BIOL 361: marine science- midterm

ecology

how organisms interact with the environment, patterns of diversity and abundance

biodiversity

what species live in a habitat, why so many or few.

functional biology

how organisms move feed and reproduce. what adaptation organisms have in the environments they live in

aristotle

birth of natural history observation

linnaeus

first systematic classification- devised naming scheme of genus and species

georges cuvier

proposed system of phyla- organized living and fossil species into groups

-established first system of benthic habitats by biostatigraphy

what did cuvier determine that a mosasaur was

a lizard/ squamate

what is catastophism

earths history is determined by catastrophic events

uniformitarianism

the present is the key to determining the past

what group is recorded as the earliest navigators

polynesian explorers who used stars and currents

who made the earliest map

ptolemy in 150 AD

what did ptolemy do

made first map

-made latidude and longitude

-equator was 0 and canary islands the meridian for longitude

what is 1 degree latitude equal to

1 degree latitude= 60 minutes= 60 nautical miles

what is latitude

measures distance from the equator

what is longitude

runs perpendicular to equator

how was latidtude determined on the ocean in antiquity

sighting if the sun or stars- 1 degree latitude= 60 mins

how was longitude determined whil on the oceans in antiquity?

chronometers

what where harrisons chronometers ran by so that gravity has no effect

springs

what was a sextant, and what was it used for

navigation- gives the angle of the sun above the horizon

-uses the almanacs known position of stars to find latitude

what where most navigational tools developed for

the military

what where three important peices of technology used for navigating the oceans

GEE, Loran, GPS

what is GEE

general estimating equation: britain ww2

• measures time delay between two radio signals

• useful at night

what is loran?

low frequency radio signals from fixed beacons

• LRN- loomis radio navigation

• US WW2

what is gps

global positioning system and GPS map

Who was Edward Forbes?

19th century naturalist who developed azoic theory

what is azoic theory

marine life ceases to exist after 300 fathoms

what was the first major marine scientific hypothesis

azoic theory

who was Micheal Sars?

19th century norweigan marine biologist

• descried specimens from deeper than 300 fathoms

• disproved azoic theory

who was charles darwin?

19th century- major contributions to marine biology

• theory of coral reef subsidence

what is the theory of coral reef subsidence?

reefs as a balance of growth of reef sinking of sea floor

-islands submerge forming barrier reef around a central lagoon

HMS challenger expedition

1872-76” 4 year circumnavigation of the globe led by wyville thomson and john murray to all of the seas except the arctic

what data did the HMS challenger expedition collect

• ocean temp

• currents

• geology

• marine life

what was the main discovery of the HMS challenger expedition?

discovered the deepest part of the ocean- the marianas trench at 8900m

what did the HMS challenging have for sounding

300 km of hemp rope

what is sounding?

measuring the depth of the sea

what theory did the HMS challenger expedition refute?

Haeckels bathybius theory which stated that life arose form a primordial slime in the oceans

• he combined stuff from the ocean floor with alcohol which formed an ooze which was really just a precipitate from a chemical reaction

what was the 1950s-70s a period of?

marine stations

what where some developments in technology in the 20th century?

1. vessels

2. submersibles

3. aqaurius underwater sea lab

4. autonomous underwater vehicles and gliders (AUV)

5. cabled sea observatory- vancouver

what happened to nereus?

imploded in kermadec trench

how long ago was life thought to have began?

4.3 and 3.8 GYA

what is the panspermia theory?

life began from cells on alien objects

what is the primordial soup theory?

organic molecule in the ocean+ energy=life

what is the Miller-Urey experiment

showed that premordial soup hypothesis is possible

• discovered that inorganic compounds could form from organic compounds

• used different gas conditions such as ammonia

what are stromalites

3.5 GYA- alternating layers of cyanic bacteria and dust/ mud- had microbial mats which was mad of photosythetic cyanobacteria

what are ediacara fossils?

first multicellular fossils

• not plants because they were found in dark benthic areas- cant photosynthesize

• smudges where found indicating early organs

• most bilatterally symetric

what type of fossils are found in burgess pass alberta

found in layers of fine sediments indicating they were likely in deep water- found many different organisms

what is the cryogenian era?

glacial deposits near low latitudes- glaciers may have covered the whole planet

what are the major ocean basins?

arctic, pacific, atlantic, indian, southern

how much of the earth surface does oceans cover

70 percent

• 80 in southern hem

• 61 in north

how much of the ocean is deeper than 2000m

84 percent

what is the greatest depth of the marianas trench

11000

what did was the expedition of the DEEPSEA challenger

james cameron dove to the bottom of the marianas trench in 2012 and came back in 2 hours and 37 minutes

what is a marginal sea

division of an ocean that is partially enclosed by land

what are marginal seas strongly affected by

• regional climate

• precipitation- evaporation balance

• river input of fresh water and dissolved solids

• limited exchange with the open ocean

• geological history

• sea floor barriers

how does a sill affect conditions

creates vortices and causes mixing of fresh and salt water

what is bathymetry?

