OCE1001
How long does it take for many plastics to decompose?
400 years
Which of these is commonly an effect of El Niño?
An often catastrophic decrease in the commercial fisheries in Peru
Nutrients and carbon dioxide are limiting factors for the success of phytoplankton.
F
Once living organisms reach a balance with their environment, they do not undergo any more natural selection.
F
Photosynthetic and chemosynthetic organisms can be called either primary producers or heterotrophs because they make their own food.
F
Plastic eventually biodegrades.
F
Primary production is greatest right at the ocean surface.
F
Refined oil is usually less toxic than crude oil and typically has a shorter cleanup process.
F
Salt marshes exhibit greater species diversity than estuarine marshes.
F
Seawalls protect property and decrease beach erosion.
F
Spills of refined oil are generally larger in volume than those of crude oil.
F
The beach scarp is at the low tide mark and signifies the beginning of the offshore zone.
F
The first fish evolved about 50 million years ago.
F
The movement of passengers by sea produces much more revenue than the transport of cargo by sea.
F
The photic zone in coastal ocean water is deeper than the photic zone in open ocean water.
F
The single largest aragonite sand mining operation is in Alaska
F
The teeth in odontocetes are made of baleen.
F
Zooplankton are autotrophic plankton and one of the main groups of primary producers.
F
Fringing reefs are separated from land by a lagoon.
F
The compensation depth marks the depth of greatest productivity.
F
The conditions of the deep ocean, such as eternal darkness, cold temperatures, hypersalinity, and high pressure, limits the extent of deep-ocean floor communities.
F
The Hawai'ian Islands formed as they pass over a hot spot in the middle of the ____.
Pacific Plate
More than half of the animal species, marine and terrestrial, are not considered to be free-living.
T
Most marine oil deposits are extracted from offshore platforms resting in water less than 100 meters deep.
T
Most phytoplankton stay near the surface to absorb red light.
T
Of the thousands of species of marine fish, crustaceans, and molluscs, fewer than 500 species are regularly caught and processed.
T
One of the main factors in the acceleration of the exploitation of Earth's resources is the increase in economic activity per person.
T
Photosynthetic autotrophs changed the composition of the atmosphere during the oxygen revolution.
T
Picoplankton number 100 million individuals in a liter of seawater, at all depths in the ocean.
T
Schooling behavior makes normally small fish appear like a large organism from a distance.
T
Seaweed-derived materials are found in a large variety of commercial materials including adhesives, salad dressing, and ice cream.
T
Seaweeds are not plants.
T
Sharks and rays tend to be larger than bony fish.
T
Some mollusks are segmented, indicating a common ancestor with annelids.
T
Some pollutants are able to persist in the environment for thousands of years.
T
Taxonomy is the study of biological classification.
T
The U.S. Gulf Coast is one of the most polluted bodies of water on Earth.
T
The accumulation and distribution of a layer of sediment protects depositional beaches from rapid erosion.
T
The carrying capacity is the number of individuals an environment can support.
T
The evolution of the notochord in chordates permitted a more complex embryonic development.
T
The increase in the number jellyfish in the world ocean has been attributed to overfishing.
T
The methods used to contain and clean up an oil spill sometimes cause more damage than the oil itself.
T
The trace metal iron is required for photosynthesis, in certain nitrogen fixation enzymes, and in the structure of proteins.
T
The vertebrate skull made the evolution of intelligence possible.
T
Toxins on microfine pieces of plastic debris have been suggested as a possible reason for the decline in phytoplankton over the past 25 years.
T
What distinguishes life from non-life is the ability of living things to capture, store, and transmit energy, as well as reproduce.
T
Winds and currents can create variations in local sea level changes.
T
Black sand beaches are particularly difficult intertidal regions to survive because of their high temperatures.
T
Despite their instability, over 70 barrier islands off the United States have been commercially developed.
T
Hydrothermal vents are called "black smokers" because of the black water emitting from the vents due to the precipitation of inorganic sulfides.
T
Measuring biomass is not an efficient way to calculate primary productivity because productivity may be low in densely populated areas and high in sparsely populated areas.
T
Nearshore productivity is almost always more productive than open ocean productivity.
T
Salt wedge estuaries form their circulation pattern due to the rapid river outflow mixing with ocean water.
T
The most successful organisms in a community have the most surviving offspring.
T
Where is the widest continental shelf located?
