Physical Oceanography Question
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Course Introduction
Physical Oceanography explores the fundamental principles governing the movement, properties, and dynamics of the ocean. This course examines the physical processes that drive ocean circulation, including waves, tides, currents, and the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere. Students will learn how temperature, salinity, and density influence water movement, and study large-scale phenomena such as El Niño, the Gulf Stream, and thermohaline circulation. Emphasis is placed on understanding the role of the oceans in Earth's climate system, data collection techniques, and the impact of human activities on oceanic processes.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Oceanography 6th Edition by Tom S. Garrison
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Chapter 1: The Origin of the Ocean
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Q1) About ____ percent of Earth's water is found in the Ocean.
A)97.5
B) 71
C)67.4
D)30.1
Answer: A
Q2) The ocean originated from:
A) volcanic gases.
B) radioactive heating of the Earth's interior, and the heating of the surface by meteorites striking and melting the outer layers of the Earth.
C) capture by the Earth's gravity of water molecules in space.
D) volcanic gases, radioactive heating of the Earth's interior, and a barrage of icy comets or asteroids striking and melting the outer layers of the Earth.
Answer: D
Q3) The universe began to form around 13 billion years ago.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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3
Chapter 2: A History of Marine Science
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Q1) A chronometer is a timepiece that can be used to determine longitude.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The invention of the compass is attributed to the:
A) Americans
B) Chinese
C) Spanish
D) British Answer: B
Q3) Humanity did not spread to all the inhabitable areas of Earth until after the European voyages of discovery in the late 1400s and early 1500s.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) A compass is a navigational tool that points to magnetic north.
A)True
B)False Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The magnetic striping of the seafloor is considered evidence of seafloor spreading and:
A) subduction down the rift valleys.
B) spreading centers in the trenches.
C) changes in the Earth's axis of rotation.
D) periodic reversals in the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field.
Answer: D
Q2) How has the history of plate movement been captured in residual magnetic fields?
Answer: A compass needle points to the magnetic north pole because of the persistent magnetic field caused by the movement of molten metal in the Earth's outer core. As new seafloor is produced at spreading centers, the magnetic minerals' (naturally occurring in basaltic magma) align with the Earth's magnetic field. As the new rock cools and hardens, the orientation of the Earth's magnetic field at that particular time is frozen and records information like a fossil does. Scientists use this information to measure spreading rates and are able to create detailed charts of the ocean floor dating back about 200 million years.
Q3) Subduction zones are areas where new seafloor is created.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Ocean Basins
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Q1) Submarine canyons occur:
A) at the part of an ocean basin nearest the poles.
B) at the part of an ocean basin nearest the equator.
C) at the junction between continental shelf and continental slope.
D) at the center of an ocean basin, at the edges of the mid-ocean ridge.
Q2) The deepest parts of the Pacific Basin are located:
A) in the center of the Pacific Ocean near the Hawaiian Islands.
B) in the eastern part of the basin, off North America.
C) in the rift valley of the East Pacific Rise.
D) near the margins of South America, Japan, and the Marianas Islands.
Q3) Which of the following statements is true regarding the islands bordering deep-sea trenches?
A) They are the result of a series of quiet, continuous basaltic eruptions.
B) They are accumulations of sediments on the margins of the trenches.
C) They are formed from the activities of coral and other organisms.
D) They are explosive volcanoes and are called island arcs.
Q4) Hydrothermal vents such as black smokers are found at spreading centers.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Distinguish between active and passive continental margins.
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Chapter 5: Ocean Sediments
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Sample Questions
Q1) More than 75% of the total ocean floor is considered:
A) continental shelf.
B) deep ocean floor.
C) continental slope.
D) continental rise.
Q2) Some sediment originates from the remnants of organisms.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following metals is not usually found in manganese nodules?
A) iron
B) uranium
C) nickel
D) cobalt
Q4) The analysis of layered sedimentary deposits in the ocean is:
A) stratigraphy.
