Ocean Science Test 2
Drinking water has a salinity of:
0.1ppt
Brackish water has a salinity of _____.
0.5-30ppt
Western Boundary Currents (on the western sides of ocean basins) are intensified in these ways:
Faster Narrower Deeper Warm
Measuring deep currents:
Floating devices tracked through time (ARGO) Chemical tracers: Tritium Chlorofluorocarbons Characteristic temperature and salinity
H2O is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in a _______ bond with a ______ bonding pattern.
covalent tetrahedral
Water molecules absorb energy from other ______ to break free.
water molecules
The top of the hill of water is displaced to the ___ due to Earth's rotation.
west
Protons determine two things
what element it is. properties of that element
Where can upwelling occur?
whenever currents DIVERGE When land and wind and surface currents are in the right orientation When currents encounter obstacles or shallows
Does upwelling trigger productivity?
yes
Fall/low latitude ocean layers
No mixing=no nutrients=no life=clear water
Density of surface sea water
1.022 to 1.030 g/cm3 surface seawater
There is enough salt in the ocean to cover the earth with a ____ m later.
150m
The atmosphere accounts for approximately ___/3s of global heat transfer.
2 2/3rds
What is the earth's degree of tilt?
23.5 degrees
Salinity varies more widely in coastal sections. In Castine it is around
29-30ppt
Agricultural water can have as much as ___ salinity.
2ppt
Melting of ice caps are predicted to raise sea levels by ___ feet by the end of the century. Some think this is an underestimate.
3 feet
What is the drift time of subtropical gyres?
3-6 years
Saline water (seawater/lakes) has a salinity of:
30-50ppt
Open ocean salinity:
32-38ppt
Average seawater salinity is:
34.7ppt
In a typical Kg of sea water how many grams make up the salinity portion?
34.8g
The Mediterranean sea has a salinity of ___.
38ppt
The atmosphere's concentration of CO2 is:
397ppm
Water density increases to a maximum as its temperature approaches:
4 degrees celcius
The red sea has a salinity of ___.
40ppt
How many Gyres are there?
5 North Pacific South Pacific North Atlantic South Atlantic Indian
How much dissolved material is there in the oceans?
50 quadrillion tons of dissolved material 50 million billion tons
Brine has a salinity of ____.
50+ppt
Water's latent heat of vaporization/condensation:
540 cal/gram
The latent heat of evaporation at 20 degrees Celsius is ____.
585 cal/gram
Pure water has a PH level of ___ so it is neutral.
7
Ocean PH is about:
8.1
Water's latent heat of freezing/melting:
80 cal/gram
Baltic sea salinity__.
8ppt
The development of a tropical cyclone:
A low pressure cell breaks away from the equatorial low pressure belt, and begins spinning on its own. (counter clockwise around the low pressure). Surface winds pick up water vapor from the warm ocean surface in the tropics. When this water condenses into clouds it releases heat, warming the storm, causing it to rise (lowering the pressure more). This increasingly lower pressure creates more wind, which leads to more surface evaporation, which leads to more water to condense, more heat and even lower pressure.
Heat Capacity:
Amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of any substance 1o C
Where are surface currents found and how much of the ocean do they affect?
Are found above and down into the pycnocline—to a depth of about 1 km (0.6 miles) and thus affect about 10% of the ocean's water.
Residence time-
Average length of time a substance remains dissolved in seawater
Ekman's Spiral:
Average movement of seawater under influence of wind 90o to right of wind in Northern hemisphere 90o to left of wind in Southern hemisphere Ekman spiral describes speed and direction of seawater flow at different depths (yielding a total net transport) Each successive layer moves increasingly to right (N hemisphere)
Thermohaline Circulation Deep Ocean Currents
Below the pycnocline 90% of all ocean water Slow velocity Movement caused by differences in density (temperature and salinity) Cooler seawater denser Saltier seawater denser
Subtropical Gyres:
Centered about 30o N or S Direction of rotation determined by wind and coriolis 3-6 year drift time Each made of 4 currents: Equatorial current Western Boundary currents Eastern Boundary currents Northern or Southern Boundary currents (depends on hemisphere)
Eastern Boundary currents (on the eastern sides of ocean basins) are less intense:
Cold Slow Shallow Wide
Deep Ocean Currents Mix the Ocean
Cold, oxygen-rich surface water to deep ocean, dissolved O2 important for life and mineral processes Nutrient rich water to surface Changes in thermohaline circulation can cause global climate change Example, warmer surface waters less dense, not sink, less oxygen deep ocean Changes in thermohaline circulation can result from global climate change.