The Arctic Sea north of Siberia
The term "salinity" refers to the total quantity of ____.
dissolved inorganic solids in water
The property of water that accounts for the ability of liquid water to absorb large amounts of heat and change relatively little in temperature is called ____.
high heat capacity
Deposits found near hydrothermal vents
metal sulfides
Which phylum contains the most widely distributed and successful parasitic marine animal?
nematoda
What is the primary need for living matter to function?
nergy
What is the clumping of smaller particles into large masses?
accretion
The turbulent layer of Earth's atmosphere in which nearly all weather occurs is called the ____.
troposphere
The main force driving thermohaline circulation is ____.
density
Approximately what percentage of surface light penetration corresponds to the compensation depth?
1%
How deep is the photic layer in typical coastal waters?
100 meters
How far does the EEZ extend from a nation's shoreline?
200 nautical miles
How much of the United States coastline is considered to be depositional?
30%
How much has carbon dioxide in the atmosphere risen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution?
38%
How long do most forms of marine life require to recover from a crude oil spill?
5 years
How much biomass in tropical coral reefs is attributed to the coral alone?
50%
How much of the total catch is discarded as bycatch for every pound of shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico?
75%
What is the average pH of seawater?
8.0
What percentage of all living and fossil animals are invertebrates?
90%
What is a tombolo?
A bridge of sediment that connects a sea island to the mainland
What is an invertebrate chordate?
A chordate that has lost its notochord
What is a fjord?
A deep, narrow bay modified by glaciers
What is a population?
A group of organisms of the same species occupying a specific area
What is a coastal cell?
A section of coastline that has a balanced input and output of sand
What is a climax community?
A stable, long-established community
Which coastal state contributes the most to exploitable marine sand and gravel?
Alaska
What primary product is formed during nitrogen fixation?
Ammonium
What type of ocean does not support a deep scattering layer?
An arctic ocean
What type of beach is likely to exist on a coastline covered with sea caves?
An erosional beach
What is a heterotroph
An organism that consumes food from other organisms
What is a niche?
An organism's occupation within a habitat
Which group is known to have members that are extremophiles?
Archaea
Which phylum has the most number of species?
Arthropoda
Which of the following is a domain of living things?
Bacteria
What type of feature of depositional coasts migrates slowly landward as sea level rises?
Barrier island
In the water column, where does respiration exceed photosynthesis?
Below the compensation depth
What is usually the highest point on a beach?
Berm crest
Phytoplankton are responsible for how much of the surface ocean's carbohydrate production?
Between 90 and 96%
What is required in the quantitative analysis of plankton?
Both a count of the organisms and an estimate of the sampled volume of water
The U.S. imports over 50% of its petroleum, mostly from what country?
Canada
Which individual was the first to provide a rough chart of an ocean current, specifically, the Gulf Stream?
Captain James Cook
What is the end product of carbon respiration?
Carbon dioxide
Nautiluses, octopuses, and squid belong to which class?
Cephalopoda
What could happen if global warming continues?
Changes in global winds and rainfall
Where in the world does the most aquaculture production take place?
China
Which country is the top harvester of marine fishes, crustaceans, and molluscs?
China
What is the class of vertebrates who have a skeleton made of cartilage?
Chondrichthyes
What is considered the most structurally complex animal phylum?
Chordata
What phylum contains jellyfish?
Cnidaria
What happens when the waters of a coral reef exceednormal temperatures for too long?
Corals eject their zooxanthellae.
Which are primary nitrogen-fixing organisms in the ocean?
Cyanobacteria
Which phylum is found exclusively in marine habitats?
Echinodermata
What areas are typically the most affected by eutrophication?
Estuaries
What is the global, long-term change in sea level?
Eustatic change
Which coastline is a depositional coast?
Florida
What creates a moraine?
Glaciers
Concentric sand-sized concretions of mineral matter, usually calcium carbonate.
Gypsum
What was one accomplishment of Captain James Cook?
He mapped the coasts of Australia and New Zealand.
What is true of the backshore?
It can include dunes and grasses.
When is the world expected to exceed the annual maximum sustainable yield?
It is currently occurring
What is the rate of shore erosion dependent upon?
Local range of tides
Which marine resource is too expensive to recover at this time due to the low market value of the resource?
Manganese nodules
Who is considered to be the father of physical oceanography?
