OCEA 10

Why are there high-pressure caps at each pole and a low-pressure belt in the equatorial region?

. The greater heating of the atmosphere over the equator causes the air to expand to decrease in density and to rise. When the air rises it cools by expansion because the pressure is lower and the water vapor it contains condenses and falls as rain in the equatorial zone. Cool dense air moves toward the surface and creates high pressure. The descending air at about 30 degrees north and south latitude creates high pressure zones called the subtropical highs. Descending air at the poles creates high pressure regions called the polar highs. Warm low density air rises away from the surface and creates low pressure creating a band of low pressure at the equator.

A boundary or belt characterized by light, variable winds, dry, clear, fair weather with little precipitation occurs in which of the following regions?

30 degrees

The trade winds occur in which of the following regions?

5 to 30 degrees

Along the Arctic Circle, how would the Sun appear during the summer solstice? During the winter solstice?

Along the arctic circle the sun would not set during the summer solstice. During the winter solstice the sun never sets.

Why is there low surface salinity in the high latitudes, and why is there higher surface salinity in the low latitudes?

At high latitudes runoffs and precipitation reduce salinity therefore the low latitudes have a higher surface salinity. In the low latitudes the dry, warm air descends near the tropics where high temperatures cause evaporation are high enough to increase salinity.

Describe the difference between cyclonic and anticyclonic flow, and show how the Coriolis effect is important in producing both a clockwise and a counterclockwise flow pattern.

Cyclonic flow in the northern hemisphere the air moves from high to low pressure curves to the right and results in a counterclockwise flow of air around low pressure cells. When air leaves the high pressure region and curves to the right it establishes a clockwise flow of air around high pressure cells known as anticyclonic flow. An example mentioned in the text is a screwdriver where high pressures are similar to high protruding screws that needs to be tightened (clockwise) whereas low pressure would be the screwdriver needs to be loosened so the screwdriver would be turning counterclockwise.

Which of the following is a biogenous sediment?

Diatom ooze

Describe the ways in which dissolved components are added and removed from seawater.

Dissolved components are added to seawater by stream runoffs. Dissolved components are removed from seawater when waves break, sea spray releases salt particles which are blown into the atmosphere or over land. Chemical reactions at the mid ocean ridge near hydrothermal vents add and remove dissolved components. Calcium, carbonate, sulfate, sodium, and silicon are deposited in ocean sediments within the shells of dead microscopic organisms and animal feces and absorption.

Is Earth's atmosphere heated from above or below? Explain.

Earths atmosphere is heated from below. This is due to the suns energy passing through Earth which warms Earths surface radiating energy back into the atmosphere as heat known as the greenhouse effect.

What causes Earth's seasons?

Earths seasons are caused by the tilt of earths axis. Different hemispheres on Earth are tilted more directly toward or away from the sun during Earths yearly orbit.

Of all the following processes which one increases the salinity of water?

Evaporation

A tropical cyclone with wind speed greather than 250 km/hr. would be classified as Category________ on the Saffir- Simpson Scale of hurricane intensity.

Five

Which of the following contains calcium carbonate (CaCO3)?

Foraminiferans

The prevailing westerly winds blow in which of the following directions in the Northern Hemisphere?

From southwest to northeast

Using everyday language, explain why ice is less dense than liquid water. From a chemical standpoint, why is this so unusual?

Ice is less dense than liquid water because its open lattice structure of water molecules compared to liquid water. It is so unusual because as temperature decreases, density increases up to the point of 32F below the density starts to decrease.

High- energy environments are most likely to deposit which one of the following?

Large particles such as gravel

Why is the latent heat of vaporization so much greater than the latent heat of melting?

Latent heat of vaporization is so much greater than the latent heat of melting because in latent heat of melting most of the bonds are broken whereas in latent heat of vaporization just enough hydrogen bonds must be broken to allow water molecules to slide each other.

Why is lithogenous sediment the most common neritic deposit? Why are biogenous oozes the most common pelagic deposits?

Lithogenous sediment is the most common neritic deposit because they are derived from landmass (closer to shore) where rocks are found and lithogenous sediment is created. Biogenous oozes the most common pelagic deposits because they are are they form and start in the sea. They each use what is available to each which is why each is most common at different locations.

Describe the origin, composition, texture, and distribution of lithogenous sediment.

Lithogenous sediment originates on continents or islands from erosion, volcanic eruptions, or blown dust. The composition of lithogenous sediments are minerals in this case quartz. The texture of lithogenous sediment can be classified based on grain size such as boulder, cobbles, pebbles, granules, sand, silt, or clay. In addition, the texture of lithogenous sediment depends on the sorting of grain size. Lithogenous sediment can be categorized as neritic or pelagic. Neritic is found in shallow water near islands and are coarse grained meanwhile pelagic are found in deep ocean basin and usually fine grained.

