MSCI Test 2

The wavelengths of light that penetrate deepest into the ocean are

Green and blue

A zone in which the ocean's salinity increases rapidly with increasing depth is called a

Halocline

The average salinity of the world ocean is closest to

34 ppt

The property of water that accounts for the ability of liquid water to absorb heat and change only very little in temperature is called

Specific heat, or heat capacity

The Principle of Constant Proportions states

That the ratio of major salts in samples of seawater from various places is a constant

Residence time is

The average length of time an element spends in the ocean

We can determine the salinity if we know

The chlorinity of a water sample

What is the approximate mixing time of the world ocean?

1000 years

The densest seawater is the

Coldest and saltiest

The ocean is stratified with respect to

Density, temp, salinity

The ions present in seawater alter the characteristics of pure water in all of the following ways EXCEPT

The ions cause cells placed in seawater to burst

The salinity of the ocean, at the present time, seems to be

At a steady state, with dissolved components entering equal to dissolved components leaving

The most widely distributed sediment in he ocean

Biogeneous sediments

Increasing heat is an object's response to an increase in temperature

False

The ocean is slow to heat and slow to cool. This is related to a property of water know as

High heat capacity

The amount of gas that seawater can hold in solution will be greater

In colder water

The transmission of sound by water can be best described by what

It is more efficient than transmission by air

Once an element or dissolved substance reaches the ocean

It may stay or be removed depending on the individual chemistry of the ocean

Seawater freezes at a (blank) temperature than freshwater

Lower

The oozes on the seafooor mostly consist of

Microscopic hard parts of single celled surface living organisms

If our planet were without its ocean, but otherwise the same as it is today, would surface temperatures be more extreme or less extreme?

More extreme

The term salinity refers to

The total amount of dissolved solids in the ocean

The most pronounced thermoclines exist in

The tropics

It is possible for two samples of water to have the same density at different combinations of temperature and salinity

True