OCE 100 Campbell, Winter 2007
Study Questions
The point of having you answer these questions is to introduce you to the material in each chapter so that you can
be a productive member of a group during class discussion. Due dates for writing answers to these questions will
be assigned as we go through the quarter. Homework credit is earned by having completed the assignment and
attended class on the due date.
Looking up and copying definitions from the glossary or the text gives you nifty answers but you learn nothing by
this process. Nor do you learn anything by copying answers from your classmates. When you can answer a
question in your own words, you have mastered the concept and should do well on the exams.
Introduction, Ch. 1 (p. 1 through sect. 1.1, box 1.2, p. 18-27) and Appendix 3
1.
What are 4 fields that contribute to our understanding of oceans? Describe the sorts of information we get
from each field and a few of the concerns of each.
2.
Even though we can name many oceans and seas, why is it reasonable to refer to a world ocean? Which
hemisphere contains the greatest percentage of ocean? Is most of Earth’s water in the ocean?
3.
Can the scientific method be applied to speculations about the natural world that are not subject to test or
observation?
4.
Distinguish between hypothesis and theory.
5.
Distinguish crust and mantle from lithosphere and asthenosphere. Explain how their primary
components differ. What are the main differences between continental crust and oceanic crust?
6. Identify and differentiate latitude & longitude, parallel & meridian. Which relates to clock time? Where and
what is the prime meridian? The international dateline?
Ch. 2 Plate Tectonics and the Ocean Floor
1.
When did Pangaea exist?
2.
What evidence did Wegener cite to support his idea of continental drift?
3.
Describe the Earth’s magnetic field.
4.
How did paleomagnetism evidence help support the idea of plate tectonics?
5.
Describe sea floor spreading and why it was an important piece of evidence in support of plate tectonics.
6.
Describe the general relationships that exist among distance from the spreading centers, age of the ocean
crustal rock, and ocean depth.
7.
Why does a map of worldwide earthquakes closely match the locations of worldwide plate boundaries?
8.
Using diagrams, differentiate between spreading centers and subduction zones; between divergent
boundaries, convergent boundaries and transform plate boundaries. Give an example of each.
9.
What is the role of convection cells and magma in plate tectonics?
10.
Differentiate: hot spot, seamount, tablemount (guyot), and atoll. It may be helpful to diagram these
structures.
11.
Why are the continents many times older than the oldest ocean basins?
12.
Where are the youngest rocks in the seabed? The oldest? Why?
Ch. 3 Marine Provinces especially 3.3 - end
1.
Draw and label a diagram showing a cross section of an ocean basin that includes these structures:
abyssal hill, abyssal plain, continental margin, continental rise, continental shelf, continental slope, shelf
break, seamount, tablemount (guyot), submarine canyon, rift valley.
2.
What causes turbidity currents?
3.
Differentiate between active margin and passive margin. Your text refers to “active” and “passive”
margins of the land. See if you can relate the terms “leading” and “trailing” continental margins or
“Atlantic-type” and “Pacific-type” to the concept of active and passive margins.
4.
What is the relationship between an island arc (or continental arc) and a trench?
5.
Compare and contrast a submarine canyon and a deep-ocean trench.
6.
What forms the abyssal plains? Why are they so flat? Why are they relatively rare in the Pacific?
7.
What is an oceanic ridge? Contrast oceanic ridges and trenches.
8.
What are hydrothermal vents and where are they commonly located? How do organisms survive at
hydrothermal vents?
Ch. 4 Marine Sediments
1.
Explain the origins of each of the marine sediments: terrigenous, hydrogenous, cosmogenous and
biogenous sediment.
2.
Why are continental sediments older than marine sediments?
3.
What constitutes ooze?
4.
Can marine sediments tell us about the history of the ocean from the time of its origin? Why or why not?
2
Ch. 5 Water and Seawater
1.
Identify these terms: element, electron, proton, atom, compound, chemical bond, ion, ionic bond, covalent
bond, hydrogen bond, salinity. Drawing illustrations may be useful to you.
2.
What holds a water molecule together? What do we mean when we say water is a polar molecule? What
properties of water are derived from its polar nature?
3.
Differentiate heat from temperature.
4.
What is meant by latent heat? How does the high heat capacity of water influence the ocean
temperatures?
5.
How is heat transported from tropical regions to polar regions?
6.
What factors affect water density? Why does cold water tend to sink? Why does ice float? What role
does salinity play?
7.
How is the ocean stratified by density? What physical factors are involved? What names are given to the
ocean's density zones?
8.
How is the pycnocline related to the thermocline and halocline?
9.
Other than hydrogen and oxygen, what are the most abundant elements in seawater?
10.
What is meant by the principle of constant proportions? How are modern methods of determining salinity
dependent on this principle?
11.
Compare acids and bases. What is the pH range of each? What’s the average pH of the ocean? Why
does pH of seawater change with depth?
Ch. 6
1.
2.
Air-Sea Interaction
What part of Earth gets the most solar energy? What parts of the Earth have the greatest variation in
amount of sunlight received over the course of a year?