Describe manganese nodules, including what is currently known about how they form.

Manganese nodules are rounded hard lumps of manganese, iron, and other metals that are two inches in diameter which can grow up to eight inches. The object inside may reveal a lithogenous sediment such as a shark tooth, fish bone, volcanic rock etc. On abyssal plains they may be found across the ocean floor like baseballs. Their major components are manganese hydroxide and iron hydroxide. They were first discovered in 1872 during the voyage of HMS Challenger. As for their growth rate researchers have found that they grow at about 5 millimeters per million years and do not form continuously over time but in spurts based on ocean conditions such as low sedimentation rate of lithogenous clay and strong deep water currents.

Describe the origin, composition, and distribution of hydrogenous sediment

Origin of hydrogenous sediment is from chemical reaction in water that go from dissolved to a solid state. Composition of hydrogenous sediment is manganese hydroxide, phosphates, and carbonates. Their distribution is found in the Mediterranean Sea.

What types of past environmental conditions can be inferred by studying the cores of sediment?

Past environmental conditions that can be inferred by studying the cores of sediment are surface temperature, nutrient supply, abundance of marine life, atmospheric winds, ocean current patterns, volcanic eruptions, major extinction events, changes in Earth's climate, and the movement of tectonic plates.

Polar high pressure occurs in which of the following regions?

Poles (90 degrees)

Which of the following contains silica (SiO2)?

Radiolarians

How do sea breezes and land breezes form? During a hot summer day, which one would be most common and why?

Rising air creates a low pressure regions over the land, pulling the cooler air over the ocean toward land, creating what is known as a sea breeze. Cool high density air sinks creates a high pressure region that causes the wind to blow from land known as land breeze. During a hot summer day, sea breeze would be most common due to the high temperature.

Describe differences between sea ice, icebergs, and shelf ice, including how each is formed.

Sea ice form directly from seawater, and begin as small, needle like hexagonal crystal which eventually become so numerous that a slush develops. An iceberg is a body of floating ice that has broken away from a glacier which form on by vast ice sheets on land which grow from accumulated snow and slowly flow outward toward sea. Shelf ice are broken edges of glaciers which produce vast plate like icebergs.

If there is a net annual heat loss at high latitudes and a net annual heat gain at low latitudes, why does the temperature difference between these regions not increase?

Solar footprint, atmospheric absorption, albedo, reflection of incoming sunlight are factors that influence the temperature difference between the regions.

How does the specific heat capacity of water compare with that of other substances? Describe the effect this has on climate.

Specific heat is the heat capacity per unit mass of body and compared to other substances has water has a high specific heat capacity which is 1 calories per gram. It takes more energy an increase in kinetic energy. Water gains or loses much more heat than any other common substances while undergoing an equal temperature change which means it resists changes in temperature.

What are the conditions needed for the formation of a tropical cyclone? Why do most middle latitude areas only rarely experience a hurricane? Why are there no hurricanes at the equator?

The conditions needed for the formation of a tropical cyclone is ocean water with a temperature greater than 25 C, warm, moist air, which supplies vast amounts of latent heat as the water vapor in the air condenses and fuels the storm, and the Coriolis effects which causes the hurricane to spin counterclockwise in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The air flowing toward the low-pressure center of a hurricane veers to its right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, producing counterclockwise and clockwise rotation, respectively. There are no hurricanes at the equator because the Coriolis effect is non existent.

What is the difference between neritic and pelagic deposits? Give examples of lithogenous sediment found in each.

The difference between neritic and pelagic deposits is the location for example, neritic deposits are found on the continental shelves and in shallow water near islands where deposits are coarse grained. Examples of Neritic deposits are beach deposits, continental shelf deposits, turbidite deposits and glacial deposits. Pelagic deposits are found in deep ocean basins and typically fine grained.

Describe how excess heat energy absorbed by Earth's low-latitude regions is transferred to heat-deficient higher latitudes through a process that uses water's latent heat of evaporation.

The energy that the sun provides is absorbed in the oceans and evaporation removes this heat from the ocean and carries it to the atmosphere and released as precipitation (rain and snow).

What condition of salinity makes it possible to determine the total salinity of ocean water by measuring the concentration of only one constituent, the chloride ion?

The major constituents responsible for salinity of seawater occur in similar proportions. Seawater has constancy of composition which means that the single major constituent can be measured to determine the total salinity of a given water sample.

