Marine Biology Exam Review
Examination Date
Thursday, January 20th – 8:00 AM – W110
Students will need two sharpened #2 pencils. Students may complete the short answer
questions in pen.
Students with exam conflicts should advise the instructor as soon as possible so that
arrangements can be made. Students in Physics should sit for that exam at the
regularly scheduled time and see their instructor for alternative arrangements for this
exam.
Format for the Exam
100
5 of 8
Multiple Choice (1 point each)
Short Answer Questions (10 points each)
Total exam value (150 points – 17% of your semester grade)
Scope
Marine Biology 5th edition
 Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6,
Origins of Life – Video Presentations
Preparation for the Exam
This exam will test your general knowledge of the physical and chemical marine
environment and the biology of marine plankton and macroalgae. Emphasis will be
placed on topics presented in class, laboratories, or assigned projects.
Students may prepare by using their notes, previous assignments and quizzes, and by
reviewing the topics presented in this review sheet.
It is not enough for students to “memorize” vocabulary. Students should attempt to
refresh on the “concepts behind the words.”
Short Answers
A list of the short answer questions will be provided to students prior to the exam.
Students are expected to independently review these topics, select five, and prepare to
answer the questions on the exam. Students are not permitted to use notes of any type
to answer these questions during the exam period.
1
Concepts for Review - “One Hundred Questions”
The following questions will be a helpful study guide for the Marine Science Mid-term
Examination. Key words are listed in bold type.
Chapter 1: The Science of Marine Biology & Earth is Born
QUESTIONS

















What significant technologies have added to our understanding of the marine environment?
What inventions first allowed individuals to spend extended time underwater?
What is the scientific method?
What are the steps of the scientific method?
What are the limitations of the scientific method?
What is a hypothesis?
What is the difference between induction and deduction?
What is the difference between a controlled variable and an experimental variable?
What is the purpose of an experiment?
What is a scientific theory?
How old is the Earth?
How did the Earth form?
How did the moon form?
How did liquid water come to exist on the early Earth?
What is the significance of comet and meteor impacts to the presence of life on the early Earth?
What is the significance of cyanobacteria to life’s existence on Earth?
What is a stromatolite?
KEY TERMS
scientific method
induction
deduction
hypothesis
experiment
variable
controlled variable
experimental variable
theory
HMS Challenger
JOIDES Resolution
SONAR
SCUBA
aqualung
diving bell
remotely operated vehicles
autonomous underwater
vehicles
chronometer
R/V Flip
Alvin
Aquarius
remote sensing
controlled variable
experimental variable
theory
2
Chapter 2: The Sea Floor & Life on Earth
QUESTIONS

















What are the characteristics of the Earth’s early atmosphere?
How are the Earth’s layers structured?
What are the differences between continental crust and oceanic crust?
How do the ocean basins compare to one another with respect to size?
What is Alfred Wegener’s hypothesis of continental drift?
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
What evidence supports the theory of plate tectonics?
What is the difference between a convergent plate boundary and a divergent plate
boundary?
What geological features predominate when two plates converge? diverge?
What does the presence of magnetic anomalies suggest about the formation of the Earth’s
oceanic crust at the mid-ocean ridges?
What are the major topographical features of the ocean floor?
What is the “Ring of Fire?”
What is a hot spot?
What is the difference between an active continental margin and a passive continental
margin?
What is an extremophile?
How are various extremophiles classified?
What geologic features are associated with the various plate boundaries throughout the world?
KEY TERMS
density
Pangea
inner core
outer core
mantle
crust
lithosphere
asthenosphere
mesosphere
continental crust
oceanic crust
continental drift
plate tectonics
lithospheric plates
Alfred Wegener
convergent boundary
divergent boundary
mid-ocean ridge
fault
transform fault
trench
sea-floor spreading
magnetic anomalies
rift
rift valley
subduction
subduction zone
island arc
shear boundary
hot spot
continental margins
continental shelf
continental slope
continental rise
abyssal plain
shelf break
seamount
guyot
deep sea fan
submarine canyon
active margin
passive margin
central rift valley
hydrothermal vent
black smoker
3
Chapter 3: Chemical and Physical Features of Seawater and the World Ocean
QUESTIONS

