Cool ocean currents cool air at coast
Cool, dry air Dry climate on adjoining landmass
Solar Energy affects the ocean in two ways
Creates winds - that drive the surface ocean currents and waves Heats water (lack of it cools water) - changing temp and salinity, creating density currents
Uneven solar heating causes:
Day/night Seasons Thickness of atmosphere Reflective angle Albedo
How can changes in the thermohaline affect climate change?
Example, warmer surface waters less dense, not sink, less oxygen deep ocean, less nutrients to go up
Methods of measuring ocean currents:
Direct methods: Floating device tracked through time Fixed current meter Indirect methods: Pressure gradients Radar altimeters Doppler flow meter
Low Pressure zones
Equatorial low at 0 degrees subpolar lows at 60 degrees overcast skies with lots of precipitation
Salinity Increases Through
Evaporation Formation of sea ice
Sea Ice Formation
Fresh water freezes out of sea water Releases heat to the atmosphere Makes surrounding water saltier (and hence denser) Closely tied to temperature (-22 F) Ice is a poor conductor, slows the formation of deeper ice
What affects surface currents?
Frictional drag between wind and ocean (2% transfer) Wind plus other factors such as Distribution of continents Gravity Friction Coriolis effect
Acid releases ___ when dissolved in water. The PH scale measures the ___ content.
H+ Hydrogen ion
The three types of cells starting from the equator going towards the poles are the:
Hadley Ferrel Polar
Physical changes to ocean from global warming:
Increased regional stratification (depth of thermocline deepening, thermoclines strengthening) Leads to decrease in productivity due to cut off of surface water from bottom water Possible changes to thermohaline (vertical) circulation on a global scale Possible fast and unexpected changes in global climate-including the reduction in heat transfer Links to past mass extinction events Hydrogen sulfide in ocean and atmosphere, based on evidence from paleoclimate sediment reconstructions
Coastal Salinity varies due to:
Influx of freshwater lowers salinity or creates brackish conditions Greater rate of evaporation raises salinity or creates hypersaline conditions Salinity may vary with seasons (dry/rain)
Steady State Conditions:
Input=output
Carbonate Buffering
Keeps ocean pH about same (8.1) pH too high, carbonic acid releases H+ pH too low, bicarbonate combines with H+ Precipitation/dissolution of calcium carbonate CaCO3 buffers ocean pH Oceans can absorb CO2 from atmosphere without much change in pH
Continental effect -
Land areas have greater range of temperatures day/night and during different seasons
Tropical Cyclones-
Large rotating masses of low pressure Strong winds, torrential rain Classified by maximum sustained wind speed
Winter/High latitudes
Lots of mixing=lots of nutrients=lots of life (when there is sunlight)=murky water
High Latitudes low angle of incidence
Low amount of radiation per unit of area (same amount of sunlight diluted over larger surface area)
Describe the different pressure cells:
Low pressure at the equator Hadley cells: 0-30 degrees lat In between =high pressure Ferrel cells: 30-60 degrees lat In between = low pressure Polar cells: 60-90 degrees lat
Hurricanes are formed from:
Low pressure, Wind increases evaporation Evaporation = ENERGY from warm water into the atmosphere (585 cal/gram) Energy in the atmosphere warms air(vapor condensing releases ENERGY) Pressure drops (warm air rises) Winds increase Repeat, start at step 1.
Surface Current Summary
Major currents make up sub tropical gyres Currents set in motion by prevailing wind, affected by coriolis Gyres each have 4 currents Western boundary= warm, eastern boundary= cold Western intensification from the "slosh factor" Studied/tracked by floating objects/people
What are the effects of surface currents?
Moving heat/energy from warm regions to cool regions (sub tropical gyres—which are the warm currents?), the last 1/3 of energy transport... Climatic effects on land Surface movements affect upwelling and downwelling (vertical circulation of water)
An example of a polar compound or ionic bond:
NaCl, sodium chloride
Marine Effect -
Ocean's moderate temperatures changes day and night and with the seasons.
Salinity Decreases Through:
Precipitation (rain or snow) Runoff (river flow, melting of land based ice) Melting icebergs Melting sea ice
Cool dense air, higher surface ______. Warm less dense air, lower surface ______.
Pressure
Deep ocean currents
Provide oxygen to deep sea and nutrients to the surface Density driven, vertical and horizontal movement
Salinity increases through sources:
River flow biologic interactions volcanic eruptions
Salinity decreases through sinks:
Salt spray chemical reactions at seawater-sea floor interface Biologic interactions evaporite formation absorption
How can global warming affect the ocean?
Sea level rise Changes to Sea ice Warming Ocean Water Temperatures Changing physical structure of the ocean Ocean Acidification
Thermohaline circulation:
Selected deep-water masses Antarctic Bottom Water North Atlantic Deep Water Antarctic Intermediate Water Oceanic Common Water Cold surface seawater sinks at polar regions and moves equatorward
What are some potential affects of global warming on ocean life?
