Marine Science Chapter 1 Test Review
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150 Terms
What percentage of Earth's surface is covered by water?
About 71%.
How are Earth's oceans connected?
They form one connected global ocean system.
What are the five major oceans?
Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic.
What is the largest ocean basin?
The Pacific Ocean.
Which ocean has the shallowest average depth?
The Arctic Ocean.
Which hemisphere contains more ocean than land?
The Southern Hemisphere.
Why does ocean connectivity matter?
It allows water, heat, salinity, temperature, nutrients, and organisms to move throughout the global ocean.
What are Earth's four major layers from the surface toward the center?
Crust → mantle → outer core → inner core.
What is Earth's crust?
Earth's thin, solid outermost layer.
What is Earth's mantle?
A thick layer of hot rock that can slowly deform and flow over long periods of time.
What is Earth's outer core?
A liquid layer made mostly of iron and nickel.
What is Earth's inner core?
A solid center made mostly of iron and nickel.
Why does Earth's inner core remain solid despite its extremely high temperature?
Extremely high pressure keeps it solid.
Movement in which Earth layer is linked to Earth's magnetic field?
The liquid outer core.
Is the outer core solid or liquid?
Liquid.
Is the inner core solid or liquid?
Solid.
What type of rock mainly makes up oceanic crust?
Basalt.
What type of rock mainly makes up continental crust?
Granite.
How does oceanic crust compare with continental crust?
Oceanic crust is thinner, darker, and denser.
How does continental crust compare with oceanic crust?
Continental crust is thicker, lighter, and less dense.
Which type of crust is denser?
Oceanic crust.
Which type of crust is thicker?
Continental crust.
Who proposed continental drift in 1912?
Alfred Wegener.
Who was Alfred Wegener?
The scientist who proposed that Earth's continents were once joined together and later drifted apart.
What is continental drift?
The idea that Earth's continents move and were once joined together.
What was Pangaea?
An ancient supercontinent in which Earth's continents were once joined.
What evidence supported continental drift?
Matching fossils, similar rocks and deposits, and the geometric fit of continental margins.
How do shared fossils support continental drift?
Identical fossils on continents now separated by oceans suggest the continents were once connected.
What do matching continental margins suggest?
The continents may once have fit together as part of a larger landmass.
Is the geometric fit of continents enough by itself to prove continental drift?
No. It supports the idea but is not definitive evidence by itself.
What was the major weakness of Wegener's continental drift hypothesis?
He lacked a believable mechanism explaining how continents moved.
Why were many scientists originally skeptical of continental drift?
Wegener could not convincingly explain what force moved the continents.
What is plate tectonics?
The theory that Earth's crust is divided into large moving plates.
Plate tectonics describes movement of large plates over what Earth layer?
The mantle.
What is a tectonic plate?
A large moving piece of Earth's lithosphere.
What is a divergent plate boundary?
A boundary where two tectonic plates move apart.
What happens at a divergent boundary?
Plates separate and new crust can form.
What is a convergent plate boundary?
A boundary where two tectonic plates move toward each other.
What happens at a convergent boundary?
Plates collide and one may subduct, or the crust may buckle upward.
What is a transform boundary?
A boundary where two tectonic plates slide horizontally past each other.
What is another name for a transform boundary?
A shear boundary.
What is a shear boundary interaction?
A plate interaction where two tectonic plates slide past each other.
Do plates split apart at a shear boundary?
No. They slide horizontally past one another.
What commonly occurs at transform or shear boundaries?
Earthquakes.
Why do shear boundaries cause earthquakes?
Friction causes stress to build until energy is suddenly released.
What is a mid-ocean ridge?
An underwater volcanic mountain chain where tectonic plates move apart.
What happens at a mid-ocean ridge?
Plates separate, magma rises, cools, and forms new oceanic crust.
What is seafloor spreading?
The process that creates new oceanic crust as plates separate at mid-ocean ridges.
What happens during seafloor spreading?
New seafloor forms at a mid-ocean ridge and moves outward on both sides.
What evidence supports seafloor spreading?
Symmetrical magnetic stripes on both sides of mid-ocean ridges.
What do symmetrical magnetic stripes show?
New crust is produced at a ridge and moves outward on both sides.
Why are magnetic stripes parallel and symmetrical on both sides of a ridge important?
