Oceanography part 2
What is bioluminescence?
fish that produce light but requires energy and risks exposure. Most glow when they fear predators or to dazzle predators to escape. it is not well known about.
How is photosynthesis different from chemosynthesis?
Chemosynthesis is employed by some bacteria and archaea, it is conversion of simple carbon molecules into carbohydrate using oxidation of inorganic molecules as a source of energy therefore no sunlight is required.
Name some examples of autotrophs
Diatoms, Dinoflagellates, Coccoliths, Silicoflagellates, Nannoplankton, Picoplankton
What is osmosis?
Diffusion of water through semi-permeable membrane. water movement flows from high water concentration to low water concentration (not ion conc.)
What are fjord estuaries?
where glaciers have gouged u shaped valleys, typically they have small surface areas, high river input, and little tidal mixing.
What is a salt wedge estuary?
It has a distinct layer of freshwater above a wedge-shaped layer of saltwater. This is because saltwater is denser than freshwater and sinks to the bottom of the estuary. It contains a river that flows into the ocean at a high speed, causing the ocean to experience weak currents.
What heavy metals are most toxic? How do these substances enter the ocean?
Mercury, and lead. Lead particles from industrial wastes, landfills, and gasoline residue reach the ocean through runoff during rain. Mercury enters the ocean through mining operations, coal smoke, and as a by-product of industrial production.
What factors control the shape of a coast?
Uplift and subsidence, wearing down of land by erosion, and the redistribution of material by sediment transport and deposition
How long is the cycling process of oxygen and co2 in the ocean?
-All free oxygen passes through organisms every 2 000 years -All available co2 passes through organisms every 300 years -All H20 in ocean is broken down and reformed by organisms every 2 million years
What are traits of algae
-Autotroph - have chlorophyll and photosynthesize -They have no vessels to conduct sap -They are unicellular (diatoms) -They are multicellular too (like seaweed)
How does warming affect the ocean?
-Creates stronger and frequent storms -Changes the sea level (melting creates sea level rise) -oceans take up carbon dioxide produced by humans which results in lower pH and decrease co3 which makes it harder for carbonate to precipitate -entire ocean will become undersaturated in carbonate organisms -makes it more difficult for animals to produce carbonate skeletons and shells -reduction in pH may be stressful for organisms with high metabolism
Explain feeding strategies in the ocean
-Herbivores are found in the photic zone above the pycnocline mainly -as light decreases omnivores and carnivores increase -the further you travel down the more omnivores present like on the sea floor (check chart from slides of life in the ocean)
What is trawling?
Massive nets that scrape the bottom of the ocean for crustaceans and lobsters which has become so extreme that there are some places that have been completely and utterly destroyed(underwater deserts)
What are the parts of multicellular algae?
Blade on top, Gas bladder, then stipe make up the thallus and holdfast is the base
What are Osteichthyes?
Bony fish. - hard, strong, lightweight skeleton -gas filled bladders, moveable fins -great speed, camouflage, social org. migration -Includes seahorses all the way to the bluefin tuna which is the fastest and wide ranging family
What makes up the reef ecosystem?
Builders - corals, calcareous red algae Dwellers - bivalves, calcareous green algae, sponges, anemonies, crabs etc Grazers - echinoderms, gastropods, some fish Destroyers- sponges, bivalves, annelids
What is the equation for respiration?
C6H12O6 + 6O2 --> 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy Glucose and oxygen becomes carbon dioxide and water and chemical energy
What are some characteristics of chlorophytes?
Calcareous algae is infused with calcium carbonate, some form sand and some form mud. These green algae are specifically tropical
What elements are critical for building shells?
Calcium and Silicon
What are some feeding and defence methods fish use?
Camoflauge, spikes, swimming in schools, etc
What is special about amphibians?
Can live in air or water, and they return to the water to breed. there is no such thing as a true marine amphibian.
Where is the growth greater in atoll corals?
Windward side is greater growth than leeward side.
What is eutrophication?
excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.
What is aquaculture?
fish farming. Farmed salmon consume native salmon and diseases often spread within farming pens.
Bivalves
clams - filter feeders, have gills, muscles allow them to open and close valves, giant clams are turquoise because they are photosynthetic (through symbols) fun fact: scallops can swim backwards
What is an ectothermic organism?
cold blooded, heat of surroundings; can't tolerate much higher temperatures
What are some marine uses in drugs?
Caribbean sponge, herpes antiviral. Anti-inflammatory drugs. Bryozoans - potent anticancer chemicals Tunicates-treatment of malignant melanoma and other cancers Cyanobacteria - antiacids
What are chrondrichthyes?