Warm air ________, and cold air __________.
(rises/falls)
(rises/falls)
Warm air holds ________ water vapor than cooler air does.
(more/less)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Humid air is __________ dense than dry air at the same temperature and pressure.
(more/less)
Be able to explain your answers.
How does the Coriolis effect appear to alter paths of moving objects including surface winds in the
northern and southern hemispheres?
At what 2 latitudes in the northern hemisphere does air typically rise? At what northern latitudes does air
typically fall? Why? At what latitudes does surface air move horizontally?
Where are the rainy zones and where are the dry zones of the world?
Terms to identify: doldrums, intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), horse latitudes, trade winds,
westerlies, polar easterlies. Which latitudes have deserts and ocean surface water with high salinity? ( A
picture will work nicely.)
What triggers a tropical cyclone? From what is its great power derived? What causes the greatest loss of
life and property when a tropical cyclone reaches land?
What is the difference between climate and weather?
Differentiate greenhouse effect from global warming.
Ch. 7 Ocean Circulation
1.
What causes surface currents?
2.
How do the directions of wind-driven water motions relate to wind directions?
3.
What are countercurrents and undercurrents?
4.
What are the Ekman spiral and Ekman transport?
5.
What causes upwelling and downwelling along coasts and in the open ocean? How do they affect life in
the ocean?
6.
How does La Niňa differ from El Niňo?
7.
What force drives the vertical movement of water?
Ch. 8 Waves
1.
Diagram a wave including the following: wavelength, crest, trough, height.
2.
What is the wave period?
3
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Distinguish deep-water waves from (transitional) intermediate and shallow-water waves. Include these
formulas: D>Length/2 and D<Length/20. What type of wave is each of the following: tide, wind wave,
seismic wave? Which has the longest wavelength?
As waves approach shore, when do they break?
What 3 factors determine the size of open ocean wind waves?
Explain constructive, destructive and mixed interference of waves.
Why do waves bend (refract) when they approach shore? How is this different from diffraction and
reflection?
What ocean depth would be required for a tsunami with a wavelength of 220 kilometers (136 miles) to
travel as a deep-water wave? Is there any place on Earth where this could happen? Explain.
Ch. 9 Tides
1.
What forces cause tides? Why is the moon more influential than the sun? What causes spring tides?
neap tides? (Include diagram of earth, moon, and sun placement for spring and neap tides)
2.
Why are tides and seismic sea waves (tsunami) classed as shallow-water waves? Explain.
3.
Differentiate between the patterns of diurnal, semidiurnal, and mixed tides.
4.
Along the west coast of the U.S. does high tide arrive at the same time everyday? or earlier? or later?
Explain.
5.
Distinguish flood current, ebb current, and slack water.
6.
Why are tides important for a variety of marine organisms? Cite examples.
7.
Where are tidal bores located?
8.
If the Earth did not have a moon, would tides exist? Explain.
Ch. 10 Coasts: Beaches and Shoreline Processes
1.
Diagram a beach including the following labels: shore, intertidal (foreshore), high tide line, low tide line,
longshore trough, longshore bar.
2.
What seasonal changes occur on beaches?
3.
Describe the connection between longshore current, longshore drift (transport), and wave refraction.
4.
What causes sand spits, bay barriers, tombolos, and barrier islands to form?
5.
Why are barrier islands important?
Ch. 11 Coastal Ocean
1.
What is an estuary? What are some factors that determine characteristics of estuaries?
2.
Compare a salt wedge estuary with a well-mixed estuary and a fjord estuary.
3.
Compare Puget Sound circulation with a reverse estuary.
4.
Why are estuaries and wetlands important for marine animals and for humans?
5.
How would you define pollution? Decide whether the 4 items on p. 354 (T&T) are pollutants. Explain your
answer.
Ch. 12 Marine Life and the Marine Environment
1.
What are plankton? How are zooplankton different from phytoplankton?
2.
How are plankton different from nekton and benthos?
3.
What are the major differences between marine algae and land plants? Why are land plants more
complex?
4.
Viscosity, temperature, and salinity all affect marine organisms. How do variations in these three physical
factors affect marine life?
5.
Osmosis and diffusion are important factors for marine organisms. What is the difference between these
two phenomena? Why do marine organisms perform both?
6.
Why does the abundance of dissolved oxygen and nutrients vary with depth of ocean?
Ch. 13 Biological Productivity
1.
What do primary producers produce? Where are they on a food web?
2.
What is compensation depth for photosynthesis? What happens to phytoplankton below that depth? To
zooplankton?
3.
Why are phytoplankton most abundant along coasts and the upper sunlit layers of the temperate zone?
4.
Compare the biological productivity of polar, temperate, and tropical regions of the oceans. Recognize the
importance of a thermocline and the availability of nutrients and solar radiation.
5.
Compare food chains and food webs. Describe the flow of energy through a community. What is the
average efficiency of organisms at each trophic level?
6.
What does maximum sustainable yield mean to marine fisheries?