B) oceanography.
C) marine biology.
D) ecology.
Q5) What is the origin of manganese nodules?
Q6) What are the main sources of terrigenous sediments?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Water
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Sample Questions
Q1) The wavelength(s) of light that penetrate deepest into the ocean are:
A) red and violet.
B) red and yellow.
C) blue and red.
D) green and blue.
Q2) The two most abundant elements (ions) dissolved in seawater are:
A) fluorine and iodine.
B) gold and silver.
C) bromine and boron.
D) sodium and chloride.
Q3) Explain at least three processes that happen to light from the sun as it reaches the surface of the ocean.
Q4) As carbon dioxide dissolves at the surface of the ocean, it combines chemically to form a weak acid called carbonic acid.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the distribution of oxygen in the ocean from the surface to the deep sea.
Q6) Describe how carbon dioxide acts as a buffer in seawater.
Q7) What is meant by the mixing time of the ocean?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Circulation
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Q1) The most abundant gaseous components of the Earth's atmosphere are:
A) carbon dioxide and oxygen.
B) nitrogen and hydrogen.
C) nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
D) nitrogen and oxygen.
Q2) According to the atmospheric circulation model developed in the text, air tends to
A) rise at 30° north and fall at 60° north.
B) rise at 60° north and fall at 30° north.
C) rise at 30° north and fall at 0° north.
D) rise at 30° north and rise at 60° north.
Q3) Near the poles (both in the north and south) the jet stream flows west to east.
A)True
B)False
Q4) During an El Niño event:
A) the trade winds strengthen.
B) the central eastern Pacific ocean becomes cooler.
C) sea level falls in the central eastern Pacific ocean.
D) a strong equatorial countercurrent develops in the Pacific.
Q5) What is a hurricane and how are they formed?
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Chapter 8: Ocean Circulation
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Q1) The largest of the western boundary currents is the:
A) Gulf Stream.
B) California Current.
C) East Pacific Gyre.
D) Canary Current.
Q2) Warm-core eddies are common in the North Pacific.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The densest water in ocean currents is the:
A) warmest and saltiest.
B) coldest and saltiest.
C) warmest and freshest.
D) coldest and freshest.
Q4) Which current within a northern hemisphere gyre would you expect to have the lowest salinity and temperature?
A) a western boundary current.
B) an eastern boundary current.
C) a southern boundary current.
D) a northern boundary current.
Q5) What is upwelling and why is it important for biological productivity?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Waves
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Q1) As wind waves move out of a storm area:
A) the short waves move out first and form "chop."
B) the short-period waves overtake the long-period waves.
C) the waves are sorted by velocity and form the swell.
D) the sea becomes flat outside the storm area.
Q2) Rogue waves are best described as:
A) the highest waves of a tsunami.
B) a breaking internal wave.
C) a strong rocking motion within a harbor.
D) a single massive wave that develops in the open ocean.
Q3) When a tsunami reaches shore,
A) the wave height is increased by entry into shallow water.
B) it always arrives at the time of a high tide.
C) the wave will appear as a single huge breaking wave.
D) it will always race hundreds of meters inland.
Q4) In the open sea, tsunami reach an average wave height of about:
A) 1 meter.
B) 10 meters.
C) 100 meters.
D) 1,000 meters.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Tides
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Q1) The only marine energy source being successfully exploited on a large scale is:
A) tidal power.
B) storm waves.
C) salinity differences.
D) thermal gradient.
Q2) What body generates the strongest tractive forces?
A) The moon
B) The sun
C) The Earth
D) the moon and the sun
Q3) Can tides be predicted? Explain why or why not and give examples of factors that may render tidal predictions inaccurate.
Q4) The reference level to which tidal height is compared is called the:
A) sea level of spring tides.
B) tidal datum.
C) maximum range.
D) tidal variance.
Q5) A tidal or lunar day is every 24 hours.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Coasts
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Q1) A sand spit forms when:
A) a long-shore current speeds up.