Cartilagenous fish, sharks, rays etc. -No bone (just teeth fossils) -Larger than bony fish often -Negatively buoyant (no gas bladder) so they must keep swimming -most feed on shellfish by disturbing sediment on seafloor
When do most organisms respire?
nighttime
What is the relationship between wave energy on the coast and the size of beaches found there?
??
What are some traits of large marine plants?
-They are autotrophs -have chlorophyll and photosynthesize -They have vessels to conduct sap (vascular) -They are angiosperms (they have flowers)
What are characteristics of rocky intertidal communities?
-Very prolific (lots of activity) -Dangerous but diverse -seasons cause temp change -storms cause waves -Sediment movement in swells -Plants have to be strong -animals must be agile -Many nutrients = abundant food -High biomass due to positive features
What are characteristics of fish?
-live in water breathe through gills -swim with fins -more species and individuals than all of other species and individual vertebrates combined -live in every marine environment -ectotherms -60% marine 40% fresh
What are characteristics of mammals?
-streamlined body shape -internal body heat -modified respiratory system -osmotic adaptation in seawater
What are factors that produce local sea level change?
1) Tectonic motions and isostatic adjustments can change height and shape of coast. 2) wind and currents, storm surges, and other effects of water in motion can force water against the shore or draw it away.
What are Darwin's 5 points of natural selection?
1) more offspring are produced than can survive 2) random variations occur 3) Some inheritable variations make organism better 4) Favorable traits are likely to survive and tend to accumulate 5) natural environment does the selection
What are the primary eustatic factors?
1) the amount of water in the world ocean can vary. Sea level is lower during glaciation, and higher during warm periods 2) volume of ocean's 'container' may vary. High rates of seafloor spreading are associated with expansion in volume of oceanic ridges. Sediments shed by continents during rapid erosion cause decrease in volume of ocean basins. 3) water may occupy more or less volume as temperature varies
Look at textbook page 168 and be able to draw all 4 types of estuaries
168
What is the equation for photosynthesis?
6CO2 + 6H2O ------> C6H12O6 + 6O2 carbon dioxide and water makes glucose and oxygen
Cephalopods
A member of a group of molluscs that include squids and octopus. Move by jet propulsion, shell on inside, benthic mainly
What is a red tide?
A red tide is an algae bloom of dinoflagellates.
Manganese nodules
A small (potato-sized) rock that contains manganese and other minerals. Common on parts of the ocean floor. nearly half the pacific ocean floor is covered by them. Most people believe bacteria played a role in their formation.
What are signs of overfishing? How does the fishing industry respond to these signs?
About 90% of worldwide stocks of tuna cod and other large fish have disappeared in the last 50 years. Overfishing is considered too much once the breeding stock can not replenish itself. In order to reduce the amount of bycatch, fishing industries have begun aquaculture and mariculture which is farming plants and marine animals.
What are botanical resources?
Algin - from mucus on seaweeds (stiffen fabric, salad dressing, paint, ice cream etc) Seaweed used as food
What characteristics are shared by all marine mammals?
All land mammals are air breathing, are endothermic, give birth to living young, and young suckle for milk, they also have hair at some time.
What are characteristics about marine reptiles?
All lay eggs Are cold blooded Almost all are tropical Air breathing includes crocodiles, snakes, turtles crocodiles lay eggs in sand like turtles turtles have no marine predators
How do nutrients cycle through the ocean?
Animal and plant tissue sink to the sea floor, organic material is broken down by bacteria into the principle nutrients like phosphorus iron etc and then the organism is gone (aka lost to the sediment) and the rest is returned to the surface through upwelling
What is the ozone hole?
Area of low ozone formed over Antartica every spring since 1979. absorbs uv radiation. Cold temps and winter cause chemical reactions that form molecular breakdown in summer destroying the ozone. Ozone breaks down and alters DNA.
What are the 4 types of echinoderms?
Asteroids: sea stars (tube feed hydraulically operated) Ophiroids: brittle stars (thin arms, diverse structure, climb on bivalves and open it and consume insides) Echinoids: sea urchins (prolific) Holothurians: sea cucumbers (no skeleton, crawl on sea floor, ingest sediment, for defence they spew insides out of their mouth to entangle predator then they regenerate internal organisms.)
What makes up the outer slope of an atoll reef?
Below 70m it is very dark and contains rubble broken off of reefs. Sand in deep ocean is made up of broken coral and there is nothing new growing, just debris from reefs.
Explain migration of chinook. What about eels?
