Dynamic Planet- Division B
Pembroke Hill Invitational - December 6, 2025
Write all answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
DO NOT WRITE ON THIS TEST.
Multiple Choice: Identify the choice that best answers the question or completes the statement.
(1 pt each)
1. Brianna goes for a swim in the ocean. She swims away from shore, and as she begins
treading the deeper water, she notices that the water on the surface is much warmer
than the water touching her toes. What Earth process explains how the surface water
was heated?
a. Gravity
b. Radiation from the sun
c. Convection cells in the ocean
d. Conduction of heat from Earth’s crust
2. Sea water contains about what percent of salts?
a. 10%
b. 1.5%
c. 2.5%
d. 7.5%
3. Are neap tides stronger, weaker, or around the same power as spring tides?
a. Stronger
b. Weaker
c. Around the same
4. What is an ebb current?
a. Offshore flows of water found at beaches where waves break across the surf
zone
b. A flow of water going east to west usually found near rivers with waterfalls nearby
c. When the tide is advancing and the current is weakening
d. When the tide is receding and the current is directed back out to sea
5. How are deep ocean currents caused?
a. By a large amount of sinking surface water
b. By upwelling
c. By oceanic crust disturbances
d. By the coriolis effect
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6. Which of the following is an example of the Coriolis effect?
a. Coral slowly bleaching in the water over time
b. Waves breaking when they hit shore
c. Rocks being turned into sand overtime
d. Hurricane winds turning left in the Northern hemisphere
7. When does upwelling happen?
a. When wind moves warm, nutrient-poor water, prompting it to be replaced by
cooler, nutrient rich water
b. When water is displaced and due to disturbances and the ecosystem fails to
thrive
c. When the water gets very polluted and the top water starts to sink and bring
clean water up
d. When murky water meets fresh water and they mix
8. What growth does coastal upwelling directly support?
a. Sharks
b. Seaweed and plankton
c. Coral
d. All of the above
9. If you live in a place that has diurnal tides how many times a day is there high tide
water?
a. 4
b. 3
c. 2
d. 1
10.Who developed the reef classification system?
a. Isaac Newton
b. John Reefington
c. Robert Ballard
d. Charles Darwin
11. What is the difference between mixed and semidiurnal tides?
a. They are the same thing
b. One of these tides occurs the ocean and the other one occurs in a sea
c. One has more high tides in a day than the other
d. One of these tides rises and falls at the same levels but the other one rises and
falls at unequal levels
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12.Ocean-ocean convergence can cause what?
a. The formation of coral reefs
b. Earthquakes and tsunamis to form
c. Rip currents to form
d. All of the above
13. Is oceanic or coastal crust denser?
a. Oceanic
b. Coastal
c. Around the same
14.A series of long waves that are created far from shore in deeper water is also known as
what?
a. Wave chain
b. Long wave group
c. Storm surge
d. Storming wave cluster
15.What is the opposite of a wave crest?
a. Wave trough
b. Wavelength
c. Wave height
d. Wave period
16.A region where waves break is called a…
a. Break zone
b. Surf zone
c. Crash region
d. Crash zone
17.Ocean currents in the northern hemisphere tend to go which way?
a. Clockwise
b. Counterclockwise
c. It is completely random
d. Towards the equator
18.What chemicals take up 85.4% of the ocean’s ions?
a. Chlorine and Salt
b. Sodium and Sulfate
c. Sodium and Magnesium
d. Chlorine and Sodium
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19.Salinity equals:
a. Volume of salt times volume of water
b. Volume of water divided by weight of salt
c. Weight of salt divided by weight of water
d. Temperature in °C times weight of salt
20.This is directly caused by a full or new moon:
a. Neap tide
b. Spring tide
c. Ekman balance
d. Deep ocean circulation
21.How long does it take for a semidiurnal tide to go from high to low?
a. 12 hrs 25 minutes
b. 3 hrs 14.5 minutes
c. 24 hrs 50 minutes
d. 6 hrs 12.5 minutes
22.What force drives tidal resonance?
a. Gravitational pull of the Moon
b. Wind
c. Tides
d. The Coriolis Effect
23.Why is there less upwelling during El Nino?
a. Increase of the transition zone between surface and deep ocean
b. Weak winds
c. More trade winds
d. Both A and B
24.Which of the following is NOT one of the first signs of an El Nino?
a. Fall in air pressure over the Indian Ocean
b. Fall in air pressure over Tahiti
c. Rain in the northern Peruvian deserts
d. Trade winds in the south Pacific weaken
25.Which of the following are responsible for famous surfing waves off the west coast of the
US?
a. Diurnal tides
b. Meteorological tides
c. Semi-diurnal tides
d. Mixed tides
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True or False: Write True or False (not just T or F) on your answer sheet. Answers that cannot
be read will be counted wrong. (1 point per blank)
26.Salinity changes rapidly with depth in the halocline.
27.The rate of sea level rise is not the same everywhere.
28.Phases of the pacific decadal oscillation typically lasts for 12 to 15 years.
29.Meteorological tides result from gravitational effects.
30.Wave height is unaffected by fetch.
31.Atolls are formed when longshore currents strike the beach at an angle.
32.Wave speed is also known as celerity.
33.Depth is not the only factor that affects the temperature of water.
34.The thermocline is an index for measuring the temperature of the ocean.
35.The deep ocean receives carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to support the sea life
there.
Use the Image below to answer question 36.
36.Identify the topographic features in this photo (A-F).
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Fill in the Blank: On your answer sheet, write the term(s) that fill in each blank. (1 pt per blank)
37.The ________________ is a powerful current in the Atlantic Ocean. It starts in the Gulf
of Mexico and flows into the Atlantic at the tip of Florida, crashing into the eastern
coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland and delivering warm water to
Northwestern Europe
38.__________________ is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes
of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water,
or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. This is solid material that is moved
and deposited in a new location. This can consist of rocks and minerals, as well as the
remains of plants and animals.
39.A _________________ is the place where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes
with salt water from the oceans
40.___________________ are strong channels of water that flow away from the shore and
perpendicular to the coastline.
41.The ________________________ is a pattern of movement that explains how wind,
friction, and the Coriolis effect interact to shape ocean currents.
42.____________________ refers to the phenomenon where ocean currents along western
boundaries of ocean basins become stronger, narrower, and faster than currents along
the eastern boundaries.
43.Wave _______________ is the number of waves passing a fixed point in a specific
period of time.
44.____________________ sediments are derived from space, such as asteroids falling
into the ocean.
45.SONAR stands for sound __________________.
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