NS2 Study Guide: Maritime Geography + Oceanography

YUH

What are the two Atlantic basins?

Western basin: North and South America

Eastern basin: Europe and Africa

Where is the deepest spot in the North Atlantic?

Puerto Rico Trench

Where is the deepest spot in the South Atlantic?

South Sandwich Trench

areas on Earth's surface that are important from a military standpoint.

strategic geography

What are the choke points of navigation leading to and from the Atlantic basins? (Tossup)

Straight of Gibraltar, danish straights, G-I-UK gap, Panama canal

What severe storms occur each fall season in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea?

Hurricanes

Which two minerals are the chief resources of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean areas?

Oil and natural gas

Where are the major naval air and surface bases in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico?

NAS Pensacola, Guantanamo Bay

What is the vital navigational choke point of the Caribbean area?

Panama Canal

Which Caribbean nation and government is a great worry to the United States?

Cuba

Where is the deepest part of the Arctic Ocean?

Abysmal plain

What valuable resource is being obtained from the continental shelf off Alaska and Canada in the Arctic Ocean?

oil

What are the names of the important Turkish straits?

Bosporus and dardanelles

What is the key strait at the southern entrance to the Persian Gulf?

Strait of Hormuz

What occurred in the Middle East in late 1990 that caused u.s. and allied UN forces to go to war with Iraq?

Iraq invasion of Kuwait

Which sea route is the main route between Asia and Europe?

Suez Canal

Which country in the Indian Ocean region received worldwide attention in 2001 because of the 11 September terrorist attack on the United States?

Afghanistan

Where has the United States built an important base in the Indian Ocean area?

Diego Garcia

Which ocean is the largest in the world?

Pacific

What formations are found on much of the western half of the Pacific sea floor?

Peaks, trenches, ridges, plateaus

What often forms around the rims of volcanic islands in the Pacific?

coral

Where is the major naval base on the West Coast of the United States?

San Diego, California

Where does the Russian Pacific fleet have its headquarters?

Vladivostok

Which country is considered the key to U.S. foreign policy in the Pacific?

Japan

What is meant by the term circumpolar ocean when referring to the Antarctic seas?

OCean surrounds the south pole

What valuable Antarctic resource has now been nearly wiped out?

Whales

Where does the United States have a research station in Antarctica?

Mcmurdo Sound

Where is the home port for the US Third Fleet?

San Diego

Where is the Seventh Fleet home port?

Yokosuka

Where is the headquarters of the US Africa Command?

Stuttgart, Germany

Where is the home port of the US Fifth Fleet?

Bahrain

the study of the world’s oceans

oceanography

How much of earth’s surface is covered with water?

71

Where is the most famous earthquake belt in the United States?

San Andreas Fault (Gta)

What are the three distinct divisions or areas of the ocean floor?

continental margins, abyssal plains, and mid-ocean ridges

Under international law, to what water depth does a maritime nation have the right to explore and exploit?

200 nmi

Who is the founder of modern U.S. Navy oceanography?

Matthew Fontaine Maury

What are the four main elements in seawater? (TOSSUP TOSSUP TOSSUP TOSSUP)

oxygen, hydrogen, sodium, and chlorine

What is the percentage of salt in open ocean water?

3-4 percent

What is the freezing point of seawater?

-2 C or 28 F

What is the constant temperature of water in the deep sea?

39 F

VVhat is the most comnlon cause of ocean waves?

wind

What is the main type of structure built to protect harbors from the sea called?

breakwater

What force, caused by Earth's rotation, affects the major currents of the world ocean?

Coriolis force

What very important current affecting the United States originates on the southern border of the Sargasso Sea?

Gulf Stream

Which current brings icebergs into the North Atlantic shipping lanes?

Labrador Current

What important current in the North Pacific has many similarities with the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic

kuroshio Current

Where do the world's highest tides occur?

Bay of Fundy

What oceanographic phenomenon has given the Red Sea its name?

Red Tide

What are the four groups of marine animals with jaws?