Matthew Maury
What is the largest known reservoir of hydrocarbons on Earth?
Methane hydrate
What is the main species of whale that is targeted by whalers?
Minke whales
Modern oceanography began with the efforts of ____, who trapped his ship in pack ice to explore the Arctic.
Nansen
What is the largest source of oil in the ocean?
Natural oil seeps
Where are deltas common?
Near broad continental shelves
Petroleum products would be classified as which resource type?
Nonrenewable physical resource
Where is the top fishing area in the world ocean located?
Northwest Pacific
Which statement best describes ocean sediments near mid-ocean ridges?
Ocean sediments are nearly absent near mid-ocean ridges.
How much of the light that reaches Earth's surface is captured by organisms?
One part in 2,000
What is convergent evolution?
Organisms that evolve to look similar due to environmental conditions
What has been attributed to the declining fertility of seals and sea lions off the California coast?
PCBs
Petroleum most likely formed from which organic substrate?
Planktonic organisms and bacteria
The most primitive true animal belongs to the phylum ____.
Porifera
Who is generally credited with beginning the environmental movement?
Rachel Carson
What is the largest source of marine pollution to the world ocean?
Runoff from land and city streets
Which marine reptiles make long migrations to lay eggs on the very same beach they hatched from?
Sea turtles
What happens when the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide?
Seawater pH decreases.
What is the fastest-growing mariculture production?
Shrimp
Sound can travel for much greater distances through water than light waves can before being absorbed because ____.
Sound waves travel through water more efficiently than light waves.
Where do most seabirds live?
Southern hemisphere
What is one of the effects of eutrophication?
Stimulates the growth of some species to the detriment of others, destroying the natural balance of an area
What would explain the poor condition for biological productivity in the open tropical ocean?
Strong layering isolates deep, nutrient-rich water from the sunlit ocean surface.
About 90% of all living fishes are contained within the order ____.
Teleostei
What was first created in an effort to claim the resources of the continental shelf as belonging to the nation to which it was attached?
The Law of the Sea
Which event is thought to have been a cause for past mass extinctions?
The collision with an asteroid or comet
What is hypoxia?
The depletion of free oxygen in an area
What do most deep water consumers depend upon for survival?
The productivity of the water column above
What is a frustule?
The rigid cell wall of a diatom
What did the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone exclude from the original 1982 United Nations Treaty?
The sharing of high-seas resources
What is environmental resistance?
The sum of the effects of the limiting factors on the environment
What is responsible for increasing a beach's slope?
The swash
What is bycatch?
The unintentional killing of organisms during harvesting of a desirable species
Why is photosynthesis inhibited at the very top layer of the ocean surface?
There is too much light.
What is the eventual fate of erosional beaches?
They become a depositional beach
Which statement is true with regards to sea breezes?
Warmer ocean water causes air to rise and expand allowing cooler air over the land to move toward the sea.
Where is the seaward limit of a beach?
Where the sediment movement onshore and offshore ceases
Platyhelminthes were the first organisms to have ____.
a central nervous system
Where might a rare example of random distribution be found?
abyssal plains
What type of transport is able to move against normal concentration gradients?
active transport
What is considered to be the world's most important commercial product?
algin
Which relationship is an example of mutualism?
anemone fish and sea anemone
Phytoplankton are primarily classified as what type of organism?
autotroph
When liquid water gets below 4°C, it ____.
begins to decrease in density by expanding
Where is the largest marine community located?
between the photic zone and the deep bottom
Seaweeds used as additives for fabrics and adhesives would be classified in which group of marine resources?
biological resources
What describes the increased concentration of toxic chemicals in the higher trophic levels?
biomagnification
Water behaves like a(n) ____, which prevents broad swings of pH.
buffer
An erosional coast that has little tidal variation ____.
can erode quickly because wave action is concentrated near one level for longer times
What is the largest biogeochemical cycle?
carbon cycle
What is a major product of combustion for all hydrocarbons?
carbon dioxide
Which of the following is a greenhouse gas?
carbon dioxide
What dissolved gases are required by nearly all marine organisms?
carbon dioxide and oxygen
Researchers are able to directly measure the rate of productivity in experiments using a radioactively "tagged" atom. Which isotope is commonly used?
carbon-14
The exoskeleton of an arthropod is composed of ____.
chitin
What absorbs sunlight in primary producers?