They show that new oceanic crust forms at the ridge and spreads outward.
What are magnetic reversals?
Past changes in Earth's magnetic polarity recorded in newly formed rocks.
How do magnetic reversals support seafloor spreading?
New rocks record Earth's magnetic polarity, creating matching magnetic patterns on both sides of ridges.
What is subduction?
The downward movement of one tectonic plate beneath another into the mantle.
Where is old oceanic crust recycled?
At subduction zones and ocean trenches.
How are seafloor spreading and subduction connected?
Seafloor spreading creates new oceanic crust while subduction recycles old oceanic crust.
What happens when an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate?
The denser oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate.
Why does the oceanic plate subduct beneath continental crust?
Oceanic crust is denser.
What features can form during an oceanic-continental collision?
Deep trenches, earthquakes, volcanoes, volcanic arcs, and mountains.
What happens when two oceanic plates collide?
The denser oceanic plate subducts beneath the other.
What can form during an oceanic-oceanic collision?
A deep trench and a volcanic island arc.
What happens when two continental plates collide?
Neither plate easily subducts, so the crust compresses and buckles upward.
What features form from continental-continental collision?
Large mountain ranges.
What is an example of mountains formed by continental-continental collision?
The Himalayas.
Why do continental-continental collisions form mountains?
The buoyant continental crust resists subduction and buckles upward.
What is bathymetry?
The measurement and mapping of ocean depth and seafloor shape.
Why is ocean bathymetry not random?
The ocean floor's shape reflects Earth's tectonic history and plate movements.
How does bathymetric mapping help scientists understand tectonic history?
It reveals features such as ridges, trenches, slopes, and other structures created by plate movement.
What are the two broad zones of the ocean floor?
The shallow continental margin and the deep seafloor.
What is the continental margin?
The submerged edge of a continent between the shoreline and the deep ocean basin.
What is the continental shelf?
A gently sloping, shallow continental border extending outward from shore.
About how deep does the continental shelf extend?
Usually to about 120–200 meters.
About what percentage of the ocean surface area is continental shelf?
About 8%.
Why does the continental shelf support so much marine life?
Sunlight reaches the shallow water and fuels primary producers and food webs.
Why do continental shelves have greater biological diversity than deeper seafloor areas?
They receive more sunlight and often have abundant nutrients and habitats.
What is the shelf break?
The outer edge of the continental shelf where the seafloor gradient suddenly becomes much steeper.
What is the continental slope?
The steep incline that leads from the shelf break toward the deep ocean basin.
What can carve submarine canyons into continental slopes?
Turbidity currents.
What is a turbidity current?
A powerful underwater flow of sediment and debris moving downslope.
What can turbidity currents do?
Carry sediment downhill and carve submarine canyons.
What is the continental rise?
A gently sloping region of thick sediment accumulation at the base of the continental slope.
How does the continental rise form?
Sediment moving down the continental slope accumulates at its base.
What is the correct order of major seafloor zones moving outward from shore?
Continental shelf → continental slope → continental rise → abyssal plain.
What is an abyssal plain?
A broad, extremely flat region of the deep ocean floor covered by sediment.
How deep are abyssal plains commonly found?
About 3,000–5,000 meters deep.
Why are abyssal plains so flat?
Thick blankets of marine sediment cover irregular seafloor features.
What is an ocean trench?
A long, narrow, extremely deep depression in the ocean floor.
How do deep-sea trenches form?
They form where a tectonic plate bends downward and subducts into the mantle.
What tectonic process is associated with ocean trenches?
Subduction.
What is Earth's deepest known ocean trench?
The Mariana Trench.
Approximately how deep is the Mariana Trench?
About 11,000 meters deep.
What is a passive continental margin?
A continental edge located far from an active plate boundary.
What is an example of a passive continental margin?
The Atlantic coast of South America.
What happens to sediment at passive margins?
Thick layers can accumulate relatively undisturbed.
Why can passive margins develop large continental rises?
Large amounts of sediment collect at the base of the continental slope.
What is an active continental margin?
A continental edge located along an active tectonic plate boundary.
What is an example of an active continental margin?
The Pacific coast of South America.
What commonly occurs at active continental margins?
Subduction, earthquakes, volcanoes, and trenches.
Why may a true continental rise not form at an active margin?
Sediment may be pulled into a subduction zone or scraped into an accretionary wedge.