Chinook salmon are born in freshwater, spend 5/6 years in the open ocean and then spawn where they were born. Eels also spawn where they were born but they migrate and mate in the middle of the sargasso sea, but plate tectonics show us the atlantic use to be much smaller than it is now.
What are the types of seaweeds?
Chlorophytes - green plant near surface Phaeophytes - tank/dusky plant, can use light at deeper depths (found temperate to polar) Rhodophytes - red plant, (found warm-mid latitude) surface zones of dim light
Explain competition between barnacle species
Chthamalus fights with Balanus barnacles in a zone of competition because chthamalus can withstand exposure at low tide, but balanus are rapidly growing.
How is biogenic sediment classified?
Classification of marine sediments can be based on size or origin
What is a coastal cell? Where does sand in a coastal cell come from? How does it get there?
Coastal cell is the natural sector of a coastline in which sand input and sand outflow are balanced. Sand coastal cell comes from rivers and is transported by the longshore drift it then may be trapped within the nearshore heads of submarine canyons.
What kinds of organisms have a significant influence on a coast? How do they do this?
Coastal re modified by organisms like reef building corals or mangroves that form communities that reduce wave energy and protect coast from erosion. Skeletons of dead animals form reefs around volcanic islands (one example). Mangroves - roots complex forms a barrier and safe haven for organisms around the base of trees.
What are the major sediment producing organisms in the ocean system?
Coccolithophores (algae), Foraminifera (single-celled animals), Pteropods (mollusks) and then radiolarians (single-celled animals) and diatoms (single-celled algae)
What are carbonate producers?
Coccolithophores Foraminifera and Pteropods. Calcareous oozes cover about half of the ocean floor. -distribution controlled by dissolution processes -the level where no calcium carbonate is preserved is the 'carbonate compensation depth) typically about 3000-4000m -calcium carbonate solubility increases with acidity, co2 conc, pressure, and dec temp.
What is the open ocean like?
Cold and dark, most of biomass is upper 200m Includes medusa, ctenophores, tunicates and bizarre fish (that don't eat very often)
what are deep sea cold vents?
Contains organisms similar to hot vents, has sulphides and methane out of cliffs. eg. gulf of mexico
What does terrigenous sediment control?
Controls include climate (precipitation controls erosion), material of the continent (what is being eroded), Elevation (creates diff amounts of sediment), sea level changes (due to glaciation) and turbidity currents
What affect does temperature cause on corals?
Corals increase as temperature increases in the ocean
Why is refined oil more dangerous to the environment than crude oil?
Crude oil does not harm delicate juvenile forms of marine organisms it is essentially biodegradable. Refined oil spills are difficult to remove because they break up heavy components of crude oil and create oil residue which can last a long time in seafloor communities.
How do human activities interfere with coastal processes?
Dam rivers, harbours, developments of property, and more! We build seawalls, jetties/groins, and will try to re-nourish some beaches with sand importations
Where are metals found?
Deep sea floor has polymettalic nodules. Dark shadows along the shore are heavy minerals. Dredging ships collect gold and diamonds.
Which benthic marine habitat is the most sparsely populated? why?
Deep seabed is most sparsely populated due to a limited food supply.
What are trenches like?
Deepest part of ocean - subduction zones. Quiet periods alternate with seismicity, sediment slumps, and sediment gravity flows.
What are plankton?
Drifting or weakly swimming organisms suspended in water
What animals are included in Sirenia?
Dugongs and Manatees. Manatees eat seagrass mainly and are essentially harmless, boats cause injuries to them.
What are characteristics of birds?
Endotherms hollow bones no fat Heart circulate blood under great pressure (they need abundant oxygen) They are veracious feeders because they need lots of energy to fly Gulls are most 'successful'
What is the difference between an erosional coast and a depositional coast?
Erosional coasts are new coasts in which the dominant processes are those that remove coastal material.(Sea cliffs, sea caves etc) Depositional coats are steady or growing because of their rate of sediment accumulation or action of living organisms. (beaches)
Why are estuaries important?
Estuaries serve as spawning and nursery grounds for many ecologically and commercially important fish and shellfish species including bluefish, striped bass, shrimp, and crabs.
How do clams get their food?
Filter feeding and derive energy from bacteria performing chemosynthesis.
What is the most valuable biological resource?
Fish, Crustaceans and Molluscs are.
What are the main types of coral reefs?
Fringing reefs - surrounding perimeter of volcano Barrier reefs - surround one edge of a sinking volcano Atoll - ring around lagoon of water
What is antarctic bottom water made up of?
Glacial ice - melts and refreezes several times, excludes impurities Sea ice - formed when seawater freezes, excludes impurities both of these together make dense water that sinks deep to the sea floor.
