Earth science exam 2
What did the crew of the hams challenger expedition discover about the depth of the western Pacific Ocean 200 miles off the island of Guam in 1874?
Discovered a trench almost 5 miles deep
How deep is the lowest point in the Mariana Trench?
7 miles
Approximately what percent of Earth's area is represented by oceans and marginal seas?
70
What percentage of the earth is is covered in water?
71%
What happens to the heat in the ocean during the process of horizontal and vertical water circulation? In other words where does it go?
Originate at or near the equator then moves toward the pole
Why are currents so important to coastlines?
They deliver nutrients
What makes rogue waves so extraordinary?
They happen in seconds
What process is most responsible for the elements such as chlorine and bromine being more abundant in the ocean than in Earth's crust?
Volcanic outgassing
Based on the Draupner wave pattern data what is the definition of a rogue wave?
Wave that are twice the size of any other wave in the area.
Which of the following statements best describes how waves behave moving from deep water into shallower waters along a coast?
Waves feel bottom," and wavelengths decrease.
Where are the strongest surface currents located?
Western boundaries of ocean basin
What percentage of the earths water is contained in the ocean?
97%
What is the continental shelf?
A gently sloping geological extension of a continent covered by sediment
What are submarine canyons?
A narrow V- shaped valleys carved
What is sonar?
A type of echo sounding that uses reflected sound signals to measure ocean depths
Which of the following traits make for the densest ocean water?
following cold temperature and high salinity
What hard stabilization structures built paralel to the shore are intended to protect the shore from the energy of breaking waves?
seawalls
You observe deep-water waves with a wavelength of 6 meters. At what depth will the ocean waves start to "Yeel bottom"?
3
Earth has how many oceans?
5
Oceanography is
An interdisciplinary science
In which ocean is the densest water formed?
Antarctic
What is the name of previously submerged, gently sloping portions of the continent that would be exposed if the sea level were to drop?
Continental shelves
Other than wind, what is the most significant factor that influences the movement of ocean water?
Coriolis effect
What is the problem with the rocks, that the surf song condominiums are built on, at Solana Beach near San Diego?
Crumbles like sand
If sea level continues to rise, what coastal features will prevail along the Atlantic coast of North America?
Estuaries
Ocean currents are organized into large circular patterns called?
Gyres
What type of ocean sediment are manganese nodules?
Hydrgenous
The Pacific Ocean—and the Indian Ocean — and the Atlantic Ocean —
Is the largest and deepest ocean/ is almost entirely in the Southern Hemisphere/contains the Puerto Rico trench
Earth's oceans are
Largely unexplored, influence weather and climate, support a great diversity of ecosystems and life
What percentage of the worlds oceans has been explored?
Less than 5%
How do sea walls affect the coast (I.e beaches) of California?
Making beach more narrow
What is the deepest part of the ocean?
Mariana trench 36,161 feet
Which German ship identified the mid Atlantic ridge in 1972?
Meteor
In the1950s, what produced the first reliable sea floor maps?
Precision depth recorder.
Which one of the following water bodies has the highest salinity?
Red Sea
What radical new approach is the city of Pacifica trying to do to solve the problem of erosion at Linda Mar State beach?
Retreat and restore beach
Seismic reflection...
Reveals layers of sea floor rock and sediment
What is solana beach doing to restore their beaches?
Sand/ beach replenishment (beach nourishment)
Why is the challenger deep the deepest part of the Mariana Trench?
Shape of plate diving down at steep angle
What size particle of Terrigenius sediment is most likely found accumulating on abyssal plains?
Silt or clay
What makes ocean exploration so difficult?
Size, depth, Cold, dark, and intense water pressure.
What three things make the Agulhas current off the coast of South Africa a notorious breeding ground for rogue waves?
Strong current Opposing wave currents Sea floor obstacles
Why is the pacific plate the fastest moving of the 9 major plates on planet earth?
Surrounded by dozens of destructive trenches
Why is the sediment covering the abyssal plains much thicker in the Atlantic Ocean than the Pacific?
The Atlantic Ocean has fewer trenches, which act as sediment traps.
You live along a coastal property with a sandy beach. You decide to install a groin on your beach property. What will happen to your neighbor's beach downstream from the groin?
The beach sand will erode.
What is the single biggest factor that affects the beaches of California?
The dams
Why does the damming of rivers contribute to the problem of shrinking beaches along the West Coast of the United States?
The dams act as sediment traps for the river sediment.
What is bathymetry?
The science of measuring ocean depths and mapping sea floor features using soundings
Why is the daily tidal range higher with spring tides?
The tidal bulges produced by the Moon and the Sun are aligned
What is continental slope?
The true edge of a continent and the boundary between continental crust and oceanic crust.
The most important physical force acting on surface ocean currents is
The wind
Why are rogue waves so "freaky"?
There's no rules for it
Where in the ocean are the most level places on Earth?
abyssal plains
Which type of ocean currents causes deserts such as the Atacama in Peru?
cold
What is the term for the measurement of ocean depths and the charting of the shape of the ocean floor?
bathymetry
What is the name of the zigzag pattern of the movement of partices of sediment along a beach?
beach drift
Which of the following would most likely contain a record of past dlimates?
deep-sea sediment
What type of plate margin is associated with a mid-ocean ridge system?
divergent
What is the best explanation for the higher salinities found in the mid-latitudes?
higher evaporation rates
What tidal pattern is illustrated at Port Angeles, Washington, which has a daily pattern consisting of two high tides with unequal heights and two low tides of unequal heights?
mixed
Which tides occur when the Moon phase is either first quarter or third quarter?
neap
What is the driving force for surface ocean currents?
the wind
What plane represents a rapid temperaure change with depth, and in which lattudes is it most pronounced?
thermocline low latitudes
What is the relative temperature of an ocean current flowing toward the poles?
warm