OCE Exam 1
A very important way to increase the settling rate of fine particles in the open ocean is via:
fecal pellets.
The main energy resources associated with marine sediments are petroleum and ________.
gas hydrates
The study of the structure of the sea floor and how the sea floor has changed through time is an example of ________ oceanography.
geological
In general, polar neritic sediment tends to have more ________.
gravel than in tropical waters
A tablemount is another name for a(n) ________.
guyot
A cometary model of the formation of Earth's ocean must include the chemical difference between the ________ in comet ice and that in Earth's water.
hydrogen
A tentative, testable statement about the general nature of a phenomenon is called a(n) ________.
hypothesis
The direction of motion along a seafloor transform fault is:
in the same direction as the plates are spreading.
Based on the Theory of Plate Tectonics, you would expect to find ________ heat flow at the mid-ocean ridge and ________ heat flow at subduction zones when compared to other parts of the crust.
increased; decreased
Moving from an oceanic ridge to an oceanic trench, the thickness of the lithosphere:
increases in proportion to the distance.
According to the fossil record on Earth, the earliest-known life-forms were primitive ________.
bacteria
The mid-ocean ridge is entirely volcanic and is composed of ________ lavas characteristic of the oceanic crust.
basaltic
The measurement of ocean depth and the charting of sea-floor topography is called __________.
bathymetry
Graded bedding provides evidence that __________.
large, heavy particles settle out first as current velocity decreases
Climate distribution on Earth is primarily controlled by:
latitude
Sediments found on continental margins are called:
neritic
The type of marine sediment that forms the thickest deposits worldwide is:
neritic, lithogenous sediment deposits. Submit
New lithosphere is produced in association with:
oceanic ridges
Segments of the oceanic ridge system that are gentler and less rugged in slope due to faster rates of seafloor spreading are called:
oceanic rises
The most likely place for the basic building blocks for the development of life to interact and produce life is in Earth's ________.
oceans
Stanley Miller's famous experiment demonstrated that __________.
organic molecules could be produced from the mixture of gases comprising Earth's early atmosphere
Which layer of the Earth is composed of a liquid?
outer core
Plate tectonics and evolution, which are held with a high degree of confidence because of rigorous testing and verification, are examples of:
theories
Which of the following is characteristic of continental-continental convergent plate boundaries?
uplifted mountain ranges
Seamounts and abyssal hills are ________ in origin
volcanic
Nearly all oceanic islands are __________.
volcanic in origin
Current scientific knowledge indicates that the most likely origin of most of Earth's oceans was due to ________.
water vapor released from volcanic outgassing
To find the largest area of the ocean with the oldest ocean crust, you should go to the ________.
western Pacific
Warm water (From 30°C to 350°C) hydrothermal vents form:
white smokers
Tectonic plates move about as fast as ________.
your fingernails grow
The largest reef system in the world is the Great Barrier Reef. Where is it located?
Australia
Which type of marine sediments include siliceous and calcareous oozes?
Biogenous
Which type of sediment deposit has an average rate of deposition (per 1000 years) of 1 centimeter (0.4 inch)?
Biogenous ooze, pelagic deposit
Consider an interdisciplinary study that is aimed at understanding how ocean currents affect the distribution of coral larvae. What two disciplines of oceanography would the researchers be focused on?
Biological and physical oceanography
Who of the following is thought to be the first Viking to have seen what is now called Newfoundland?
Bjarni Herjolfsson Submit
What kind of hydrothermal vent has the highest temperature and mineral content?
Black smoker
Characteristics of passive continental margins include which of the following?
Broad continental shelves
When looking at the world ocean totals combined, which is the most dominant sediment worldwide?
Calcareous ooze
Trilobites were dominant during which geologic period?
Cambrian
What is the motion of a juvenile stage of the Wilson cycle?
Divergence
Which of the following was used during early exploration of the oceans to collect sediment samples?
Dredge
Which of the following features is related to transform faults along mid-ocean ridges?
Fracture zone
Which of the following is a hollow steel tube with a heavy weight on top that is to collect sediment samples?
Gravity corer
Where are the only two places in the world where continental ice sheets occur today?
Greenland and Antarctica
The first systematic bathymetric measurement of the oceans were made in 1872 about the ________.
HMS Challenger
What does JOIDES stand for?
Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling
Who left Spain in September 1519 and became the first person to complete a circumnavigation of the globe when he returned to Spain three years later?
Juan Sebastian del Caño
Volcanic ash is considered to be which type of marine sediment?
Lithogenous
Which of the following is Earth's rigid layer that includes the crust plus the topmost portion of the mantle?