chlorophyll
What are the stinging cells present in cnidarians?
cnidoblasts
What do squid use as a decoy defense mechanism?
coagulated ink
What is an example of symbiosis?
commensalism
Which crustacean is known for grazing on diatoms and dinoflagellates and is among the most abundant multicellular animals on the planet?
copepods
Which of the following is a biodegradable pollutant?
crude oil
Which organisms are mainly classified as picoplankton?
cyanobacteria
What pelagic layer is located in the uppermost limits of the permanent darkness and reflects sound pulses?
deep scattering layer
What can occur when intertidal organisms are exposed to air and sunlight?
desiccation
Which plankton group are the most productive photosynthetic organisms (apart from cyanobacteria)?
diatoms
Which plankton group operates at one of the most efficient energy conversion rates known?
diatoms
Which type of plankton is the most common source of surface bioluminescence?
dinoflagellates
What is the study of the balance between environmental factors and organisms in a community?
ecology
The solution to environmental problems, if one exists, lies in ____.
education and action
Which habitat is the most impacted by pollutants?
estuaries
What community typically has the highest biomass per unit of surface area?
estuary
Which area is most likely to contain brackish water?
estuary
Which zone in the ocean contains enough light for photosynthesis?
euphotic zone
What has been suggested as a means for hydrothermal vent organisms to disperse over great distances between vent systems?
fallen body of a whale
What is the smallest size class of plankton?
femtoplankton
Which characteristic distinguishes most dinoflagellates from diatoms and coccolithophores?
flagella
What are the units used to express primary production?
gC/m2/yr
What adaptation is commonly found in organisms of deep pelagic and benthic communities?
gigantism
What is the primary cause of oxygen depletion in the disphotic zone?
heterotrophic respiration
What is one of the important inorganic molecules used for energy production at hydrothermal vents?
hydrogen sulfide
In freshwater, a marine animal would be ____.
hypertonic to its surroundings
What is the leading threat to commercial shellfisheries?
hypoxia
Charles Darwin suggested that a driving force of evolution was ____.
isolation
What do the simplest vertebrates lack?
jaws
What is considered the "keystone" species of the Antarctic ecosystem?
krill
What makes up the greatest biomass of any species on Earth?
krill
Which heavy metal is one of the most dangerous currently being introduced into the ocean?
lead
What physical factor is considered most important for the success of a marine organism?
light
What are the potential limiting factors for primary productivity?
light and nutrients
Which animal is the only herbivorous marine mammal?
manatee
What is a source of energy for chemosynthesis?
methane
What special tool do tunicates use to obtain more food when suspension feeding?
mucous plankton net
Waste disposal is an example of which resource type?
nonextractive resource
What alternative to fossil fuels is the most promising to meet the world's needs?
nuclear power
Which are the primary molecules of heredity?
nucleic acids
What cargo is shipped in the greatest amount on the world's ocean?
oil
Which of the following is both a natural pollutant and a human-generated pollutant in the world ocean?
oil
Approximately how much of the known world reserves of oil and natural gas lie along continental margins?
one-third
How much of the world's table salt is produced by the evaporation of seawater?
one-third
Which of the following areas would least likely be an MPA?
open ocean surface waters
What are the most valuable marine resources?
petroleum and natural gas
What is the primary method of energy acquisition for phytoplankton?
photosynthesis
How are seaweeds classified?
photosynthetic accessory pigments
What classification describes a group of animals that share similar architecture, level of complexity, and evolutionary history?
phylum
Freshwater is an example of a(n) ____.
physical resource
What planktonic group may account for up to 80% of all the photosynthetic activity in some parts of the open ocean?
picoplankton
Which pollutant accumulates in gyres in the ocean?
plastics
If Earth were uniform (homogenous) throughout, seismic waves would ____.
radiate from the site of an earthquake in straight lines
About 60% of desalinated water is produced in what way?
reverse osmosis
What is the most important physical environmental factor in intertidal communities?
rise and fall of tides
What physical factor can damage cell membranes and alter protein structure?
salinity
An animal that is tightly attached to rocks during intense wave activity is said to be ____.
sessile
What elemental compound comprises up to 95% of the mass of a diatom's cell wall?
silica (SiO2)
What is a major source of nitrate to coastal waters?
soil runoff
What needle-like structure provides a skeletal network for a sponge?
spicules
Which animal is a suspension feeder?