Eustasy
Global long term change in sea level
How could global warming directly affect the ocean?
Global warming causes the surface temperature of the earth to rise and creates a warmer ocean which creates an acidic ocean which leads to a difficult environment for organisms to build hard structures containing calcium like shells.
What is the greenhouse effect? What gases contribute to it? What is the result of earth's temperature increasing?
Greenhouse effect = trapping of heat by the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases = carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, chlorofluorocarbons and others. Sea levels rise which could move coastlines and peoples houses underwater!
What are some characteristics of Phaeophytes?
Grow in the temperate to polar range, very prolific, known as 'kelp', they secrete substances and prevent other things from growing on it this way, great emulsifier too. More common where you have nutrient filled areas and upwelling.
What make up most weight of commercial catches?
Herrings, sardines, anchovies
What are the types of zooplankton?
Holoplankton (lives in plankton community) and Meroplankton (juveniles of animals)
How else have humans impacted the ocean?
Humans have tripled the mercury in oceans, the size of fish have changed, ocean chemistry changed etc. find specific examples.
What has the most significant effect on oceanic environment?
Humans. Carbon dioxide, fossil fuels, trace metals, nitrogen, nutrients, etc. We control it directly and indirectly.
hypotonic vs hypertonic vs isotonic
Hypotonic-water moves into animal, in fresh water Hypertonic-water moves out, in ocean Isotonic- cell maintains equilibrium
What are ocean changes in antarctica?
Ice melting leads to sea level rising. Ocean circulation changes - thermohaline conveyor belt creates sinking cold saline water in sub polar regions and drive warm surface water poleward.
What are reef disturbances?
If one form dominates the reef, there is a decline in diversity. Earthquakes and hurricanes can uplift or break apart reefs. Biological disturbances like branching corals growing too rapidly. Sediments can cover corals and they will shed sediment using mucus. T horn starfish consume corals and is often found in herds. Black sand disease expands outwards and kills coral (bacterial infection) Diadema virus grazes on algae.
How does productivity change over time in antarctic?
In the summer the increased sunlight boosts phytoplankton growth. Nutrients are not completely used by organisms because lack of the micronutrient iron so 'high nutrient - low chlorophyll environment' is created.
What are characteristics of vertebrate chordates?
Internal skeleton: uninterrupted support during growth, protects vital organs, foundation for muscles Has a skull. Has central nervous system: inside backbone and all higher vertebrates are four limbed and air breathing fish
What is compensation depth?
It is the depth where the rate of respiration equals the rate of photosynthesis. If phytoplankton are above the line, they live, and if they are below they don't make it
What will happen to the Carbonate compensation depth as carbon dioxide increases?
It will shallow. as water holds more co2 there is more carbonic acid which dissolves calcium carbonate faster. This is important because as humans put co2 in the atmosphere the CCD will rise.
What would happen if a tuna stopped swimming?
It would suffocate as they would not be able to pump water through their gills. They even move slowly when they sleep.
What is Agnatha?
Jawless fish the types are the lampreys and hagfish -has no paired appendages to aid in locomotion -round sucking mouth
What are the physical factors that affect marine life?
Light, dissolved nutrients, temperature, salinity, dissolved gas, pH, and Hydrostatic pressure
What two processes contribute to longshore drift? What powers longshore drift?
Longshore drift is the movement of sediment along the coast driven by wave action. 1) wave driven movement of sand along exposed beach 2) current-driven movement of sand in the surf zone just offshore
What is an oligotrophic environment?
Low nutrient supply environment
What are the types of hydrogenous sediment?
Manganese nodules (contain lots of cu, co, and ni) and metal selfies (precipitated from black smokers) -note lots of black smokers are at mid ocean ridges due to high activity rates and upwelling
What hydrogenous sediment is found at low rate of sedimentation?
Manganese nodules, as they grow at 1-10mm per million years.
What is polar invasion?
Migration of species due to temp change. if greenhouse gas emission remains high, increase in temperature could see arrival could mean new species in southern and arctic oceans. At the same time many marine species would disappear from waters close to equator. Arctic summer would only come once a decade instead of once a year.
What are chordates?
Most advanced animal phylum, have tubular dorsal nervous system, gills at some stage in development and notochord (which is skeletal rod made of cartilage).
Organism interdependence
Most animals are not free living but live in a close relationship between themselves and other life forms
What is diffusion?
Movement of actual elements in the substance by vibration from high concentration to low, this increases with temperature
What are types of symbiosis?
