Oceanography Midterm
The density of seawater will increase:
when the salinity increases
The wavelength(s) of light that penetrate deepest into the ocean are:
green and blue.
A zone in which the ocean's salinity changes rapidly with increasing depth is called:
halo cline
The type of bond that enables water molecules to stick together is a:
hydrogen bond
The most abundant gaseous components of the Earth's atmosphere are
nitrogen and oxygen
In which reservoir is most water stored on our planet
oceans
Hydrogen molecules in a water molecule tend to bond to:
oxygen atoms of another water molecule
The two most abundant elements (ions) dissolved in seawater are:
sodium and chloride
Antarctic Bottom Water
-north -brine formation -denser, floats below the north atlantic deep water
Halocline
Salinity, gets saltier as you go deeper into the ocean
Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding sound in the ocean?
Sound is scattered as it bounces off suspended particles in the water
Thermocline
Temperature and depth
Oxygen enters seawater
as a byproduct of photosysnthesis and diffusion from the surface
Ocean is ____ but becoming more _____
basic, acidic
Red light is able to penetrate the water deepest
false
El Nino
flows eastward instead of westward -warmer, upwelling doesnt occur
As carbon dioxide enters the ocean it:
forms carbonic acid
Micro Plastics
garbage patch in center of pacific -all the trash is getting swept up by currents, collected on boundary currents
A permanent and deep thermocline can be found:
in the tropics
Water is _____ when it freezes
less dense
Western Boundary Current
narrow, deep, fast currents that occasionally form eddies -gulf stream
The ocean's deep sound channel (sofar layer) is characterized as a zone by all of the following EXCEPT:
sound velocity is at a maximum
Scientists believe the global change in greenhouse gases is making the surface ocean fresher in high latitudes
true
The vast majority of the ocean water lies below the pycnocline
true
La Nina
colder water
Warm air ____ and cool air _____.
expands and rises; contracts and sinks
Frozen water is more dense than liquid water
false
The term "salinity" refers to:
the total amount of dissolved solids in the ocean
North Atlantic Deep Water
thermophilic circulation (affected by temperature and salinity levels) -moves slowly -south
Eastern Boundary Current
transports cold water equator ward -california current -canary current
Largest uninterrupted current in the world?
Antarctic Circumpolar Current