sponges
What residue of oil is the longest lasting in the environment?
tar balls
Where in the open ocean are phytoplankton the most productive?
temperate continental shelves
When using the scientific method, scientific theories must be ____.
tested and consistently supported by observations or experiments
What is the main body structure of seaweed?
thallus
What was the most important outcome of Matthew Maury's work?
the charting of ocean currents to significantly shorten the travel time of sailors
Which organism uses echolocation to search for prey?
toothed whale
What does a food web illustrate?
trophic relationships
What part of the world ocean is considered an "oceanic desert"?
tropical open ocean
Which hydrothermal vent organisms have no mouth, digestive tract, or anus?
tube worms
What can change the compensation depth?
turbidity
Which distribution pattern is the rarest in nature?
uniform distribution
What component of the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is suggested to have caused more harm to marine organisms than the oil?
use of dispersants
What is the biggest export from the Port of New York going to Asia?
waste
What unique feature do all echinoderms have?
water vascular system
Which is the largest species of shark?
whale shark
Which occurrence will produce upwelling near coasts?
wind blowing toward the south along the West Coast of North America
What is the fastest-growing energy alternative to oil?
wind power
Copepods belong to which group?
zooplankton
Which plankton are the most numerous primary consumers of the ocean?
zooplankton
Large volumes of bottom sediments may be transported long distances by ____.
turbidity currents
Low-energy coastlines are commonly found in areas along eastern edges of continents.
F
Marine communities evolve more rapidly than terrestrial communities.
F
On a planetary scale, the ocean comprises about ____% of Earth's mass.
0.02
Most biological productivity in the ocean occurs in the aphotic zone.
F
How many elements comprise 99% of all the mass of all living things on Earth?
4
The only ocean current that continues in an uninterrupted circle around the circumference of Earth without encountering land is the ____.
Antarctic Circumpolar Current
Upwelling and iron (suspended in glacial runoff) make these waters among the most productive on Earth.
Antarctic Ocean
Which of the following statements is true about an Ekman spiral?
Because of Ekman transport, at some frictional depth, water will be moving in the opposite direction from the surface current.
How much of the ocean's primary productivity is generated by seaweeds?
Between 1% and 5%
Which individual would be most likely to receive the title of "first marine scientist"?
Captain James Cook
Chemosynthesis is the dominant method of binding energy into carbohydrates on this planet.
Correct! False
Where is the most effective place to extract wind power?
Correct! Over or near the ocean
One of the driving forces of atmospheric circulation is ____.
Earth's uneven solar heating
El Niño results due to an interruption of flow of the ____ Current in the Pacific.
Equatorial
What is the name for a coast in which the dominant processes are those that remove coastal material?
Erosional coasts
Most tropical reefs form in areas with low wave energy so the force does not crush them.
F
Nonconservative nutrients will be enriched after a plankton bloom.
F
"Sea salt" contains only sodium chloride.
F
A shoreline with little tidal variation can erode slower than a more active shoreline because the wave action is less damaging.
F
Although ectotherms can tolerate large ranges in external temperature, they are unable to sustain large fluctuations in their internal temperatures.
F
Aquaculture produces very little of the amount of fish consumed by humans.
F
Bioaugmentation is the concentration of toxic substances in the flesh of marine organisms at higher levels in the food chain.
F
Biodiversity refers to the many different habitats organisms live in.
F
Cnidarians exhibit bilateral symmetry, an advancement from the phylum Porifera.
F
Coccolithophores need less light to photosynthesize and can go deeper into the euphotic zone.
F
Coral and barnacles are both arthropods due to their hard outer exoskeletons.
F
Deltas are present at every river mouth that brings sediment to a broad continental shelf.
F
Dinoflagellates have a deeper compensation depth than diatoms.
F
Externalities, or the costs associated with the harmful side effects of producing goods and services, are reflected in the cost of those goods and services.
F
Fjord estuaries tend to be well mixed with high surface area.
F
Huge, slowly turning turbines have been immersed in the Gulf Stream to provide commercial energy.
F
In a stable community, multiple populations can occupy the same "job" to ensure biodiversity.
F
Linnaeus was the first to start classifying organisms.
F
Alfred Wegener noticed that mountains differed in age, composition, and structure on both sides of the Atlantic, which supported his theory of continental drift.
False
An example of terrigenous sediment is the manganese nodule.
