Marine Biology Lecture Exam 1

What is Marine Biology?

The study of the living organism in the sea and how they interact with each other and the environment

What is Oceanography?

Study the oceans and there phenomena

Knowledge of Marine Biology and Oceanography promotes what?

Marine Conservation

What percentage of the world does the ocean cover?

71%

What is indirect value?

Value that does not include consumption

What are examples of indirect value?

Recreation, Ecosystem services and non-invasive research

What is Discovery Science?

Observes and describes, often long term, explains natural processes and structures

What is hypothesis based science?

Uses the Scientific method to test potential explanations

What are the 5 steps of the Scientific Method?

Making Observations, Forming a hypothesis, designing an experiment(experimental variable and control), gathering results, drawing conclusions

What is a hypothesis?

A proposed explanation for a particular question(based on established knowledge) that can be tested using the scientific method

What is a theory?

Well established explanation of a natural phenomenon, repeatedly supported by the scientific method and observation

What are the 7 fundamental truths of the coastal First Nations

Creation(always been in the territory), Connection to nature, Respect, Knowledge, Stewardship, Sharing, Adapting to change

What are the 4 major ocean basins?

Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Artic

What are seas?

Smaller than an ocean, essentially landlocked bodies of saltwater

What were the first cells(most likely)?

Anaerobic bacteria

When was continental drift theory first proposed?

1915

What did the Miller Urey experiment prove?

Showed that organic molecules could form in primitive atmosphere

What are the layers of the earth?

Inner Core, Outer Core(Including the transition zone), Mantle, Crust

What are the conditions of the inner core?

Solid, dense, hot

What are the conditions of the outer core?

Contains the transition zone, a thick band of liquid metal, less hot than the inner core

What are the conditions of the Mantle?

The thickest layer, mostly solid but the inner layer is able to flow slowly, contains the greatest mass of material

What are the conditions of the crust?

Thinnest and coolest

What is thicker the continental or oceanic crust?

Continental

What is the Lithosphere?

The combined/fused section of the earth’s crust and mantle

What is the Asthenosphere?

The liquid layer of mantle below the lithosphere

How to Volcanoes form?

Upward movement of magma breaking through the seafloor

What is a mid ocean ridge?

A buildup of cooled magma along a crack in the ocean that creates a mountain range

What are subduction zones?

The area where old crust sinks and eventually reached the mantle where it is liquified and recycled

What causes Seafloor Spreading?

Magma is unable to break through the lithosphere so it move horizontally through the mantle causing movement of the crust

What is Gondwana?

The name for the fusion of the southern continents/countries in continental drift theory

What is Laurasia?

The name for the fusion of the northern continents/countries in continental drift theory

What are rift or deep sea vent communities?

Communities of organisms that depend on the specialized environments found at divergence zones on the ocean floor

What do the organisms depend on for nutrients in rift communities?

Chemosynthetic Bacteria

What are continental shelves?

Shallow submerged extensions of continents

What are the characteristics of continental shelves?

Composed of continental crust, similar physical features to the edge of the continents, generally flat areas

What is the continental slope?

The transition between continental and oceanic crust

What is a shelf break?

The point where the continental shelf ends and there is an abrupt change in landscape

What is a Continental rise?

The gentle rise of the ocean topography, sometimes seen at the bottom of a steep continental slope, its caused by landslides leading to the accumulation of sediments

What is the ocean basin?

The Ocean Floor

What are the Abyssal Plains?

A flat expanse at the bottom of ocean basins

What are the Abyssal Hills?

Hills dotting the ocean basin, as tall as 1000m

What are Seamounts?

A steep sided formation(mountain) that raises from the sea floor, formed by volcanoes

Approximately how many seamounts are there?

100,000

What are ridges and rises on the seafloor?

A continuous series of large volcanic mountains the runs through every ocean in the world

Is life abundant in the abyssal plains?Why?

No, there is a lack of sunlight leading to a lack of photosynthesis

What is a Chart?

A 2 dimension representation of earth, usually showing the ocean and it’s features

What is Latitude?

The horizontal lines that mark the globe, split North and South, goes to 90 Degrees

What Latitude is the Equator, North and South Pole?

0, 90N, 90S

What is the Tropic of Cancer?

The Northern line marking the tropics, 23.5N

What is the Tropic of Capricorn?

