Ocean Science Study Guide Flashcards

Fill-in-the-blank practice flashcards generated from the handwritten Ocean Science study guide notes.

Oceanography focused on ocean basins, rocks, and sediments is known as __________.

Marine Geology

Physical Oceanography studies currents, waves, and __________.

tides

Chemical Oceanography is the study of materials dissolved in the ocean, such as __________.

salt

The branch of oceanography that focuses on the study of marine life is __________.

Marine Biology

Science is defined as the body of knowledge acquired via the __________.

Scientific Method

The percentage of people who only believe the Earth is $10{,}000\,\text{years}$ old is __________%.

$$40$$

The steps of the Scientific Method listed in the notes are Observation, Hypothesis, and __________.

Theory

Radiometric Dating determines the age of a natural substance via its proportions of radioactive parent and radiogenic __________ isotopes.

daughter

An isotope is defined as a variation of an __________.

element

Examples of stable isotopes listed in the notes include Carbon-12 and __________.

Carbon-13

The time required for $1/2$ of a parent isotope to decay to daughter is called the __________.

half-life

Unit 2 notes outline the coevolution of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and __________.

biosphere

The oldest known rock is approximately __________ billion years old.

$$4.4$$

The rapid melting and sinking of heavy rock to the center of the Earth is called the __________.

Iron Catastrophe

An environment with no free oxygen is described as __________.

anoxic

Bonded iron serves as evidence of seasonal free __________.

oxygen

A self-feeding bacterium with no cell nucleus is classified as a __________ autotroph.

procaryote

The oldest found stromatolites are approximately __________ billion years old.

$$3.5$$

Eukaryotes are noted as being vulnerable to __________ radiation.

UV

Hypsometric or hypographic height refers to features all over Earth's __________.

crust

Continental crust is composed of granite and has a density of approximately __________$\text{g/cm}^3$.

$$2.8$$

Oceanic crust is composed of basalt and has a density of __________$\text{g/cm}^3$.

$$3.0$$

The method of using sound waves to measure travel time converted to depth is __________.

Sonar

The submerged part of continental crust extending to approximately $200\,\text{meters}$ is called the continental __________.

shelf

Sediment avalanches that create the continental rise are caused by __________ currents.

turbidity

Pointy underwater features on the abyssal plain are seamounts, while flat-top mounds are __________.

guyots

An example of a mid-ocean ridge located above sea level is __________.

Iceland

Deep sea trenches are linear, long, skinny features that extend up to __________ meters below sea level.

$$10{,}000$$

Pierite

‘only forms without oxygen, suggesting the Earth was once anoxic.

Hyposometric Curve

Graph that represents the distribution of elevations on Earth.

Continental Slope

The continental slope is the steeply inclined area of the ocean floor that connects the continental shelf to the deep ocean floor, characterized by a marked decrease in depth. About 4 degrees- 20

Continental Rise

Rise of settlements at the bottom of the slope

Turbidity currents

Underwater avalanche, the cause of continental rise

Abyssal Plain

The ocean floor, reaching 500 meters, bioluminescent

Mid-Ocean Ridge

Underwater mountains

Ridge

Mid-Atlantic

Rise

East pacific rise