False
Arthropods have a steady growth pattern growing bigger over time.
False
Continental shelves can be made of granitic crust, basaltic crust, or both.
False
Hadley atmospheric circulation cells are found at the mid-latitudes.
False
Marine birds usually avoid land unless they are hunting.
False
Oil is denser than the surrounding sediments, so it is unable to migrate toward the surface from its source rock. True
False
One example of horizontal water movement is called downwelling.
False
Over the past century, ocean acidity has gradually decreased.
False
Oxygen is the primary component of air.
False
Plankton are categorized by their visibility or by the methods used to collect them.
False
Polychaetes are the most successful of the worm phyla, being found in terrestrial, aquatic, and marine environments.
False
Sediment refers to organic and inorganic materials that accumulate on the ocean floor.
False
Squid are the most intelligent invertebrates.
False
Superstorm Sandy was the result of a collision between a nor'easter and an extratropical cyclone.
False
The Challenger expedition used multibeam echo sounders to contour the seafloor.
False
The Gulf Stream is a current that runs south along the eastern coast of the United States.
False
The only way in which calcium carbonate sediment can form is by evaporation.
False
The 0.02 to 0.2 micrometer size class of plankton
Femo
Which is a factor that determines the location of a coast?
Global Tectonic ACtivity
Which genus of dinoflagellate is known for producing a particularly harmful algal bloom called a red tide?
Karenia
Which statement is true with regard to latitude and longitude?
Latitude and longitude comprise a system of imaginary lines dividing Earth's surface into a grid.
Whatis the most likely consequence of fewerphytoplankton in the world ocean?
Less carbon dioxide uptake
Who was the first person to compile a picture of the large-scale wind and current systems?
Matthew Maury
Pollutant from mining and coal ash that is particularly dangerous for fetuses.
Mercury
The first scientific expedition to use an echo sounder was the ____.
Meteor expedition
What type of behavior is described as anadromous?
Migration to freshwater to spawn
The 2.0 to 20 micrometer size class of plankton.
Nano
Pollutant resulting in sticky mats of tar that can settle in sediments
Oil
Which reaction occurs during photosynthesis?
Oxygen is produced.
Pollutant found in microbeads used in mildly abrasive skin cleaner
Plastics
Which worm has a segmented body plan?
Polychaeta
What feature marks the shoreward limit of marine erosion on a rocky coast?
Sea cliffs
Pollutants written about in 1962 that began the environmental movement
Synthetic Pesticides
A beach slope in equilibrium will grow at slower rates than heavy depositional beaches.
T
A change in salinity can affect the buoyancy of an organism.
T
All life on Earth is fundamentally the same.
T
An organism's response to a particular pollutant will depend solely on its sensitivity to the quantity of that pollutant.
T
Approximately 70% of discarded plastic sinks to the bottom of the ocean.
T
Bottom trawling, which disturbs sediments, is more devastating to ocean environments than bycatch.
T
Brittle stars employ a unique evasive technique that involves detaching an arm if grabbed by a predator.
T
Coastal cells in southern California are smaller due to the location on an active, leading edge of a continent.
T
Coastal water tends to support greater plankton populations than oceanic water does due to nitrate runoff from soil.
T
Coastlines have not come into equilibrium with modern sea levels.
T
Coasts refer to an entire area that is affected by biological processes in addition to tectonic activity.
T
Deep scattering layers are best developed in regions with high surface productivity.
T
Despite its vast size, the ocean will likely not be able to provide enough food to alleviate future malnutrition and starvation in the world.
T
Diatoms have one of the most efficient energy conversion rates known, using approximately 55% of absorbed sunlight.
T
Eight of the 11 species of large, hunted whales are considered to be commercially extinct.
T
Exotic species can reduce the biodiversity of their new habitats.
T
Halogenated hydrocarbons are some of the most abundant and dangerous synthetic organic compounds found in marine waters.
T
Human demand has exceeded Earth's ability to regenerate resources.
T
If an environment is changed by disruption, a different climax community always establishes.
T
It has been suggested that Archaea may be more closely related to Eukarya than Bacteria.
T
Many large intertidal plants must be slippery in addition to being strong and elastic to avoid being shredded by the intense wave energy of the intertidal.
T
Membranes are considered selectively permeable when they allow only certain kinds of small molecules to pass through.