Mutualism (both benefit like anemone and fish) Commensalism (symbiont benefits like pilot fish and remora) Parasitism (symbiont lives in or on host (nematodes)
How do reefs indicate changes in the ocean?
Nearly 60% of world reefs were found to be at risk due to human activity. Reefs have high biodiversity levels and when reefs disappear it sends a clear message that something is wrong.
Where in the ocean is plankton productivity the greatest? why?
Nearshore plankton activity is higher than open ocean due to coastal upwelling and abundance of nutrients. Overall highest productivity is in temperate continental shelves and southern sub polar zones. Thanks to dependable light and moderate nutrient supply.
What is convergent evolution?
Occurs when similar structures from on different species as adaptations to the same environment.
How are oil and natural gas thought to be formed? How can they be extracted from the seabed?
Oil contains mostly hydrocarbons. Over millions of years, planktonic organisms and masses of bacteria accumulate in ocean basins. Anaerobic bacteria converts original tissues into simpler insoluble organic compounds and further conversion by high temperatures and pressure eventually creates oil. Methane is formed from decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms living in the seafloor sediments. high pressures and cold temps trap methane in crystal lattice. Fracking is used to extract as well as drilling.
What are the population distribution patterns of barnacles?
Random (uncommon), Clumped (common) and uniform (rare)
Characteristics of whales
Ondontoceti (toothed) and Mysticeti (unknowable) -blowhole sucks in oxygen and releases co2 -some are filter feeding like baleen -extensive migration patterns -some travel in pods like orcas -heavy predators -toothed whales use echolocation in order to find fish
What is primary productivity?
Organisms that synthesize energy-rich compounds (food) from inorganic substances
What are the main threats to reefs
Overexploitation, coastal development, inland pollution, and marine pollution. Global warming affects each one of these.
Explain breathing with fish?
Oxygen has a higher partial pressure in the water and it diffuses into the fish. Fish use osmotic regulation. In saltwater fish must drink the seawater because it is losing water constantly and in freshwater the fish must excrete water through urine. (remember ocean is 35 ppt salt and fish tissue is only 18ppt in the ocean) IN SEA WATER EXTERNAL ENVIRON IS HIGHER SALT CONC AND OPPOSITE IN FRESHWATER.
Compare/contrast U.S. west, east, and gulf coasts
Pacific coast is near an active plate margin and the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are not. Pacific coast is actively rising margin with volcanoes and earthquakes, and the atlantic coast is passive tectonically calm and subsidizing because of position. Gulf coast experiences smaller tidal range and smaller average waves size than either pacific or atlantic coasts. There is lots of subsidence in the gulf coast due to sediment compaction, dewatering, and removal of oil and natural gas.
What is the difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes
Prokaryotes have no nucleus, eukaryotes do
What are worms?
Prolific in warm and cool water, some secrete calcium carbonate skeletons and worms live inside the structure but once it dies the skeleton is preserved
What term describes free swimming organisms? What describes organisms on the ocean floor?
Pelagic and benthic
What elements are required for constructing tissue?
Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and Iron
What are influence of biological and physical factors?
Physical - temperature, salinity, pressure Biological - crowding, predation, grazing, shading, competition for oxygen
What are the four types of marine resources?
Physical resources - deposition, precipitation, accumulation of useful substances in the ocean of seabed (most are mineral deposits) Marine energy resources - extraction of energy directly from heat or motion of ocean water Biological resources - living animals and plants collected for human use and animal feed Nonextractive resources - uses of the ocean in place transportation of people and commodities by sea, recreation, and waste disposal.
How are plankton different than zooplankton?
Plankton are autotrophic and drift within sunlit areas, zooplankton are heterotrophic and eat other plankton.
How did antarctica become so cold and isolated/
Plate tectonics. Pangea in mid jurassic was one huge continent, but heat underneath built up and started to crack and form separate continents. 53 Ma there were forests in antarctic, 20 Ma west wind drift got strong and circled antarctica and it became isolated and covered with ice.
What are the climate zones?
Polar, subpolar, temperate, subtropical, tropical, and then back to temperate etc.
What is hydrogenous (authigenic) sediment?
Precipitation of dissolved minerals from water, often by bacteria
What are characteristics of salt marches and estuaries?
Primary productivity -Flooded river valleys where freshwater and seawater interact -high primary productivity in terms of grasses/trees and there is high biomass -Numerous niches to fill but it is tranquil with high variations in salinity -local strong currents -euryhaline organisms (wide) - temporarily transitional -in non grassy areas there will be burrowers
How do reefs related to biogenic sediment?
Reefs are factories for biogenic calcium carbonate. Rings of corals surround volcanoes that had sunk which proves historic volcanoes. Corals are living organisms that respond to their environment.
