GEOG 1 - Lectures 8-`10 (Midterm 1)

What happens at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

100,000,000 tons of plastic generated annually

→ 10% ends up in the oceans

Why do we have 20-meter resolution maps of Mars, yet only 1 km maps of the ocean?

Radio waves cannot penetrate water.

SONAR is limited.

Where is the loneliest place on Earth and what is it used for?

Point Nemo: spacecraft cemetery

Where is the most isolated inhabited place on Earth?

Pitcairn Island

Why is the ocean salty?

Average salinity 3.5%

35g salt / 1L water

What are endorheic lakes?

Inland lakes that do not have an outlet to the ocean.

How much saltier are Endorheic lakes compared to the ocean? Why?

About 10x because they are warmer.

What is California’s largest Endorheic Lake?

Salton Sea

How do tides work?

Moon and Earth gravitate toward each other.

Water on Earth bulges toward the moon.

Side of Earth that doesn’t face the moon tides the opposite way.

Does the Sun have a stronger gravitational pull than the Moon?

No, the moon has 2x the amount of gravitational pull because the sun is farther away.

What is true about the relationship between Lunar Tides and Solar Tides?

They combine to make extreme tides.

Spring tides

• Lunar and Solar Tides combine for extreme tides

• High tide gets higher. Low tide gets lower.

• New Moon

Neap Tide

• Lunar and Solar tides counteract against each other.

• High tides not so high, low tides not so low (moderate).

  • High/Low tides still exist because the moon has a 2x stronger pull than the sun.

• First Quarter Moon

Spring tide (again)

• Lunar and Solar tides combine again for extreme tides.

• High tides get higher, Low tides get lower.

• Full Moon

Neap tide (again)

• Lunar and Solar tides counteract again.

• High tides not so high, low tides not so low (moderate).

• Third quarter moon