Lithosphere
Which of the following represents Earth's plates that are involved in plate tectonic motion?
Lithosphere
Which type of sediment deposit has an average rate of deposition (per 1000 years) of 0.001 millimeter (0.00004 inch)?
Manganese nodule, pelagic deposit
Which of the following is the deepest trench?
Mariana
What does NOAA stand for?
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The Kuiper Belt is located beyond the orbit of which planet?
Neptune
Which part of the ocean is considered to be the most climatically sensitive regions on Earth?
North Atlantic
What are the major steps involved in the process of science?
Observation, hypothesis, testing, and theory
________ are events and phenomena that we can detect with our senses.
Observations
Most large earthquakes occur along which of the following?
Ocean trenches
What type of plate boundary will result in the formation of a volcanic island chain or arc near a deep-sea trench?
Oceanic-oceanic convergent boundaries
In which period did the first fishes appear?
Ordovician
Which of the following was not abundant in the early atmosphere?
Oxygen
The majority of ocean trenches are along the margins of which ocean?
Pacific
Which is the largest tectonic plate?
Pacific
Deep-ocean trenches and volcanic arcs result from the collision of two plates at convergent plate boundaries and mostly occur along the margins of which of the following oceans?
Pacific Ocean
Tamu Massif, the largest single volcano on Earth occurs in which of the following oceans?
Pacific Ocean
The largest of the ocean basins, which currently covers more than half of the ocean surface, is the:
Pacific Ocean
The San Andreas Fault in California cuts through which two plates?
Pacific Plate and North American Plate
Evidence suggests that the Sun and the rest of the solar system formed about five ________ years ago.
billion
Marine sediments that originate in the warm tropical surface ocean would create deposits in the deep sea composed primarily of ___________.
calcium carbonate
One of the reasons that free oxygen in our atmosphere is important to the development and maintenance of life on Earth is because oxygen:
can form ozone and block some UV radiation.
Which of the following was not used as evidence for continental drift?
Paleomagnetic reversals
What was the name for the supercontinent about 200 million years ago?
Pangaea
Which of the following resources found in ocean sediments has the greatest economic value?
Petroleum
The first recorded circumnavigation of Africa was made by the ________.
Phoenicians
Which of the following was true about the Protoearth?
Protoearth's deep structure was homogeneous.
The sea floor provides the largest reservoir of usable energy in the ocean, and likely the world, in the form of ______________.
clathrates
Of the metals commonly found in manganese nodules, ________ is the only metal deemed "strategic" for the United States.
cobalt
A major characteristic of a seamount is that it is ________.
cone shaped
The method of determining latitude in the Northern Hemisphere by measuring the angle between an observer's line of site to the North Star and line of site to the northern horizon was developed by:
Pytheas
Which of the following is the major environmental concern regarding the release of methane from the sea floor to the atmosphere?
Release of large quantities of methane from the ocean causes dramatic effects on global climate.
Identify the major feature of a slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge.
Rift valley
Which of the following is the most advanced technology used to collect sediment samples from the deep ocean?
Rotary corer
Which type of sampling did the JOIDES Resolution conduct?
Rotary drilling
Prior to 1768, which of the following claimed the most human lives at sea?
Scurvy
What is the difference between an ocean and a sea?
Seas are smaller and shallower bodies of salt water that are somewhat enclosed by land, but they are directly connected to the world ocean.
The largest unexplored potential for metallic minerals in offshore sand deposits may exist along the west coast of ________.
South America
What did Stanley Miller's experiment demonstrate?
Stanley Miller's experiment demonstrated that vast amounts of simple organic molecules could have been produced in Earth's early oceans (a "prebiotic soup").
Ocean sediments consist of particles that have slowly settled out of the water by which of the following the processes?
Suspension settling
Based on definition, it is more appropriate to consider which ocean as a sea?
The Arctic Ocean
Which ocean is actually a part of three other oceans?
The Southern Ocean
Collecting adequate samples from which of the following is the most difficult?
The deep-ocean floor
Which hypothesis best explains the continuous bend in the Hawaiian Islands-Emperor Seamount chain?
The direction of plate motion shifted over time over a stationary mantle plume (hotspot).
Most of the explorations by northern and western Europeans during the Middle (Dark) Ages were undertaken by:
Vikings of Scandinavia.
What is scurvy?
Vitamin C deficiency
In science, which one of the following would be considered an observation? Select only one answer.
