Marine Science Test #2 Review

Covalent Bonds

A chemical bond that involves the sharing of electron pairs between atoms

Cohesion

The attachment of water molecules to each other by hydrogen bonding

Adhesion

The attachment of water molecules to other surfaces that allows for wetting

Surface Tension

The elastic tendency of a fluid surface which makes it acquire the least surface area possible

Heat Capacity

The amount of heat which is required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by 1 degree Celsius

Latent heat of vaporization

Heat added to or removed from a liquid during evaporation or condensation that produces a change in state but not a change in temperature

Sources

The flux into a geochemical reservoir

Sinks

The flux out of a geochemical reservoir

Steady-state

The case where a system or process does not change in time; inputs and outputs are balanced

Conservative

A constituent that occurs in high and uniform concentration in seawater and is found in constant proportion to other conservative elements

Non-conservative Elements

Elements whose proportions in seawater vary in space and time, usually because they are involved in biological or chemical processes and have short residence times

salinity

The saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water, usually expressed in grams per kilogram or parts per thousand by weight.

Principle of Constant Proportions

States that the proportions of major conservative elements remain nearly constant with respect to each other even though total salinity may change from place to place.

Pycnocline

A layer in the ocean in which water density increases rapidly with depth.

Deep layer

The portion of the ocean below the pycnocline where there is little additional change of density with increasing depth.

Stable

Refers here to a water column where density increases with water depth.

Primary producers

Autotrophs - Organisms capable of synthesizing their own food from inorganic substances using light or chemical energy.

Nutrients 

In the ocean, any one of a number of substances, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, that provides nourishment for growth or metabolism in primary producers.

Photosynthesis

The process by which a green plant turns water and carbon dioxide into food when the plant is exposed to light.

Respiration

A biochemical process in living organisms involving the production of energy, typically with the intake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide from the oxidation of complex organic substances.

Remineralization

The breakdown or transformation of organic matter into its simplest inorganic forms.

Redfield Ratio

The atomic ratio of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus found in phytoplankton and throughout the deep oceans (C:N:P. = 106:16:1).

Does water have high or low heat capacity? (Why?)

What does this heat capacity mean for the role of the ocean in global climate?

What are the basic properties of water?

How do some of the basic properties of water change with changes in salinity?

Why are the basic properties of water important to the ocean?

What is salinity?

How much salt is in the ocean (g/L or average PSU)?

Where does the salt in the ocean come from?

What are the main few constituents of salt?

What is the principle of constant proportions?

How is the principle of constant proportions used in ocean chemistry?

What are conservative vs non-conservative constituents of seawater?

What does it mean to be a conservative constituent?

What is the thermocline?

What is the halocline?

What is the pycnocline?

How do you read or make a T-S plot?

What is an isopycnal?

What does a “water mass” look like on a T-S plot?

How deep does light penetrate (on average) in the ocean?

What is the zone called where the light penetrates the ocean (deepest)?

Why does the zone called where the light penetrates the ocean (deepest) matter?

What are the reactants of photosynthesis?

What are the products of photosynthesis?

What are the reactants of respiration?

What are the products of respiration?

What nutrients do phytoplankton need to live?

What is the Redfield ratio?

What is the significance of the Redfield Ratio?

What is this depth profile?

Salinity

What is this depth profile?

Temperature

What is this depth profile?

Light

What is this depth profile?

Nutrients

What is this depth profile?

Oxygen

What is this depth profile?

Phytoplankton (particulate organic carbon)

What are the major groups of material dissolved in seawater?

Salts, gases, nutrients, trace elements

What is the example of salts that are dissolved in seawater?

What is the example of gases that are dissolved in seawater?

What is the example of nutrients that are dissolved in seawater?

What is the example of trace elements that are dissolved in seawater?

What impacts the distribution of salts in the water column (conservative or non-conservative)?

What impacts the distribution of gases in the water column (conservative or non-conservative)?

What impacts the distribution of nutrients in the water column (conservative or non-conservative)?

What impacts the distribution of trace elements in the water column (conservative or non-conservative)?

How do you calculate residence time?

What are you assuming when you calculate residence time?

What is steady state?