Species range shift Changes in temperature depended behaviors (physiologic) Timing of shedding of lobsters, timing of phytoplankton blooms Growth rates, disease susceptibility Coral bleaching
Upwelling Process
Surface seawater moves away Deeper seawater (replaces surface water) Upwelling High biological productivity
Describe the downwelling process:
Surface seawater moves towards an area Surface seawater piles up Seawater moves downward Downwelling Low biological productivity
Atmosphere moves heat via the latent heat of vaporization and condensation:
Takes heat from warm water by evaporation Deposits heat in cool areas by condensation
What makes the western boundary currents more intense?
The sloshing caused by the earth's direction of rotation
Density Stratefication
The surface is where things vary (both temp and salinity) The surface is where Density will change When density changes at the surface the whole water column can change—the layers will have to RE-LAYER. Some layers persist, some mix readily
Coral bleaching results when:
coral polyps lose their symbiotic algae Bleached corals are not necessarily dead but they are under stress If given an opportunity to recover, they can regain their algae
What and where are the three major wind bands?
Trade winds (0-30 lat) Prevailing westerlies (30-60 lat) Polar easterlies (60-90 lat)
Surface Ocean Currents:
Transfer heat from warmer to cooler areas (1/3) Similar to pattern of major wind belts Affect coastal climates Wind driven, horizontal movement (top 400 -1000m or so of ocean, involves approx 10% of water in the world)
Thermocline Halocline Pycnocline
Typically in open ocean there is a surface layer, and a deeper layer or layers. The zones of transition between layers are the "clines".
Ocean Acidification:
When CO2 dissolves in seawater, carbonic acid (H2CO3) is produced. The carbonic acid (H2CO3) dissociates in seawater releasing hydrogen ions (H+) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3-). The increase in H+ causes a decrease in pH, ie, the solution goes from more basic to more acidic. These H+ ions will want to combine with CO32- ions to form more bicarbonate ions (HCO3-). Most shells are made of calcium carbonate CaCO3 from the Ca2+ ions and the CO32- ions in the ocean. Can you envision what happens to these shell makers as CO32- combines with the increasingly abundant H+?
The earth's tilted axis causes:
Vernal (spring) equinox Summer solstice Autumnal equinox Winter solstice
What affects whether air sinks or rises?
Warm air, less dense (rises) Cool air, more dense (sinks) Moist air, less dense (rises) Dry air, more dense (sinks) "Nature abhors a vacuum"
Warm ocean currents warm air at coast:
Warm, humid air Humid climate on adjoining landmass
Sublimation
Water absorbs heat and travels from solid to gas state
Deposition
Water releases heat and travels from gas to solid state
An example of a non polar compound
oil
The Ocean Layers Affect:
a. nutrient cycling (or not) and therefore productivity b. density differences that create ocean currents that affect global climate
Ions are removed from the ocean by
absorption precipitation hydrothermal activity at the mid ocean ridge sea spray biologic processes
Annually 320,000 cubic KM are evaporated from the ocean to the ____.
atmosphere
The total amount of dissolved content of water does not include ____.
organics
The Coriolis affect is caused by Earth's tilted axis and the different speeds an object travels at different latitudes. It _____ moving bodies.
deflects To the right in the northern hemisphere To the left in the southern hemisphere Maximum at the poles Minimum (no effect) at the equator
Six elements make up 99% ______ solids in seawater.
dissolved sodium, chloride, sulfate, magnesium, calcium and potassium
Upwelling primarily occurs where currents _____.
diverge
As temperature of water goes up the latent heat of evaporation goes ____.
down
When the net Ekmans transport of seawater is towards land ____ is the result.
downwelling
Angle of incidence of solar rays per area gives more heat to ________ areas than polar areas
equatorial
Water has high latent heats of ____.
evaporation freezing/melting vaporization/condensation
The hotter the water the _____ Hydrogen bonds to be broken, the colder the water the more.
fewer
Even with no additional input of liquid water, thermal expansion of warming sea water could account for a ____ or more of sea level rise!
foot
Water has a high _____ point and _____ point
freezing point boiling point
Icebergs are broken off pieces of ____ or ice caps where they met the sea.
glaciers
The poles are ____ pressure zones.
high
The precipitation latitudes are the _____ latitudes.
high
Thermohaline circulation originates in ____ latitudes.
high
Water has a ____ heat capacity.
high
Low latitudes High angle of incidence
high amount of radiation per unit of area (concentrated sunlight)
Air always moves from regions of _____ pressure to ____ pressure.
high pressure to low pressure
In the mid regions the surface salinity is ____ due to ___________.
higher due to the high rate of evaporation
Electrons determine
how atom bonds and net electrical charge
Pynocline
in oceanography, boundary separating two liquid layers of different densities. In oceans a large density difference between surface waters (or upper 100 metres [330 feet]) and deep ocean water effectively prevents vertical currents; the one exception is in polar regions where pycnocline is absent. Formation of pycnocline may result from changes in salinity or temperature. Because the pycnocline zone is extremely stable, it acts as a barrier for surface processes. Thus, changes in salinity or temperature are very small below pycnocline but are seasonal in surface waters.