Waves approach the beach at an angle. Submit
The separation of the Earth into layers while it was molten was the result of the:
differing densities of the elements that make up the Earth. Submit
Evidence shows that periodic reversals of Earth's magnetic field have resulted in __________.
a symmetrical pattern of normal and reverse magnetization in ocean crustal rocks along ridges and rises.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of a:
divergent plate boundary
The average slope of the continental shelf is approximately ________.
a tenth of a degree
Volcanic features on the ocean floor that are less than 1,000 meters (0.6 miles) tall are called:
abyssal hills or seaknolls.
An organism's response to environmental changes are called ________.
adaptations
Radioactive materials can sometimes be used to determine the:
ages of rocks. Submit
The nebular hypothesis suggests that ________.
all bodies in the solar system formed from an enormous gas cloud Submit
Which of the following is characteristic of oceanic-continental convergent plate boundaries?
andesitic volcanoes
Which layer of the Earth behaves in a plastic manner?
Asthenosphere
Of the following, which energy resource(s) can be extracted from marine sediments?
-Gas hydrates -Petroleum
Which of the following ideas support our current scientific understanding of the development of life on Earth?
-The "prebiotic soup" of the primitive oceans provided favorable conditions for life to develop. -Primitive life likely existed without the need for oxygen. -As life evolved it significantly changed Earth's environment. -Early organisms evolved into more complex organisms over geologic time.
Which of the following contributed to the salinity of the ocean?
-The creation of acid rain from volcanic outgassing. -Chlorine gas from the atmosphere was dissolved in the water. -Runoff caused dissolved elements to enter the ocean.
Abyssal plains are large, flat features that cover about ________ of the planet.
1/3
Oxygen comprises about ________ percent of the Earth's present atmosphere.
20
Based on chemical composition, Earth consists of ________ layers
3
The average depth of the world's oceans is approximately ________.
3,682 meters (12,080 feet)
Which of the following is the deepest part of the ocean?
Abyssal plain
Based on physical properties, Earth consists of ________ layers
5
The flipping of Earth's magnetic field takes an average of about ________ years.
5000
A ship's fathometer (an echo sounder) transmits a sound pulse and records the return of an echo 7.4 seconds later. If the speed of sound in water is 1500 m/second, what is the water depth in meters?
5550 meters
The distance of 1 fathom was standardized to equal exactly ________ feet.
6
The oceans cover approximately ________ percent of the Earth's surface.`
70
What percent of volcanic activity takes place on the sea floor?
85
How many volcanic peaks are known to exist on the Pacific sea floor?
> 20,000
Which of the following is the most dominant sediment in the deepest ocean basin - the North Pacific?
Abyssal clay
Which of the following statements about the Pacific Ocean is TRUE?
All of the continents could fit into the space occupied by the Pacific Ocean.
The great oxidation event resulted in the massive die-off of which of the following?
Anaerobic bacteria Submit
What part of the continent(s) create the best fit when trying to piece them back together like a puzzle into the supercontinent Pangaea?
Continental margin
Passive margins are usually produced over geologic time by which of the following?
Continental rifting and continued sea floor spreading
Where does the deep-ocean basin begin along a passive continental margin?
Continental slope
Which of the following is the main reason that Earth has a magnetic field?
Convection in the liquid iron-nickel outer core generates a magnetic field.
What is the motion of a declining stage of the Wilson cycle?
Convergence (subduction)
The Himalayan Mountains and Alps are geographic examples of which type of plate boundary?
Convergent
Which type of marine sediments include space dust and meteors?
Cosmogenous
Plate convergence begins during which stage of the Wilson Cycle?
Declining
Active continental margins are characterized by which of the following?
Deep-sea trenches
Shortly after the devastating 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake, the Chikyu drillship began an expedition to study which of the following?
Earthquake-generated heat from friction
Which of the following is an example of the embryonic stage of the Wilson Cycle?
East Africa
Who is credited with being the first person to accurately determine Earth's circumference?
Eratosthenes
Which of the following is an example of a nematath?
Hawaiian Islands-Emperor Seamount Chain
Which gas is being emitted from hydrothermal vents?
Hydrogen sulfide Submit
Which one of the following is not considered a true type of oceanic island?
Islands that are parts of continents (such as British Isles)
The explorer who advanced oceanography by introducing systematic soundings, or depth measurements, was __________.
James Cook
How did the view of the ocean by early Mediterranean cultures influence the naming of planet Earth?
Mediterranean cultures believed Earth was composed of large land masses surrounded by marginal bodies of water.
Which of the following fossils was used as data to help reconstruct Pangea because it was a reptile found in South America and Africa?
Mesosauras
The ancient remains of which of the following, buried before they could decompose, are the source of today's petroleum deposits?
Microscopic organisms
In the ocean, where are the youngest rocks found?
Mid-ocean ridges Submit
What piece of evidence supports Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift?
