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