How do heterotrophs obtain energy?
Respiration. These give off water and carbon dioxide and energy, they feed on autotrophs.
What are examples of intertidal communities?
Rocky intertidal, beach, salt marshes, and estuaries
Where is most marine pollution from?
Runoff and discharges from land, then airborne emissions from land, then shipping/spills, then ocean dumping, and barely offshore mining/oil/gas drilling. `
What is the difference between seals and sealions?
Seals have no flaps as ears, they have holes. They evolved from bears, have hind flippers focused backwards for diving. Sealions have flaps on ears and can rotate their limbs more than seals (front arm used for propulsion)
How are biogenic sediments collected?
Sediments are collected from bottom dredges, grab samplers, gravity corers, and piston corers
What are secondary coasts?
Significantly changed by marine action and dominated by water influence. there are soft cliffs formed, erosion, soft sediment, common across the globe.
What are seagrass?
Some seagrass blades contain diatoms and smaller organisms, it is also eaten by turtles. When a hurricane passes, they bind the sediment that is not eroded
What are the arguments for life starting in deep sea vents?
Some think yes because there is no requirement for sunlight. Amino acids were synthesized at great depth, flushed to surface, molecules settled into nooks and crannies, and made polymers and fragile cells.
What is terrigenous sediment?
Sourced from the land, volcanic eruptions, blown dust (covers a little less than half of ocean floor)
How do shrimps and crabs get food?
Special heat sensing organs so they can move to new sites.
What are characteristics of beaches?
Stressed -sand blizzard environment with low organism diversity -nowhere for organism to hide -low amount of nutrients
What are growth constraints for corals?
Sunlight-can only survive in photic zone Temperature - only thrive in 25-29 deg Salinity - thrive in 25-35 ppt seawater Nutrients - lots of upwelling is not good for reef community Suspended sediments - somewhat of a constraint because clogs of mud and sand can clog reefs
What are deep sea vents?
Super heated water emerges as hot springs. Thriving community surrounds them, they include black smokers. Community includes reefs of mussels, fields of clams, crabs, and large pink fish. First ecosystem on earth that does not derive its energy from sunlight but uses chemosynthesis!
Calcareous oozes are dominant sediment covering North Atlantic sea floor, but rare in North pacific, why is this?
The Atlantic is a slow spreader and the Pacific is a fast spreader. The atlantic is narrower creating less surface area, and the atlantic is fed by more rivers laden with sediment which creates a thicker sediment layer overall resulting in more ooze.
What happens as temperature increases for the organism?
The organism requires more food. This is because chemical reactions increase with increasing temperature, this equals metabolic rate increase.
Why are zooplankton useful?
They are extremely environmentally sensitive, they evolved rapidly which helps us date the fossilized foraminifers. they are ANIMALS not photosynthetic
What is the main energy source for living things on earth?
The sun
What makes up the parts of the reef front?
The top is encrusted due to waves and swell, then they are massive, then going deeper they are branchy, then plate like. The deeper you travel down the reef front there is more surface area but minimum calcium carbonate.
What is the scattering layer in the open ocean?
The zone of dense population of fish and squid and other animals that rises and falls. The sun rises, the level drops. The autotrophs are being fed on by heterotrophs, they come up and feed at night because they can't be seen then.
What happens to coral if nitrate increases in water?
The zooxanthellae retains it for their own growth and this harms the corals metabolism. Becomes subject to bleaching and disease.
Why are there deltas at the mouths of Mississippi and Nile rivers but not Columbia rivers?
There must be a broad continental shelf. Tidal range is usually low and waves/currents are mild. No large deltas along us Atlantic coast because sediments that arrive are deposited in the sunken river mouths or dispersed among tides and currents. Also no large deltas because its a converging margin and sediment that would form a delta is swept down the continental slope or dispersed along coast by waves.
What are characteristics about corals?
They are mixytrophs (10% energy heterotroph 90% autotroph) They contain symbionts (zooxanthallae) Their symbionts are photosynthetic They are found in the photic zone Corals can survive in low nutrient environment due to their nutrient cycling (that is why water is clear)
Why are sand and gravel important resources?
They are the second most important next to oil and gas in dollar value. They are not extensive but are important for reconstruction especially in places like japan, or UK
What is significant about leopard seals?
They are the second top predator after the orca. Have massive head and jaws. Diverse diet of krill, other seals, penguins, cephalopods, and a few sharks.
Why do coral reefs contain astonishing biological diversity and density?