T
Why was Alfred Wegener's idea of continental drift dismissed?
The evidence at the time seemed to suggest a solid mantle that did not allow drifting of continents to be possible.
Which statement accurately describes active continental margins?
They are areas of frequent earthquakes and volcanoes.
Which statement is true with regard to subduction zones?
They are zones where old seafloor descends into the crust and mantle.
Why do large, broad beaches have gradual slopes?
They have a large area for wave energy to dissipate.
A seamount is a volcanic projection that does not rise above the surface.
True
An example of a siliceous ooze are those formed from radiolarian shells.
True
Cold water can dissolve more CO2 than warm water.
True
Density is a measure of relative heaviness and is defined as mass per unit volume.
True
Drift bottles are useful in determining coastal circulation by tracking the path of surface currents.
True
Hydrothermal vents such as black smokers are found at spreading centers.
True
Marine science draws on information from disciplines of geology, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering.
True
Ocean gyres are asymmetrical because of the Coriolis effect.
True
The global temperature trend has been generally upward since the last ice age, but the rate of increase has recently accelerated.
True
The pycnocline can occur at the same range of depths as a halocline.
True
The uneven heating of the surface of Earth results in atmospheric convection currents.
True
The white cliffs of Dover are chalk-like deposits of coccolithophores that are around 100 million years old.
True
The world reserves of oil and natural gas are found more on the continental margins than in the deep-sea floors.
True
There are planktonic forms of every major group of animals.
True
There are three types of plate convergences: continent-continent, ocean-continent, and ocean-ocean convergent plate boundaries.
True
Water resists rising in temperature as heat is added, or falling in temperature when heat is removed.
True
One piece of evidence that suggests the existence of Pangaea is the apparent fit of continents across North and South Atlantic.
True
Who was the first person to estimate the size of the Earth within approximately 8% of its true size based on the geometric observations of travelers?
U.S. naval officer Matthew Maury
Which of the following statements is true with regard to air?
Warm air is less dense than cold air.
The hydrogen bonds of water molecules account for which of the following?
Water can cause surface tension and wetting.
What marks the submerged limit of rapid marine erosion?
Wave-cut platforms
Most of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina was due to ____.
a huge storm surge
In the process of lithification, sediments ____.
are converted into solid rock
The hot, partially melted, slowly flowing layer of Earth is called the ____.
asthenosphere
Residence time is the ____.
average length of time an element spends in the ocean
The discovery and study of ocean floor contours is called ____.
bathymetry
An El Niño causes a reversal in the distribution of atmospheric pressure in what ocean?
between the eastern and western Pacific
The grazing of phytoplankton by copepods would be an example of a(n) _____ influencing a community.
biological factor
What is an ophiuroid?
brittle stars
How can a satellite sense the contours of the ocean bottom from space?
by using radar to sense the height of the sea surface over submerged features
Carbonate sediments are rare in deep sea sediments because the ____.
carbonate shells are dissolved in deep water
The long-term statistical sum of weather in a geographic region is called ____.
climate
During times of high productivity which plankton are notable for making the surface water appear milky or chalky?
coccolithophores
The amount of dissolved oxygen that seawater can hold in solution will be greater in ____.
colder water
The densest water in ocean currents is the ____.
coldest and saltiest
The mid-ocean mountains, such as the ridges and rises, are ____.
constructed of volcanic basalt
The submerged outer edge of a continent is called the ____.
continental margin
Neritic sediments are found on the ____.
continental shelf
The transition between the shelf and the deep seafloor is the ____.
continental slope and rise
When an air parcels rises, it ____.
cools and expands
Radiolarians and diatoms are both examples of ____.
creatures whose shells form siliceous oozes
The mass flow of ocean water that is driven by wind or gravity is referred to as ocean ____.
currents
The mid-ocean ridges are ____.
divergent plate boundaries
Calm equatorial areas of low pressure are referred to as the ____.
doldrums
Coastal upwelling is most common in association with ____ in the Northern Hemisphere.
eastern boundary currents
The islands bordering deep-sea trenches are ____.
eruptive volcanoes called island arcs
Warm air ____ and cool air ____.
expands and rises; contracts and sinks
Small plankton that have a calcium carbonate shell
foraminifera
The boundary between two air masses of different densities is called a ____.
front
A crystal lattice of interlocking water molecules containing trapped gas.
