FINAL OCEANOGRAPHY EPS SCI 15 UCLA

The Earth's plates move at a speed near

1 - 10 cm/yr

What is the approximate pressure at the bottom of a 1km deep ocean? (in multiples of the atmospheric pressure)

10^5

You are given a map of the Earth and asked to locate a likely collision between two

continental plates. Would you look for

a mountain range

With its natural greenhouse the Earth is about X degrees hotter than it would otherwise

be. What is X?

30 degrees C

Roughly X% of ocean oil pollution is unconnected with human activities. What is X?

50%

The depth of the thermocline is affected most by

the latitude

Why are the high salinity regions of the Earth's oceans found mostly at low latitudes?

e) b and d

b) high latitude water is diluted by melting polar ice

d) higher temperatures encourage evaporation at low latitudes

At one scale height, the pressure of the atmosphere is roughly half its surface value.

What is the pressure at 4 scale heights, relative to the surface value?

1/16

The diagram shows how the temperature of water (y-axis) changes as energy is added

(x-axis).

What is happening to the water molecules at A in the diagram?

Hydrogen bonds between molecules are breaking as energy is added

Suppose that the rotation of the Earth slows from once per 24 hours to once per 48

hours. Would the Coriolis force?...

e) a and d

a) deflect objects moving in the Northern hemisphere to the right

d) be weaker

In the Gaia Hypothesis

There is feedback between life and the environment to make the latter suitable for the

former

The main greenhouse gases are

Methane, carbon dioxide and water

The small wiggles on the Keeling Curve are caused by

Seasonal variations in plant growth

The scale height (effective thickness) of the atmosphere is about

10 km

The tragedy of the commons is

unregulated over-use of a public resource for private gain

The snow line is

the distance from the Sun inside which asteroids likely formed

The euphotic (or, just "photic") zone is

the region of the ocean in which photosynthesis is possible

Gravitational effects of the Moon include

none of the above

The barycenter of the Earth-Moon system is

inside the Earth

Water is blue because

e) a and c

a) It reflects the sky

c) Red light light is preferentially absorbed, leaving only blue light

This organism is most likely to be a

diatom

Desalination of sea water is a poor source of drinking water because

it is very expensive

Which of these is true? Primary productivity is

highest in the euphotic zone

In shallow water

e) b and c

b) waves slow down

c) waves bend towards the coast line because they are refracted

Which of these is true? Sand moves southwards along the west coast of the US

because

there are more storms in the north than the south and so more waves from the north

The mammalian diving reflex protects against drowning by

e) a c and d

a) slowing down the heart to reduce oxygen consumption

c) sending blood preferentially to the brain and heart

d) filling interior void spaces with fluid

Feature A is a

tombolo

The time taken for floating debris to cross the ~10,000 km wide Pacific Ocean is about

2 years

This is the US coast north of Atlantic City.

Feature A is most likely to be

barrier island

Suppose that 1) there are 100,000 sperm whales and that 2) they each live for 100

years and that 3) when they die, they fall and are consumed within 10 years of death.

How many sperm whale bodies should be found on the ocean floor at any one time?

10,000

From the trophic triangle estimate the mass of phytoplankton needed to support a 10

ton (10^4 kg) whale.

10^7kg

What kind of camouflage is this fish using?

Razzle-dazzle

This is the phase diagram of water.

Which processes occur in moving from C to D to B?

Sublimating then condensing

The fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere is about

0.03%

Two ships off the coast of Peru fire their guns at each other. No matter how precisely

the guns are aimed, the gunners notice that their shells always strike to the left of the

intended target point. Possible reasons include

they forgot Coriolis force

Neap tides occur

about twice a month

A rock collected 500 km from a mid-oceanic ridge is found to be 10 million years old.

What is the rate of plate motion?

5 cm/yr

Life on Earth started

A typical wavelength for a tsunami is 200 km. Therefore, tsunamis are an example of

tidal waves

The hagfish is the only animal that has X but not Y. What are X and Y?

skull, spine

Which of these is true?

Whales are warm-blooded

In general, the largest ocean waves are found near Antarctica because

Organisms that produce their own food

e) a and c

a) are mostly photosynthetic

c) are called autotrophs

A whale with two blow holes is

The dominant source of internal heat for icy bodies like Europa and Enceladus is

Tidal heating

The salinity of the oceans is roughly

3%

The SOFAR channel exists because

Roughly what fraction of the carbon-rich material produced in surface ocean waters

reaches the bottom of the ocean?

3%

A Hadley Cell is

a circulation pattern caused by non-uniform heating and convection

In the habitable zone of a star

Which of these is not true

whales have adapted to the ocean by becoming cold-blooded

Bioluminescence may be useful to an organism

e) All of the above

a) As a warning

b) As an attractor for mates

c) As a hunting lure

d) As a defensive distraction

Most benthic organisms

obtain their food from minerals flushed into the ocean by rivers