They form in areas of high wave energy, tiny dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae) make corals successful in nutrient poor water. They carry on photosynthesis and there is a cycling of nutrients between the coral and zooxanthellae.
What are cnidaria? what are the 2 types?
They have stinging cells (cnidoblasts) which help kill prey. two types are medusa and polyps. Coral is essentially upside-down medusa as the tentacles have stinging cells and the stinging is accumulative.
Why are grazers critical?
They keep the algae numbers low in the reef ecosystem.
What are mangrove forests?
Trees with dense roots above the surface, that act as substrate for a variety of living things like oysters. The leaves can be coated with salt from the tree, the forests are dense and act as nursery homes for many fish. Common in tropical ish areas
What are the two types of invertebrate chordates?
Tunicates and Amphioxus Tunicates = sea squirts, suspension feeders, look like sponges Amphioxus (lacelet) are sharp at both ends, bury in the sand and swim like fish
How do heart urchins live in sediment?
Use a respiratory funnel system to exchange gases
What are marine angiosperms?
Vascular plants that reproduce with flowers and seeds, did not evolve until the cretaceous two main types are sea grasses and mangroves
What is the antarctic like?
Very little precipitation, high winds, colder than the arctic because no ocean between land and its higher in elevation. West wind drift goes all around antarctica and blows constantly - is the strongest current. Water is blown to the LEFT due to ekman spiral. Wind creates upwelling, but antarctic bottom water flows around the entire globe.
Explain surface to volume ratio in cells
Volume of a cell increases with diameter cubed, while surface area increases with diameter squared. This means eventually the cell grows so large it has to flow through the membrane is not enough and it must divide
Where is other hydrogenous sediment sometimes found?
Warm areas like mangrove swamps, salt marshes in the high latitudes -as water enters estuaries, it evaporates and starts to precipitate a variety of minerals, you end up inc conc of the brine.
What is an endothermic organism?
Warm blooded, stable high temperature, high metabolic rates, can tolerate temperature shifts
What is important to know about the cod?
We don't know a lot but they are omnivores, they live 20-25 yrs, they spawn copiously, they are dynamic in terms of oceanography, but they are caught by humans often because they have firm flesh that is free of oil and bones plus they are easily preserved.
How do we know the climate is changing?
We know that climate fluctuation is normal, but the global average temperature is fluctuating in a steep incline. We are able to track the co2 in the atmosphere. ice sheets are melting. Temperatures on continents are changing.
How could gas hydrates affect ships?
Weight from gas hydrates causes density change in the water and boats are only meant to float on water. This could sink the ship!
What are evaporites?
a natural salt or mineral deposit left after the evaporation of a body of water. Ex. calcite, gypsum, halite, and other salts.
How is a population different from a community? niche vs habitat?
a population is a group of organisms of the same species that occupy a specific area. Community is composed of many populations. A habitat is an organisms address or location within a community and the niche is its occupation or role.
what are Hydrocarbons and how do they form.
about 1/3 of crude oil and 1/4 of natural gas. Lots of activity to try and go deeper to get hydrocarbon out of rocks. They form from burial of organic rich sediments on continental margins. They are transformed into hydrocarbons by heating through burial and geothermal heat flow. Flow into permeable sediments until trapped. Best traps are buried rivers, beaches, deltas, reefs etc.
Where does pollution tend to be concentrated in the ocean?
air-sea interface where conditions promote particle aggregation. Along pycnoclines especially in estuaries where particles are trapped by density discontinuity. The sea bottoms because they chemically attach to silt and clay sized particles.
What is chemosynthesis?
carbon dioxide water oxygen and hydrogen sulphide which is oxidized and creates ch20 and h2so4
How do we classify marine environments?
by light and location
How is pH of the ocean controlled?
controlled by amount of carbon dioxide in the ocean (aka why global warming causes acid ocean). All factors fluctuate with depth.
What are well mixed estuaries?
differing mixtures of fresh and salt water, tidal turbulence stirs the water together as runoff pushes mixture into the sea.
What are biological factors in ocean?
diffusion, osmosis, active transport, and surface-to-volume ratio
What are the four types of estuaries?
drowned river valley, bar built, tectonic, and fjord
What is the difference between east and west Antarctica?
east - ice covered plateau West - archipelago of mountains welded together by ice. East and west are separated by transantarctic mountains
What is the abyssal plain?
endless sameness, dark, cold, hypersaline, low organism density, ow metabolic rates, common to see gigantism due to slow metabolic rates (they reproduce when they are old), echinoderms and burrowing worms succeed here, rocky high is populated by corals that have no symbionts, high diversity few phyla.