measuring and mapping underwater topography

• sounding, sonar lidar, satellite etc

what is the continental shelf

part of the continental crust- gentle slope off the continents

-lines all continents

-100-200m

what are the conditions of the continental shelf

shallow, warm, more sun, nutrient rich, productive, supports and abundance of marine life

what is one of the reasons for lots of nutrients on the continental shelf

nutrient influx due to runoof into the ocean

what is a submarine canyon

steep sided cliff/ valley, cut into the edge of the continental shelf and has a relief area comparable to canyons on land

what are the conditions of submarine canyons

area of transport of nutrients sediments to the open cean, still supports life

what is an abyssal plain

3000-9000m vast, some flat, but also valleys, seamounts, not well explored

-huge and very far off the sheld

-oceanic crust

what are the conditions of abyssal plains

less to no light, cold, high psi- making it a unique habitat'

• stable- not very tectonically active

• less synapamorphies in this area because of lack of need for evolution

what type of sand is on the continental shelf?

terrigenous- originally from terrestial environments also org matter and polutants

• course sand and mud

carbonate platforms: platforms made of calcium carbonate frim shells and exoskeletons

what type of sand is on the sea floor/ abyssal plain

fine clay, silts, plankton corpses, organic matter, marine snow, calcareous ooze, siliceous ooze

what is marine snow and calcreous ooze made from

dead plankton and some other organisms/ fecal matter

what is the earths surface divided into

plates- the edges are ridge system and faults

where is the oceanic crust formed and where is in moved and destroyed

formed at ridges, moved latterally and destroyed by subduction which forms trenchs which means the sea floor is spreading

what is the evidence for continental drift and plate tectonics?

1. fossils of similar fauna are found on different continents and landmasses seem to fit together like a puzzle

2. seafloor mapping and radiometric dating: found seafloor younger than continental crust

3. magnetic anomalies: magnetic striped on the ocean floor near spreading ridges show movement of oceanic crust

what does waters asymmetry of charge lead to

polarity, increasing its ability to form bonds with other ions

water is an excellent ____?

solvent

what type of bonds does water have

-strong covalent bonds

• between O and H

• between water and other ions

-weaker hydrogen bonds

• between water molecule

• gives water a sticky property

why is water a good solvent

because its polarity gives it a good dissolving power- positive charge on hydrogen pulls at negative charge on elements in water

what type of substances do oceans contain a lot of

dissolved substances

describe the heat capacity of water?

high heat capacity- takes 1 calorie to raise 1g of water by 1 degree

• highest heat capacity of all common solids and liquids

• takes a lot of energy to break hydrogen bonds

how does water act as a buffer?

water has a large thermal buffer capacity because of its high heat capacity and acts as a climate buffer

is the energy transported by water in ocean currents large or small?

large

what is heat vaporization?

the amount of heat required to change liquid at its boiling point into a vapour

describe the heat vapourization of water?

high heat vaporization

• large amount of heat is required to break the H bonds when water evaporates

what is heat of fusion

the amount of heat required to change water from a solid to a liquid at zero degrees celcius

Describe the heat of fusion of water?

water has the highest latent heat fusion of all common materials

what does land cool faster than?

adjacent water bodies

• so water temperatures are moderate adjacent land climates

why do northern land masses not necessarily experience artic climates?

due to warm water currents

what does water transport over vast differences?

heat and cold without drastic changes

what factor or artic waters can affect antarctic waters?

changes in temperature of artic waters can affect antarctic waters

what is the oceanic temperature range

-1.9-40 c

what is the temperature range of the deep ocean

2 to 4 degrees celsius

what will the thermocline look like for a open tropical ocean

broad with a steep change/ larger temperature difference

what will the thermocline look like for a shallow temperate ocean

shorter, temperature difference isnt as large

-thermocline changes depending on the season

what is a thermocline

gradient in temperature

what causes heat addition in latidtudinal differences of the ocean

• latitudinal gradient of solar heating

• geothermal heating- happens a lot in trenches

• internal friction

• water vapour condensation

what causes temperature loss in the ocean?

• back radiation off surface/ reflecting heat

• convection of heat into atmosphere

• evaporation

what is sea water?

seawater has dissolved elements that come from rivers over millions of years

• salt comes from the land- making it salty

what elements are present in sea water in order from greatest to least?

• chlorine

• sodium

• magnesium

• sulfur

• calcium

• potassium

• bromine

• carbon

what is salinity?

the grams of dissolved inorganic solids per 1000g of seawater ppt, %, or psu

what is salinity controlled by?

increased by

• evaporation

• sea ice formation

decreased by

• precipitation

• river runoff

what is chlorinity?

grams of chlorine per liter of sea water

what is the coversion from salinity to chlorinity

salinity= 1.81x chlorinity

how is chlorinity of oceans measured?

chemical titration. conductivity, index of refraction=specific gravity/ density

what is CTD?

conductivity-temperature- depth

• used to measure salinity of sea water

• tests how conductivity varies with temperature and depth

• conductivity is a measure of salts in water

• the main salt in chloride