Density _____ with decreasing temperature.
increases
Water is called the universal solvent because it easily breaks up the bonds between other polar compounds. Those are molecules held together with opposite charges i.e ____ bonds.
ionic
One calorie is:
is amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1o C
Temperature is a measurement of:
is measurement of average kinetic energy
Thermocline -
is the transition layer between the mixed layer at the surface and the deep water layer. The definitions of these layers are based on temperature. The mixed layer is near the surface where the temperature is roughly that of surface water. In the thermocline, the temperature decreases rapidly from the mixed layer temperature to the much colder deep water temperature. The mixed layer and the deep water layer are relatively uniform in temperature, while the thermocline represents the transition zone between the two. A deeper thermocline (often observed during El Niño years) limits the amount of nutrients brought to shallower depths by upwelling processes, greatly impacting the year's fish crop.
Water can take in/lose a large amount of heat without changing temperature.
large
Salinity in the ocean surface water varies primarily with _____.
latitude
In the southern hemisphere pressure vectors deflect to the ____of their direction of travel.
left
The density of ice is ___ than the density of water.
less
Ocean acidification could be bad for marine ___.
life
Ions with ____ residence time are in high concentration in seawater
long
Ions with short residence time are in ____concentration in seawater
low
Rocks have a ____ heat capacity. They quickly gain or lose temperature when subjected to heat.
low
The equator is a ____ pressure zone.
low
In the equatorial region the salinity is ____ due to ________.
lower due to lots of rain
In the polar regions the surface salinity is _____ due to ______________.
lower due to rain, snow, and glacier run off
Salinity affects the ____part of density.
mass
What is upwelling?
movement of cold deep nutrient rich water to the surface—surface is nutrient starved, so upwelling triggers productivity
Heat is the energy of ____ ____.
moving particles
Water density controls the: _______ cycling
nutrient cycling and therefore productivity (what lives where, how much of it lives there)
The oxygen atom of H2O has a ____ charge and the two hydrogen atoms have a ____ charge
positive negative
Wind and water ______ heat around the planet.
redistribute
Albedo
reflectivity due to snow and ice
In the northern hemisphere pressure vectors deflect to the ____of their direction of travel.
right
Ions are added to the ocean by:
river discharge volcanic eruptions hydrothermal activity at the mid ocean ridge
All three ______ of water are found on earth's surface.
state or phase
Any element can theoretically be found in any of the three _____
states or phases
The evaporation latitudes are the _____ latitudes.
subtropical
High Pressure zones:
subtropical highs at 30 degrees polar highs at 90 degrees clear skies, evaporative latitudes
What causes upwelling and downwelling?
surface currents
The density of seawater is controlled by:
temperature, salinity, and pressure temperature is the most important and variable factor
Temperature affects the _____ part of density in seawater.
volume
Variations in Ocean salinity (on our time scale) are due to changes in amount of _____.
water
Cold surface seawater sinks at polar regions and moves towards ___ _______.
the equator
Earth's Surface has a moderate temperature since:
the equatorial oceans don't boil the polar oceans don't freeze solid
The seasons are caused by earth's _____.
tilted axis of rotation
Water has an ____density profile
unusual
As temperature of water goes down the latent heat of evaporation goes ____.
up
Ekmans transport moves seawater. When the net transport is away from land _____ is the result.
upwelling
Seasonal changes are amplified by -
varying levels of solar radiation reaching Earth.
Water density affects:
vertical and horizontal water movements (aka currents) and therefore ocean circulation (and therefore regional climates and weather patterns)!
What is downwelling?
vertical movement of surface water, down to deeper parts of ocean—not associated with productivity, but recharges deep ocean with oxygen.
Halocline -
vertical zone in the oceanic water column in which salinity changes rapidly with depth, located below the well-mixed, uniformly saline surface water layer. Especially well developed haloclines occur in the Atlantic Ocean, in which salinities may decrease by several parts per thousand from the base of the surface layer to depths of about one kilometre (3,300 feet). In higher latitudinal areas of the North Pacific in which solar heating of the surface waters is low and rainfall is abundant, salinities increase markedly with depth through the halocline layer.