Oceans RETEST
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1. A technique that uses sound waves to measure the depth of the ocean floor is
a. dredging.
b. sonar.
c. SCUBA.
d. weighted lines.
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2. Which of the following does NOT make studying the ocean floor difficult?
a. The ocean consists of salt water rather than fresh.
b. The deep ocean is in total darkness.
c. The water in the deep ocean is extremely cold.
d. There is tremendous pressure in the deep ocean.
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3. Which of the following features is made up of a range of mountains that wind through the ocean?
a. seamount
b. trench
c. abyssal plain
d. mid-ocean ridge
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4. A nearly flat region of the ocean floor, covered with thick layers of sediment, is called a(an)
a. seamount.
b. abyssal plain.
c. continental slope.
d. mid-ocean ridge.
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5. The part of the ocean that extends from the low-tide line to the edge of the continental shelf is the
a. neritic zone.
b. open-ocean zone.
c. intertidal zone.
d. deep zone.
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6. The area that stretches from the highest high-tide line on land out to the point on the continental shelf exposed
by the lowest low tide is called the
a. intertidal zone.
b. neritic zone.
c. estuary zone.
d. deep zone.
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7. The horizontal distance between wave crests is the
a. frequency.
b. wavelength.
c. trough.
d. wave height.
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8. The size of a wave is NOT affected by the
a. length of time the wind blows across the water.
b. salinity of the water.
c. strength of the wind.
d. distance the wind blows across the water.
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9. As a wave nears shore, the wave height increases and the wavelength
a. decreases.
b. increases.
c. stays the same.
d. doubles.
____ 10. When a tsunami hits the shore, it can be very destructive because of its large
a. sandbar.
b. trough.
c. wave height.
d. frequency.
____ 11. A rush of water that flows rapidly back to sea through a narrow opening is called a
a. longshore drift.
b. breaker.
c. tsunami.
d. rip current.
____ 12. Dunes reduce beach erosion because
a. they cause the tides to go higher.
b. they cause waves to break offshore.
c. the roots of dune plants hold sand in place.
d. they prevent people from walking on the beach.
____ 13. Salinity is a measure of which of the following in water?
a. carbon dioxide
b. oxygen
c. dissolved salts
d. sand
____ 14. What is the most abundant salt in sea water?
a. sodium chloride
b. magnesium chloride
c. calcium chloride
d. potassium chloride
____ 15. Which of the following areas in the ocean is likely to have the lowest salinity?
a. a warm, tropical sea
b. the cold Arctic Ocean
c. a bay at the mouth of a big river
d. deep parts of the Pacific Ocean
____ 16. Which of these gases is about 60 times more plentiful in the ocean than it is in the atmosphere?
a. oxygen
b. carbon dioxide
c. carbon monoxide
d. helium
____ 17. The growth of algae in ocean water is limited by their need for
a. warm ocean currents.
b. carbon dioxide and sunlight.
c. dissolved oxygen.
d. low salinity.
____ 18. In which zone is ocean temperature most affected by the weather?
a. transition zone
b. deep zone
c. surface zone
d. polar zone
____ 19. As you descend through the water column,
a. temperature decreases.
b. pressure decreases.
c. light increases.
d. density decreases.
____ 20. Tides are caused by
a. strong winds that blow over ocean waters.
b. the interaction of Earth, the moon, and the sun.
c. the shifting of the plates on the ocean floor.
d. variations in the salinity of ocean water.
____ 21. A tide with the LEAST difference between low and high tide is called a
a. spring tide.
b. neap tide.
c. rip tide.
d. monthly tide.
____ 22. A tidal power plant requires a location with a large difference between high and low tides. Which of these
locations would be best for a tidal power plant?
a. the open ocean
b. a straight coastline with few bays or islands
c. a basin or narrow channel near the mouth of a river
d. a freshwater lake
____ 23. A tidal power plant produces energy using the movement of water
a. in surface waves.
b. between high tide and low tide.
c. due to earthquakes.
d. between neap tide and spring tide.
____ 24. One advantage of tidal power is that
a. it is a clean, renewable source of energy.
b. it is easily available all over the world.
c. the tides always occur at times when there is greatest demand for electricity.
d. the power plant must be built across the opening of a bay.
____ 25. A large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans is called a(an)
a. current.
b. tsunami.
c. tide.
d. undertow.
____ 26. In the Northern Hemisphere, currents curve to the right because of the
a. longshore drift.
b. density.
c. Coriolis effect.
d. moon’s gravity.
____ 27. Which of the following is true of El Niño?
a. Scientists fully understand the conditions that create El Niño.
b. El Niño affects only the ocean, not the land.
c. El Niño can cause severe storms and can prevent upwelling in certain areas.
d. El Niño usually occurs twice a year.
____ 28. What causes cold, deep currents to form in the oceans near the poles?
a. sinking of dense, cold water with high salinity
b. the Coriolis force
c. movement of a large mass of warm water across the Pacific
d. sinking of cold, freshwater from melting icebergs
____ 29. Which of the following types of current typically carries cold, dense water from the poles toward the equator?
a. surface currents
b. longshore currents
c. deep currents
d. rip currents
____ 30. The movement of cold, deep ocean water to replace warm water at the surface is called
a. upwelling.
b. a surface current.
c. the Coriolis effect.
d. El Niño.