Marine Science Practice Final
1. Which variable is the variable that the scientist
controls in an experiment?
a. Independent variable
b. Dependent variable
c. Nothing
2. What is the name of the theory that states that
our Solar System was created in an explosion 14
billion years ago?
a. The Creation Theory
b. The Big Bang Theory
c. The Ta-da Theory
3. How much of Earth’s surface is covered by
oceans?
a. 70%
b. 90%
c. 10%
d. 99%
4. Approximately what percent of our oceans have
been explored?
a. 97%
b. 70%
c. Less than 5%
d. Less than 1%
5. Which ocean is the largest?
a. Atlantic
b. Pacific
c. Antarctic
d. Indian
6. What type of plate boundary is when two
tectonic plates come together?
a. Reunion boundary
b. Convergent boundary
c. Divergent boundary
d. Transform boundary
7. What type of plate boundary results in a lot of
our trenches?
a. Divergent boundary
b. Convergent boundary
c. Transform boundary
8. What source of energy drives the carbon cycle?
a. Wind
b. Currents
c. Sun
9. What element makes up a majority of ocean
water?
a. Oxygen
b. Hydrogen
c. Magic
d. Carbon
10. Which of the following is not a unique property
of water?
a. Universal solvent
b. Exists in all 3 states of mater
c. It is clear
d. Polarity
11. The type of sediment that derives from eroded
land material is called:
a. Volcanogenic
b. Hydrogenous
c. Terrigenous
d. Cosmogenic
12. The type of sediment on the ocean floor that
derives from space is called:
a. Volcanogenic
b. Hydrogenous
c. Terrigenous
d. Cosmogenic
13. The study of underwater depths of the ocean
floor is called:
a. Searching
b. Bathymetry
c. Sonymetry
d. Satellite
14. What is considered to be the deepest part of
the ocean?
a. Mariana Trench
b. The abyss
c. Where the titanic sank
15. Living factors are also known as:
a. Abiotic
b. Biotic
c. Life-otic
16. What is not considered an abiotic factor?
a. Plants
b. Sunlight
c. Moisture
d. Current
17. The zone of the ocean where light does not
reach is known as the:
a. Photic zone
b. Dark black
c. Aphotic zone
18. Which description best fits the life found in the
photic zone of the ocean?
a. Very sparse life, not much color, very
large creatures
b. Lots of life, clear or transparent bodies,
large creatures
c. Lots of life, lots of colorful creates
varying in size
d. Very sparse life, clear or transparent
bodies, small creatures
19. Where are the saltiest oceans on the planet
located?
a. Near the north pole
b. Near the equator
c. At higher latitudes
d. Near the Prime meridian
20. The amount of dissolved solids in water is called
the:
a. Current
b. Salinity
c. Solidity
21. Which of the following is not a way to increase
salinity:
a. Evaporation
b. Formation of sea salt
c. Precipitation
22. Why are the saltiest oceans found closer to the
equator?
a. Warmer temperatures lead to increased
evaporation which leaves salt in the
ocean
b. Cooler temperatures lead to increased
evaporation which leaves salt in the
ocean
c. The warmer temperatures create salt in
the ocean water by chemical processes
d. Warmer waters reduce salinity, so this
cannot be a true statement
23. What does density depend on?
a. Temperature
b. Salinity
c. All of the above
24. Choose the mass of water with the highest
density.
a. Cold and high salinity
b. Warm and high salinity
c. Cold and low salinity
d. Warm and low salinity
25. Which water mass would be found closest to
the surface of the ocean?
a. Cold and high salinity
b. Warm and high salinity
c. Cold and low salinity
d. Warm and low salinity
26. Waves are the result of energy traveling
through the ocean water. Where does that
energy come from?
a. Hot spots
b. Release of latent heat
c. Wind
d. Volcanic eruptions
27. Which of these characteristics is NOT a factor in
wave height?
a. Fetch
b. Speed
c. Length of time
d. Temperature
28. Which situation will most likely create the
largest waves?
a. 30 mph winds for a few days over Falls
Lake
b. 40 mph winds for a few minutes over a
pond by your house
c. 50 mph winds that gust for a few
seconds over a drainage pond
29. Do waves travel more quickly in deeper water
or shallow water?
a. Deep
b. Shallow
30. A current that makes a complete loop is known
as a:
a. Circular wind
b. Gyre
c. Loop currents
d. Patch currents
31. What is one unintentional problem with ocean
currents?
a. Large density currents can move huge
amounts of nutrients from the bottom
of the ocean floor to the surface
b. Surface currents can create gyres,
which can trap large amounts of
garbage in “dead zones” of no current
movement
c. They can guide ships across the ocean
in faster travel times than normal
d. They can create waves that can flood
coastal regions
32. What type of currents is driven by differences in
salinity and temperatures in the ocean water?
a. River currents
b. Warm currents
c. Coriolis currents
d. Density currents
33. Which level of taxonomy is highest?
a. Class
b. Family
c. Species
d. Genus
34. Change over time is called:
a. Evolution
b. Species
c. Growing
d. Adapting
35. Usually, seas are what size in comparison to
oceans?
a. Larger
b. Smaller
c. About the same size
36. Which of the following organisms are
hermaphrodites?
a. Flatworms
b. Mollusks
c. Sharks
37. What type of symmetry to Cnidarians have?
a. Radial symmetry
b. Bilateral symmetry
c. Symmetrical symmetry
38. Which of the following is not a cnidarian?
a. Hydroids
b. Jellyfish
c. Sea anemones and corals
d. Kelp
39. Which of the following is a characteristic of
sponge habitats?
a. Need a hard surface
b. Changing shape
c. Rocky reefs, coral reefs and shipwrecks
d. All of the above
40. What is a neural crest?
a. A group of sponges
b. A vertebrae
c. A group of cells that develop from
nerve cords
d. Sensory organs
41. What is a characteristic of a bony fish that helps
fish detect movement and keeps them upright?
a. Brain
b. Swim bladder
c. Lateral line
d. Neural crest
42. Which structure helps fish float?
a. Brain
b. Swim bladder
c. Lateral line
d. Neural crest
43. Which of the following is not considered a bony
fish?
a. Rayfins
b. Skates
c. Sharks
d. Flounders
44. Most cartilaginous fishes produce eggs in
pouches called
a. Egg purses
b. Mermaid’s purse
c. Lunate
d. Egg sack
45. Which of the following is not a cartilaginous
fish?
a. Shark
b. Ray
c. Chimera
d. Flounder
46. Which of the following is not a type of shape of
fish?
a. Fusiform
b. Lunate
c. Compressiform
d. Depressiform
47. Which of the following is not a characteristic of
dolphins?
a. Conical teeth
b. Playful
c. Eats drill
d. High agility
48. What is not true about penguins?
a. They live entirely in water
b. There are around 17 species
c. They lay one egg a year
d. Their diet consists of krill, fish and squid
49. What is the largest known animal?
a. Killer Whale
b. Blue Whale
c. Bottlenose dolphin
d. Elephant
50. Which of the following are the two major
sections of arthropod anatomy?
a. Abdomen and chelipeds
b. Abdomen and swimmerets
c. Cephalothorax and carapace
d. Cephalothorax and abdomen