The southern line marking the tropics, 23.5S

What is the latitude for the artic/Antarctic

66.5

What is Longitude?

The vertical lines that mark the globe, split East and West, goes to 180 degrees

1 degree of latitude of longitude is equal to how many minutes?

60 Minutes

What is a Knot?

A measurement used on ocean vessels 1 knot=1.852Km per hour

What is a Sextant?

An instrument that measure the angle between the north star and the horizon, which can be used to calculate latitude

What percent of marine organisms are water by mass?

75%

What are the physical properties of water?

Excellent solvent, high boiling/ freezing point, surface tension, polar molecule, more dense as a liquid vs a solid, supports animals through buoyancy, provides an environment for chemical reactions necessary for life

What is a polar molecule?

A molecule in which different parts of the molecule have different charge

Water makes a great solvent for what molecules?

Polar Molecules(Salt)

What is the specific heat or thermal capacity?

The amount of energy required to change the temperature of 1 gram of the substance 1 degree

Does Water have a high thermal capacity?

Yes

What happens to the majority of light that hits the oceans?

It is absorbed into the atmosphere

How do different wavelengths of light penetrate differently?

Low energy red, orange and yellow light is absorbed quickly whereas high energy blue green and violet light absorb more slowly at deeper depths

Light absorbed by water is converted into what?

Heat

What is an Acid?

A compound that releases hydrogen ions when added to water

What is a Base?

A substance that bonds to hydrogen ions and removes them from a solution

Numbers 0-7 indicate what on the pH scale?

Acidity

Numbers 7-14 indicate what on the pH scale?

Basic Solution

What is the pH of seawater?

8, slightly basic

Most of the salts in seawater are found in what form?

Ionic

How many Ions are responsible for 99% of dissolved salts in the ocean?

6

What percent of salt is seawater?

3.5% or 96.5% by mass

How is salinity usually expressed?

Grams per kg or parts per thousand(ppt) so 35 instead of 3.5%

What processes impact the oceans salinity?

Evaporation, Precipitation and runoff

What are some key elements in Sea Salt Cycling?

Dissolved particles from rocks(either on the ocean floor or from runoff from rivers), volcanic eruptions adding chloride and sulfate into the air later entering the ocean through precipitation, the storage of salts in marine organisms and adsorption where salts are covered by a layer of sediment

What is the proportion of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the ocean compared to the atmosphere?

Oxygen and carbon dioxide are found in higher proportions and nitrogen in found in lower proportions

What is an Oxygen Minimum Zone?

The area below the sunlit surface waters where oxygen is depleted by animal life but not restored by photosynthesis, also has high levels of carbon dioxide

What is the solubility of Nitrogen, Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide from highest to lowest?

Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen, Nitrogen

What affects the solubility of gases in seawater?

Temperature, salinity and pressure

What is a buffer, give an example?

A buffer is a substance that can maintain the pH of solution at a relative constant point, ie. bicarbonate

Why does the ocean have a slightly basic pH?

The number of bicarbonate ions

What is responsible for warming the earth’s surface?

The sun’s radiant energy

How does the earth maintain its temperature?

Transferring excess energy to the earth’s atmosphere through evaporation(primary) and radiation(secondary)

How do greenhouse gases impact the earth’s temperature?

By preventing excess heat energy from radiating back to space

What caused air density to decrease?

When warmed, when water vapour increase or pressure decreased

What causes air density to increase?

When cooled, when water vapour decreases or pressure increases

What does the disparity of air density create?

Prevailing wind currents in the north south direction

What is the coriolis effect?

The apparent deflection of the path of winds and ocean currents based on the earth rotation

What way do winds in the northern hemisphere curve?

Right

What way do winds in the southern hemisphere curve?

Left

How are winds named?

From the direction they come from

What are the North/South East Trade Winds?

The winds between the equator and 30 degrees latitude that blows from the east and are deflected by the coriolis effect

What are the Westerly winds?

Wind current that blows from the south/northwest between 30 and 60 degrees +circulated with the coriolis effect

What are the Polar Easterlies?

Wind current that blows from the south/north east between 60 degrees and the poles+circulated with the coriolis effect

What is a Doldrum?

The area of rising air at the equator

What is a Horse Latitude?

The area of descending air at 30 degrees

What are ocean surface currents mainly driven by?

Coriolis effect and Gyres

What are Gyres?

The circular motion currents follow in ocean basins