Fish reptiles birds mammals

Why is the Sargasso Sea so named?

sargazzo (kelp)

What are the four species of poisonous fish that are particularly dangerous to people?

stingrays, catfish, weeverfish, scorpionfish

What does SCUBA stand for?

Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

the production and emission of light by a living organism

bioluminescence

What is the fishing area located off the coast of Newfoundland called?

Grand Banks

Through what waterway does most of the surface cargo between Asia and Europe pass?

Suez Canal

One of the most important fleet training bases in the Caribbean Sea for the US Navy is located at

Guantanamo Bay

The strategic entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean is through the

Strait of Gibraltar

Entrance and departure from the Baltic Sea is through the

Danish Straits

_In what country are the oil fields of Lake Maricaibo located?

Venezuela

What is the most important strategic waterway in the Caribbean Sea?

Panama Canal

What is the smallest of all the major oceans?

Arctic

What is the most profitable natural resource in the Mediterranean Sea?

Fish

_What was the first American nuclear submarine (In 1958) to reach the North Pole under the ice?

USS Nautilus

The most active volcanic basin on earth is located in what body of water?

Mediterranean Sea

The Ukrainians have a fleet of naval warships based at Sevastopol on the

Black Sea

The most important mining operations in the Atlantic Ocean's seas and gulfs are for

oil

What ocean has some of the most heavily fished areas in the world?

Atlantic

What is the name of the cape at the southernmost tip of Africa?

Cape Good Hope

The strategic Russian warm-water port on the Barents Sea is located at

Murmansk

Where is the busiest and largest Atlantic port in Western Europe located?

Antwerp

In which body of water are most of the shrimp consumed in the United States caught?

Gulf of Mexico

The Lesser Antilles are the small islands bordering the eastern portion of which sea?

Caribbean Sea

The continent of little or no strategic interest to  major nations because it lies outside major sea and air routes.

Antarctica

The major oil-producing country in the world is

Saudi Arabia

In what body of water in the Pacific Ocean are huge crabs, lobsters, and shrimp caught?

Gulf of Alaska

The tremendous formation of coral which runs more than 1,250 miles along the coast of northern Australia is named the

Great Barrier Reef

The strait that forms a strategic "chokepoint" between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman is the Strait of

Hormuz

Persian Gulf country that was the site of the largest military ground offensive since World War II in 1991 is

Kuwait

What is the third largest ocean in the world?

Indian

What sea lies between the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden?

Red Sea

The headquarters for the Russian Pacific Fleet is located at

Vladivostok

Lying in great belts and fields across the Pacific are chunks or modules of almost pure metals, the largest percentage of which is

manganese

The U. S. Third Fleet headquarters is located at

San Diego

Since full diplomatic recognition and exchange of ambassadors was achieved in 1979, United States relations have improved with the most populated nation on earth, the

PRC

The body of water that lies between Suez and Bab el Mandeb is the

Red Sea

The strategic "chokepoint" in the sea route between Europe and East Asia is the Strait of

Malacca

The movement of the Earth's land masses is known as the theory of

continental drift

The rough outer crust of the Earth which rides on the molten rock of the upper part of the mantle is called the

lithosphere

The bottom of the ocean is referred to as the deep ocean, the deep sea, the deep ocean basin or the

abyss

The movement of a tide away from shore is called

ebb

The movement of a tide toward the shore is called

flood

During the new and full moons, the tides are highest and lowest because the forces of the sun and moon work together.  The resulting tides are called

spring tides

Halfway between the new and full moon, when the forces of the sun and moon are opposed, there is less difference between low and high tides.  These tides are called

neap tides

The top layer of an ocean’s light environment is the

lighted zone

The most common substance other than water in seawater is

sodium chloride

____ is a device for measuring water temperature at different depths.

Hydrothermograph

The third layer or environment of the ocean, which is a thick layer where no plants grow, is called the

dark zone

The top of a wave is called the

crest

The lowest part of a wave is called the

trough