How do marine animals stay buoyant somewhat?
gas filled bladders in some animals help (like sharks). Other animals use body fluids for buoyancy.
How does climate change affect cods?
global warming causes ice to melt and the labrador current gets stronger, the cods then freeze when trying to spawn in shallow water.
characteristics of snails?
grazers, suspension feeders, some are predators, most are benthic, able to seal off from the environment, nudibranch snails have shells inside!
Why are cosmogenous sediment findings useful?
help to prove the big bang theory. we have matched tekites to 65 mill year ago. Tekites result from collisions with extraterrestrial materials.
What is a greenhouse environmental consequence of gas hydrates?
hydrate can break down and form methane gas if temperature of ocean water increases or pressure decreases (sea level falls)
What is the difference between ice shelves and icebergs?
ice shelfs are breaks along crevasses or cracks to form Icebergs. this is Icebergs are generally flat because break from shelves. Shelves move seaward due to pressure flow from continent.
Arthropods
includes lobster, crab, shrimp, krill, barnacles. Strong lightweight exoskeleton, lightweight form of muscle, full range of motion at each point, skeleton is chitin, have to molt to grow a new shell, burrow in the ocean.
Echinoderms
invertebrates with an internal skeleton and lack eyes, brains, are radically symmetrical and operate hydraulically with their vascular system
where are deep sea vents found? What is their process?
mid ocean ridges. Seawater is drawn into the porous rock, metal sulphides are added, and they move out into the cold ocean water, they are then precipitated and it repeats.
What is biodiversity in antarctica like?
not a ton of terrestrial life, mostly insects and small animals. Sea life is spectacular with whales, penguins, squids, seals, etc. Adelie penguins travel furthest north, but would never go north of the equator.
What is biogenic sediment?
organic accumulation of hard pars of marine organisms, dominant on the deep ocean floor (covers most). Sediment with biogenic component < 30% termed calcareous, siliceous clay. Calcareous or siliceous 'oozes' if biogenic component is > 30%
How do autotrophs obtain energy?
photosynthesis. These are the primary producers that generate organic matter and give off oxygen.
Who are included in carnivora?
pinnipeds (winged foot) like seals, seaminess, walrus Fissipeds (split foot) like sea otters and polar bears
How was the start of multicellular life possible? (Theories)
powering alkalinity of the oceans, attainment of a low global mean temperature, maintenance of a critical level of dissolved oxygen in the sea, establishment of the required trade metals.
what are the pros and cons of rocky shores?
problems in rocky: tide rises and falls, alternately drenching and drying out animals/plants, wave shock (crashing waves) tears at structures, temperature can change rapidly, predators and grazers visit at high tide and those from land visit at low, sediment movement can uncover and cover habitants. perks: large quantity of food, junction between land and ocean, currents stir nutrients, rise and fall of tides.
pros and cons of sandy/beach shores?
problems: sand (sharp grains pointed edges), no real protection unless you burrow, exposure to predators, osmotic shock from rain. perks: less wave shock like in estuaries, often act as marine nurseries.
What is Cosmogenous sediment?
sediment from dust from space, meteorite debris
What are partially mixed estuaries?
share some properties of salt wedge and well mixed, energy for mixing comes from both tidal turbulence and river flow (ike Thames river)
What are silica producers?
siliceous oozes (primarily diatom). They cover about 15% of the ocean floor. -distribution mirror regions of high productivity -common at high latitudes and upwelling zones -diatoms and radiolaria
What are protozoa? Why are they important?
single celled, free living (not attached to something else) organisms. They rapidly evolve and they tell us about the environment based on their structure.
What are porifera?
sponges. They range in size, are the most primitive animals, very effective feeders, often grow with mixed coral, live in a variety of habitats.
What are characteristics of Rhodophytes?
these grow the deepest, both red and green are calcified, these form crusts and branches
What is a primary coast?
they are influenced by land, they are the same condition as when the sea level stabilized after the ice age.
What are gas hydrates?
they are mostly methane gas combined with water in a low temperature, high pressure environment. In a cage of water, looks like snow and occurs worldwide. Thickness in continental rise sediments and this is important to note in regards to earthquakes.
what are tube worms?
tiny organisms living near deep sea vents. They have no mouth, no digestive track, no anus, but are packed with symbiotic bacteria. Tentacles absorb h2s, transport it to bacteria, and the bacteria used it to convert co2 to organic molecules.
What are drift nets?
transparent, nylon nets that span large expanses of water to capture passing fish
Why does it matter to us?
we eat seafood, ocean atmosphere drives weather, we use ships and ports for cargo, we all live relatively close to shores, etc.