Modern-day species that evolved in isolation share a common ancestor. Submit
Which institution is not associated with JOIDES?
National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration
How do the physical properties of the asthenosphere differ from the lithosphere?
The athenosphere is plastic or malleable and capable of slow flow. The lithosphere is a brittle and rigid solid region comprised mosly of basalt and granite.
How are the materials that make up Earth's interior stratified in relation to their densities?
The highest-density materials are concentrated at Earth's core, whereas lower-density materials are located closer to Earth's surface.
Which of the following statements is true of the lithosphere?
The lithosphere is composed of the crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle.
What was the one line of evidence that Alfred Wegner could not explain with continental drift?
The mechanism for the movement of the plates
Alfred Wegener's continental drift hypothesis received much hostile criticism and ridicule from the scientific community because of which of the following?
The mechanism he proposed for the movement of the continents.
Which of the following is the most convincing piece of evidence set forth to support the concept of sea floor spreading?
The oceanic pattern of alternating reversals of Earth's magnetic field
Which statement best describes the origin of Earth's oceans?
The water that fills our oceans was mostly derived from outgassing, with a minor component coming from ice comets.
What do all plate boundaries have in common? Select only one answer.
They are all associated with zones of earthquakes.
Which of the following would best describe the principal goal of science? Select only one answer.
To explain the causes and effects of observable natural phenomena
According to the geological time scale, which selection lists the correct order of coexistence, from earliest to latest?
Trilobites and amphibians, insects and dinosaurs, dinosaurs and birds, flowering plants and fishes, humans and reptiles
The Red Sea is an example of ________ plate boundary.
a continental-continental divergent
Directly seaward of the continental shelf is a more steeply sloping region called the:
continental slope
The Pacific Ocean is an example of the ________ stage of the Wilson Cycle.
declining
Tectonic plates are pieces of the ________ that float on the more fluid ________ below.
lithosphere; asthenosphere
The mechanism by which populations evolve and new species develop is called:
natural selection.
The study of how the ocean, atmosphere, and land have interacted in the past to produce changes in ocean chemistry, circulation, biology, and climate is called ________.
paleoceanography
The study of historical changes of continental shapes and positions is called:
paleogeography.
The oldest fossilized remains of organisms are primitive ________ bacteria recovered from rocks formed on the sea floor about 3.5 billion years ago.
photosynthetic
The study of the transmission of light and sound in the oceans is an example of ________ oceanography.
physical
Fossils of ancient tropical plants are currently found near the poles because the:
plants lived in the tropics, but landmasses have drifted to current locations. Submit
Most large ocean floor features owe their origins to _________.
plate tectonic processes Submit
The instrument that emits a high-frequency sound beam to measure the depth of the ocean developed in the 1950s is the ________.
precision-depth recorder (PDR)
Sediment samples from deep beneath the ocean floor are recovered by __________.
rotary drilling
The speed of sound in seawater varies with ________.
salinity, temperature, pressure
Neritic sediments are most likely to be composed of __________.
sand, silt, and gravel
Measurement of ocean floor bathymetry from satellites relies on ___________. Select only one answer.
sea surface elevation, which varies depending on the shape of the underlying sea floor
By analyzing cores of sediment collected from the sea floor, scientists can infer past environmental conditions on all of the following except ________.
sealife populations
In comparison with other ocean basins, major sedimentary features such as continental rises and abyssal plains are relatively rare in the Pacific. The primary reason for their scarcity in the Pacific is that __________.
sediment is trapped within the trenches of the convergent plate boundaries ringing the Pacific
Spreading centers have ________ earthquakes, while trenches have ________ earthquakes.
shallow; deep
Our world ocean can be divided into four principal oceans plus an additional ocean, based on the ________ of the ocean basins and the ________ of the continents.
shape; position
Based on the map of what the world may look like in 50 million years from now, the Pacific Ocean will become ________ while the Atlantic Ocean will become ________.
smaller; larger
The method that is used most frequently to investigate sediment and rock layers of the sea floor is:
sound waves (specifically seismic reflecting profiling).
The term referring to the size and shape of sediment particles is ________.
texture
Compared to the rest of the planet, an unusually high concentration of hotspots and rifting is located on the continent of Africa. A likely explanation for this is that __________.
the African Plate is essentially stationary with respect to Earth's interior and the thick continental crust acts as a "heat blanket"
Frederick Vine and Drummond Matthews determined that new ocean floor was being produced at ocean ridges by examining:
the magnetic pattern of rocks on the seafloor.
Relatively few abyssal plains are located in the Pacific Ocean due to:
the presence of convergent active margins.