What are the properties of water?
What is hydrogen bonding?
What factors affect the salinity of the world’s oceans?
What affect does salinity have on the freezing point of water?
What is the rule of constant proportions?
What is the relationship between a thermocline, a halocline, and a pycnocline?
What is the photic zone?
How does the ocean affect the absorption or penetration of light?
What are the general trends of pressure, temperature, salinity, light intensity, oxygen, and density
with depth?
What is the oxygen minimum zone?
How does the carbon dioxide buffering system control the pH of the ocean?
What is the pH range of seawater?
What affect does water’s heat capacity have on local climates?
What is thermohaline circulation?
What are the wavelengths of tides, wind driven waves, and tsunamis?
What is the period and fetch of a wave?
What is the relationship between wave speed, wavelength, and wave period?
What are the parts of a wave?
How do water molecules move as a wave passes?
Where are the major wind belts located on the Earth?
What is the Coriolis effect?
What are the differences among currents, countercurrents, and continental boundary
currents?
What is upwelling?
What is the relationship between the Ekman layer and Ekman transport?
What are tides?
What causes tides?
What causes variability in the tidal cycles or patterns in a particular area?
What is the difference between a spring tide and a neap tide?
What are the differences among diurnal, semidiurnal, and mixed semidiurnal tide patterns?
What causes seas, swells, and surf?
What factors contribute to the devastation that can be caused by tsunamis?
What physical factors in the ocean can cause upwelling and downwelling?
What are the different zones in the ocean with respect to where living things can survive?
KEY TERMS
chemical property
physical property
hydrogen bonds
evaporation
density
latent heat of evaporation
latent heat of fusion
specific heat
evaporative cooling
polar covalent
viscosity
surface tension
universal solvent
cohesion
adhesion
salinity
parts per thousand
practical salinity units (psu)
halocline
thermocline
pycnocline
depth profile
pressure
light transparency
atmosphere (unit)
biogeographical zones
stability
water column
stratification
surface layer
intermediate layer
deep & bottom layers
instability
overturn
downwelling
thermohaline circulation
Coriolis effect
surface currents
trade winds
westerlies
polar easterlies
gyre
4
Ekman spiral
Ekman transport
equatorial currents
gyres
waves
crest
trough
wavelength
wave period
wave height
fetch
seas
swells
surf
tsunami
photic zone
euphotic zone
disphotic zone
aphotic zone
oxygen minimum zone
current
countercurrent
continental boundary current
El Niño
upwelling
conduction
convection
Chapter 5: The Microbial World
QUESTIONS



















What is a prokaryote?
What are the parts of a typical prokaryotic cell?
What are the evolutionary relationships among Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya?
What is the difference between autotrophs and heterotrophs?
In what ways do autotrophs make their own food? In what ways do heterotrophs obtain their food?
What is light-mediated ATP synthesis?
How have cyanobacteria contributed to the atmosphere of Earth?
What structures do cyanobacteria create?
What is a harmful algal bloom (HAB) and how might one affect humans?
What photosynthetic pigments are used by unicellular organisms and their respective colors?
What is a heterocyst?
What is nitrogen fixation?
What is an extremophile?
Where might extremophiles be found on our planet?
List the characteristics of algae and marine unicellular eukaryotes.
Understand variations in diatom size, color, and mode of reproduction.
How do diatoms reproduce?
What is the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction?
Compare the size, shape, composition, nutrition, and movement of the following marine unicellular
eukaryotes: diatoms, silicoflagellates, coccolithophorids, cryptophytes, dinoflagellates, foraminiferans,
radiolarians, and ciliates.
cell wall
capsule
peptidoglycan
pili
plasmid
flagella
cilia
extremophile
halophile
methanogen
thermoacidophile
autotroph
photoautotroph
chemoautrotroph
heterotroph
light-mediated ATP
synthesis
cyanobacteria
chlorophyll a
phycocyanin
phycoerythrin
pigment
red tides
harmful algal bloom
(HAB)
stromatolites
nitrogen fixation
heterocyst
bacteriorhodpsin
algae
diatom
frustule
epitheca
hypotheca
centrate
pennate
auxospore
silica
diatomaceous ooze
bloom
biogenous ooze
siliceous ooze
calcareous ooze
zooxanthellae
cellulose
carotenoid
dinoflagellate
silicoflagellates
coccolithophorid
coccolith
protozoan
foraminiferan
pseudopodia
radiolarian
ciliate
microbial loop
detritus
plankton
5
Chapter 6: Marine Primary Producers
QUESTIONS




Draw and label the basic structure of a marine macroalga.
Compare and contrast the relative abundance, pigmentation, distribution, and economic importance
of green, brown, and red algae.
Interpret a diagram showing the life history of a marine macroalga and explain how it displays an
alternation of generations
Explain how marine macroalgae are harvested and used by people.
thallus
stipe
blade
pneumatocyst
holdfast
sexual reproduction
asexual reproduction
diploid
haploid
gamete
spore
sporophyte
gametophyte
alternation of generations
algin
carageenan
agar
6