gas hydrate
The wavelengths of light that penetrate deepest into the ocean are ____.
green and blue
Flat-topped seamounts that once rose near or above sea level are called ____.
guyots
Important component of wallboard and other building materials..
gypsum
Chemicals used in flame retardants that can accumulate in fish
halogenated hydrocarbons
Zooplankton that spend their whole lives in the plankton community
holo
Tropical cyclones are also called ____ in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific.
hurricanes
What comprises the most abundant form of matter in the universe?
hydrogen and helium
What type of bond enables water molecules to stick together?
hydrogen bond
Heat can be carried to the polar regions ____.
in ocean currents from the tropics
Which area is most likely to have the most populous and diverse community of organisms?
intertidal zone
What factor is rarely a difficulty for marine organisms?
iron availability
If coastal winds are blowing offshore producing a land breeze, the time of day is most likely ____.
just after sunset
Plankton that are a major food source for whales
krill
Humid air is ____ than dry air because molecules of water vapor ____ than molecules of nitrogen and oxygen at the same temperature.
less dense; weigh less
The rigid outer layer of Earth that comprises the continental crust, oceanic crust, and the uppermost mantle is called the ____.
lithosphere
Plankton that are greater than 1 cm in diameter
macro
The strong El Niño of 2015-2016 generated significant impacts in many areas of the world. Southern California produced record global sea surface temperatures resulting in ____.
many uncharacteristic marine visitors, such as hammerhead sharks
The 200 to 2000 micrometer size class of plankton.
meso
Animals that are plankton as juveniles and later adopt a benthic or nektonic lifestyle
mevro
The 20 to 200 micrometer size class of plankton.
micro
The oozes on the seafloor mostly consist of ____.
microscopic hard parts of single-celled living organisms
A ____ is a pattern of wind circulation that changes with the seasons and generally results in wet summers and dry winters in parts of Africa and Asia.
monsoon
Antarctic Bottom Water flows ____ water in surface currents.
much slower than
The most abundant gaseous components of Earth's atmosphere are ____.
nitrogen and oxygen
Japan is located along the "Pacific Ring of Fire" and experiences many earthquakes. The majority of the earthquakes around Japan occur ____.
only on the east side of the island where the Pacific plate subducts
The magnetic striping of the seafloor is considered evidence of seafloor spreading and ____.
periodic reversals in the polarity of Earth's magnetic field
The thin layer of lighted water near the surface of the ocean is called the ____.
photic zone
Oxygen first began to accumulate in Earth's atmosphere as a result of ____.
photosynthesis
The 0.2 to 2.0 micrometer size class of plankton.
pico
How do entirely new genetic traits arise?
pontaneous mutation
Used in the manufacture of cell phones, solar panels, and LCD displays.
rare-earth elements
What is the second most valuable marine resource?
sand and gravel
Abyssal hills are small extinct volcanoes commonly associated with ____.
seafloor spreading
Weather may be defined as ____.
short-term, localized states of the atmosphere
The inclination of Earth's axis causes the days to become ____ in June and ____ in December in the Southern Hemisphere. longer; longer
shorter; longer
What is the IQOE particularly concerned with in the ocean?
sound pollution
What process reestablishes climax communities after a major disruption to the environment?
succession
A transverse current is a ____.
surface current that connects eastern-boundary and western-boundary currents
The word "oceanography" was first coined in association with ____.
the Challenger expedition
Which voyage was the first expedition devoted purely to marine science?
the Challenger expedition
The power for tropical cyclones comes from ____.
the condensation of warm, moist air
The density of seawater will increase when ____.
the salinity increases
The field of marine science involves ____.
the scientific study of the ocean, its associated life-forms, and its bordering lands
A boundary in which crustal plates slide laterally past one another is called a ____.
transform fault
California's San Andreas fault is which type of plate boundary?
transform plate boundaries
Which of the following conditions contributed most to the destructive nature of Hurricane Katrina?
very strong winds, up to 125 miles per hour
Carbon dioxide combines chemically with water to form a(n) ____.
weak acid
The primary force responsible for surface currents is ____.
wind
Hydrothermal vents are located near ____.
zones of rapid seafloor spreading
What term is used to describe the exclusive microecosystem picoplankton have been discovered to operate in?
"black market economy"
Planktonic organisms are classified by size. What is the range of plankton size categories?
0.02 micrometers to 2.0 meters