Describe the origin, composition, and distribution of biogenous sediment.

The origins of biogenous sediment is derived from the remains of hard parts of once living organisms. They begin as hard parts such as shells, bones, and teeth, of living organisms from algae to whales. The composition is calcium carbonate and which form the mineral calcite and silica. The distribution of biogenous sediment as stated in the book depends on the productivity, destruction, and dilution. Productivity by definition is the number of organisms present in the surface water above the ocean floor, destruction occurs when skeletal remains dissolve in seawater at depth, and dilution occurs when the deposition of other sediments decreases the percentage of the biogenous sediment found in marine deposits.

Explain the stages of progression that result in calcareous ooze existing below the CCD.

The stages of the calcareous ooze existing below the CCD ( calcite compensation depth) as described in the text 1: calcareous ooze is deposited on the mid ocean ridge above the CCD 2: calcareous is covered and protected and finally 3: due to sea floor spreading moves calcareous ooze beneath the CCD into deep water. Thus, the calcareous sediment will eventually dissolve below the CCD unless it is covered by siliceous ooze or abyssal clay which is not affected by the CCD.

List the two major chemical compounds of which most biogenous sediment is composed and examples of the organisms that produce them.

The two major chemical compounds of which most biogenous sediment is composed is calcium carbonate and silica. The organisms that produce them are microscopic algae called diatoms and protozoans called radiolarians.

What is the underlying cause of the Coriolis effect?

The underlying cause of the Coriolis effect is the result of Earths rotation at different latitudes.

What are the three factors that affect seawater density? Describe how each factor influences seawater density, including which one is the most important.

Three factors that affect seawater density are temperature, salinity, and pressure. Temperature influences seawater density because as temperature increases seawater density decreases, as salinity increases, seawater density increases and as pressure increases seawater . As stated in the text, only temperature and salinity have an influence density of surface water, pressure has an influence only when high pressures occur.

Describe what condition exists in water molecules to make them dipolar.

Water molecules have a slight negative charge at the end on the oxygen atom and a slightly positive charge to the other side containing the hydrogen atoms. Because of the separation of charges the molecule has an electrical polarity.

Discuss how the dipolar nature of the water molecule makes it such an effective solvent of ionic compounds.

Water molecules stick to other water molecules and polar chemical compounds which reduce the attraction between ions of opposite charges as much as 80 times. Due to this water molecules are able to dissolve more substances in greater quantity than other known substance.

Sediments that are poorly sorted were most likely deposited by ________.

a glacier

The most likely place to find abundant manganese nodules is on the ________.

abyssal plain far from a continent

Latent heat is the quantity of heat gained or lost as a substance undergoes a ________.

change in state

The air in the center of the eye of the hurricane is ________ air moving ________.

cool dry; downward

In the troposphere, air temperatures ________.

decrease with increasing altitude

The density curve for high latitudes shows ________ density at the surface and ________ density at depth.

decreased, increased

As the salinity of seawater increases, its ________.

density increases

If siliceous ooze is slowly but constantly dissolving in seawater, how can deposits of siliceous ooze accumulate on the ocean floor?

deposits of siliceous ooze accumulate on the ocean floor even though it is slowly but constantly dissolving in seawater is because there are areas of high productivity and abundant silica tests sink and overwhelm the ability of the ocean to dissolve them they start to accumulate and for a thick deposit of siliceous ooze.

The dissolution of the thick tests of foraminifers below the CCD is an example of the ________ of biogenous sediment.

destruction

A very important way to increase the settling rate of fine particles in the open ocean is via ________.

fecal pellets

Water can pile up a short distance above a container's rim due to ________.

high surface tension

In comparison to most other liquids, the heat capacity of liquid water is ________.

higher than other liquids

Manganese nodules are an example of ________.

hydrogenous sediments

In coastal regions, sea breezes happen ________ and land breezes happen ________.

in the afternoon; at night

The salinity curve for low latitudes shows ________ salinity at the surface and ________ salinity at depth.

increased, decreased

Which of the following statements regarding pH is true?

pH relates to relative acid-base ion balance in a solution.

Phosphate - rich nodules form in ________.

regions of upwelling

The states of matter in which water exists is primarily determined by ________.

temperature

Hydrogen bonds form between neighboring water molecules because of ________.

the polarity of water molecules

Low latitude wind belt(s) with strong, reliable, generally easterly winds is (are) the ________.

trade winds

The oceanic climate region(s) where the majority of strong tropical cyclonic storms are produced is ________.

tropical