B) a long-shore current slows.
C) a turbidity currents flows near a coast.
D) a gyre approaches coasts.
Q2) The function of a breakwater is to:
A) divert sand away from a swimming area.
B) interrupt the progress of waves to the beach.
C) allow freshwater to flow readily into the ocean.
D) fill in a bay or an inlet.
Q3) An estuary which forms where a rapidly flowing large river enters the ocean in an area where tidal range is low to moderate is called:
A) a well-mixed estuary.
B) a salt wedge estuary.
C) a partially mixed estuary.
D) a reverse estuary.
Q4) Barrier islands were once part of the mainland when sea levels were lower.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Define the term coast and describe the factors that shape coastlines.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Life in the Ocean
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Q1) Which of the following statements best characterizes natural selection?
A) Natural selection is the mechanism by which predetermined adaptations are passed to offspring from parents.
B) Natural selection is the differential survivorship and reproduction of organisms that have favorable adaptations.
C) The natural environment is not involved with the process of natural selection; the heritability of traits is what drives evolution..
D) For natural selection to occur, mutations have to be embedded in the genome.
Q2) The zone where most biological productivity of the ocean occurs is called:
A) euphotic zone.
B) aphotic zone.
C) hyperphotic zone.
D) disphotic zone.
Q3) In photosynthesis, the energy of sunlight ultimately rests in:
A) carbon dioxide molecules.
B) the carbon-hydrogen bonds of carbohydrates.
C) oxygen molecules.
D) the oxygen-hydrogen bonds of water molecules.
Q4) Why is evolution important in the study of the ocean?
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Chapter 13: Pelagic Communities
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Q1) What is a pelagic community? Compare and contrast the types of plankton and nekton that comprise surface and deep-sea pelagic communities.
Q2) Describe at least 3 ways that marine mammals are adapted to life in the marine environment.
Q3) Photosynthetic plankton are called phytoplankton and include the diatoms and dinoflagellates.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Huge wings allow the albatross to fly great distances but also require a tremendous amount of energy.
A)True
B)False
Q5) An important animal in the food web of Antarctica is (are):
A) krill.
B) foraminifera.
C) diatoms.
D) ctenophores.
Q6) Explain the properties of water that have led to the evolution of a "torpedo" shaped body in most open water fish.
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Chapter 14: Benthic Communities
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Q1) One might expect to encounter all of the following organisms in an estuary EXCEPT:
A) sea grasses
B) hermatypic corals
C) phytoplankton
D) juvenile fish
Q2) Intertidal organisms can protect themselves from wave shock by:
A) moving out to the open ocean during high tides.
B) adhering themselves to the rocks.
C) sliding out of small crack as the wave crashes around them.
D) releasing themselves from rocks..
Q3) Which of the following groups of organisms includes only true marine vascular plants?
A) rhodophytes, chlorophytes and phaeophytes.
B) diatoms, dinoflagellates and coccolithophores.
C) kelp forests and seagrasses.
D) mangroves and salt marshes.
Q4) Interstitial animals are very small and live between sand grains.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Uses and Abuses of the Ocean
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Sample Questions
Q1) Second to petroleum and natural gas, the most profitable resource recovered from the marine environment is:
A) gold.
B) diamonds.
C) sand and gravel.
D) coal.
Q2) The per capita world fish catch has changed in what way?
A) It has been climbing steadily since the 1950s.
B) It has declined drastically since the 1950s.
C) It has stayed at the level of the 1960s.
D) It has declined significantly since the 1970s.
Q3) Whaling has effectively ceased. Except for a small and relatively insignificant number of "pirate whalers," the taking of whales for profit is a thing of the past.
A)True
B)False
Q4) With current climate change trends, is there any evidence that the ocean environment is changing as a result of increased greenhouse gases? Explain why or why not.
Q5) Define "Bycatch" and explain how it is damaging to marine populations.
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