ____ moving down the slope or through submarine canyons

sediments

sateillite altimeters collect very accurate measurements of the ___ of the sea surface

height

climatic scientists think that the ____ caused by man may be an important part of climate change

increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide

the presence of salt ____ the density of water

increases

deposits of sediments from rivers and coastal erosion become ______ sediment

terrigenous

water circulation driven by differences in temperature and salinity is called ___ circulation

thermohaline

There are basically ____ types of earthquakes

two

recent measurements shown the european and north america plates to be moving apart at about ____per year

two centimeters

ocean currents are important for delivering ___especially along coastlines

nutrients

The universe has been expanding about

14 billion years

America first appeared by name on a map in ______.

1507

The Earths atmosphere is now about % of oxygen

21%

it takes about __ years for artic surface waters to transmit the atlantic to antartica

250

Hawaii was populated by the Polynesians some time around

450 to 600 AD

The Earth is covered with approximately with how much water?

70%

The first explorations dedicated exclusively to marine science were carried out on the ____

Challenger Expedition

Our solar system was formed by

Coalescing of dust grains into larger and larger pieces

If spreading centers and creating new sea floor in the center of the ocean basin then the oldest sediments and rocks will be found

Farthest from the spreading center

The ____ were the first civilization to go beyond the sight of land and into the Atlantic ocean

Greeks

Wagner's idea was that all the landmasses had once been a ___ called ____.

Supercontinent , Pangea

When two pieces of lithosphere collide and grind against each other at a subduction zone, pent up strain energy can be suddenly released as ____.

an earthquake

atmospheric circulation comes from ___ of heat at the equator and ___ at the poles

an excess, a deficit

At oceanic spreading centers the crustal plates are ___

being formed and spreader apart

oceans are ___of years old

billions

when shells or skeletons of animals fall to ocean floor they form ____ sediment

biogenous

the deep ocean floor comprises ___ of the earths area

more than half

if the thermoline circulation in the north atlantic were slowed down or stopped by ice melting at the poles europe would probably have

much cooler temperatures

according to the climate record in sediments right now we are in a climate regime that ____

never seen before

new satellites allow the measurement of sea surface ___ with _____

topography, radar

plates slide past one another

transform boundaries

What climatic zone is typified by higher solar radiation and warmer ocean temperatures?

tropics

another important factor explaining high productivity in polar regions is

upwelling of nutrients

Hurricanes get their energy from

warm water

normally during non El Niño years there's a pool of ___ water in the ____ pacific

warm, western

which of these are the most important consistinuent of the atmosphere in terms of climate regulation

water vapor

The strongest currents in the oceans are _____ currents.

western boundary

for sea ocean current the primary driving force is

wind