Chemical Oceanography
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Course Introduction
Chemical Oceanography explores the chemical composition and processes of the worlds oceans, investigating the distribution, cycling, and transformation of elements and compounds within marine environments. This course covers key topics such as the origins and behavior of seawater constituents, interactions between the ocean, atmosphere, and seafloor, and the influence of biological processes on chemical cycles. Emphasis is placed on understanding the global carbon cycle, nutrient dynamics, ocean acidification, and the impacts of human activity on marine chemistry, providing students with a foundation for understanding marine geochemical processes and their significance in Earths climate system.
Recommended Textbook Oceanography 8th Edition by Tom S. Garrison
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Chapter 1: The Origin of the Ocean
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Q1) What key characteristic marks the beginning stages of the collapse of a star?
A) The increase in temperature
B) The depletion of carbon and oxygen
C) The depletion of hydrogen
D) The expulsion of energy
Answer: C
Q2) Which does not describe a law?
A) A law summarizes observations.
B) A law explains observations.
C) A law is the largest construct to summarize experimental observations
D) A law explains unvarying uniformity under the same conditions.
Answer: B
Q3) Although it currently does not have an ocean, ____ is thought to have had one in the distant past.
A) Europa
B) Saturn
C) Jupiter
D) Mars
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: A History of Marine Science
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Q1) Hipparchus developed our present grid system of longitude and latitude.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Although John Harrison was a cabinetmaker, he was awarded a monetary prize for building an accurate clock used to determine longitude.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Which Library of Alexandria librarian is responsible for the development of the longitude and latitude system?
A) Hipparchus
B) Claudius Ptolemy
C) Hypatia
D) Eratosthenes
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics
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Q1) A(n) ____ is a very large column of superheated mantle that originates at the boundary of the core and mantle.
A) Volcano
B) Plume
C) Asthenosphere
D) Ridge
Answer: B
Q2) Transform plate boundaries are not involved in the creation or destruction of crust, rather the plates just move past one another.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Primary waves travel ____ as fast as secondary waves.
A) half
B) twice
C) three times
D) at the same speed
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Ocean Basins
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Q1) Where does most of the material on the continental shelf come from?
A) Erosion from the adjacent continent
B) Sediments transported from rivers
C) Accumulations behind natural dams
D) New crust formation
Q2) Describe how submarine canyons are formed? Where are they formed? How have past ice ages affected the formation of submarine canyons?
Q3) What type of bathymetric feature was heavily influenced by wave action at some point in its history?
A) Abyssal hill
B) Seamount
C) Guyot
D) Trench
Q4) How long is it estimated to take the ocean's volume of water to circulate through the oceanic crust at spreading centers?
A) 1 million years
B) 10 million years
C) 100 million years
D) 1 billion years
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Chapter 5: Ocean Sediments
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Q1) Although most of biological productivity occurs close to land, a greater proportion is found in pelagic sediments.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Define well-sorted and poorly sorted sediments. What is expected on the deep ocean floor? Which is found close to shore? Include information about the energy associated with each and the avenues of transportation of these sediments.
Q3) What piece of equipment was able to facilitate the new fields of stratigraphy and paleoceanography with the data it generated?
A) Clamshell samplers
B) Deep water cameras
C) Piston Corers
D) Seismic profilers
Q4) Both basalt and granite are examples igneous rocks.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is the distribution of neritic sediments, by size, from the shoreline outward towards the deep ocean? What facilitates the movement of each size of sediment?
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Chapter 6: Water and Ocean Structure
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Q1) Which does not have an effect on water's density?
A) Temperature
B) Pressure
C) Viscosity
D) Salinity
Q2) Why does the ocean not boil or freeze solid in different regions of the world?
A) The latent heat of fusion and vaporization balance the heat energy inputs and outputs.
B) Heat is able to be transferred to water vapor.
C) Heat is transported by oceanic and atmospheric circulation.
D) The thermal inertia of water is low in certain regions.
Q3) Which statement is not true of the relationship between latitude and ocean characteristics?
A) The temperature in temperate waters is considered to be the most variable.
B) Tropical waters are the only regions in which evaporation exceeds precipitation.
C) Temperate waters have the largest variation in salinity.
D) The polar waters have the lowest average salinity due to the melting of ice.
Q4) How do water's thermostatic properties maintain global temperatures? Explain heat capacity and latent heat in your answer.
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Chapter 7: Ocean Chemistry
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Q1) What is the colligative property of osmotic pressure?
A) The pressure exerted on biological membranes from the atmosphere
B) The pressure exerted on biological membranes from salinity differences outside the cells
C) The pressure exerted on biological membranes during temperature changes of water
D) The pressure exerted on biological membranes when surrounding waters phase change
Q2) Salt as a compound does not truly exist in the ocean.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What does carbon dioxide break down into once it is in the ocean?
A) Carbonic acid
B) Bicarbonate
C) Carbonate
D) All of these choices
Q4) What is Forchhammer's principle? Give examples of the evidence which allowed Georg Forchhammer to develop this principle. How do residence times provide a foundation for this principle?
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Chapter 8: Circulation of the Atmosphere
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Q1) What causes the solar heating of Earth to have seasonal variations?
A) The length of the Earth's rotation
B) The tilt of the Earth's axis from the sun
C) The Coriolis Effect
D) The shape of the Earth's rotation around the sun
Q2) How do seasons affect the surface winds?
A) During the northern summer, the surface winds shift to the south.
B) During the northern winter, the surface winds shift to the south.
C) During the northern winter, the surface winds shift to the north.
D) Surface winds are not affected by seasons
Q3) Which is not an example of a tropical cyclone?
A) Hurricane
B) Nor'easter
C) Willi-willi
D) Typhoon
Q4) What occurs at the boundaries of circulation cells?
A) Winds move eastward due to the Coriolis Effect
B) Winds moves towards the poles
C) Winds move horizontally and at high speeds
D) Winds move vertically where the boundaries meet
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Circulation of the Ocean
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Q1) What is considered to be the largest western boundary current?
A) Canary Current
B) Gulf Stream
C) Brazil Current
D) East Australian Current
Q2) Langmuir circulation disturbs deep water currents due to twisting vortices.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the behavior of the Ekman spiral? What occurs when the friction depth is reached?
Q4) Researchers believe the catalyst for the 1982-83 El Niño event was actually the volcanic eruption of El Chichón.
A)True
B)False
Q5) If the gradual rise of deep water at temperate and tropical zones were to stop, the thermocline would rise, making the difference in water layers steeper.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Waves
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Q1) Tsunamis are shallow-water waves because their wavelengths are so long that they will never be in water deeper than 1/2 its wavelength.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is not an important factor for the development of wind waves?
A) Wind speed
B) Tides
C) Wind direction
D) Fetch
Q3) What is not true of a rogue wave?
A) The constructive interference of many wavelengths
B) A wave much larger than the theoretical maximum wave sustained by a fully developed sea
C) A freak, unpredictable wave
D) A predictable but large wave
Q4) What is the process of wave separation?
A) Swells
B) Wave trains
C) Fully developed sea
D) Dispersion
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Chapter 11: Tides
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Q1) Tidal current become simpler when they are in the open ocean.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is needed to calculate the speed and direction of tidal current while at sea?
A) The shape of the ocean basin below
B) The magnitude of gravitational forces and inertia
C) The position of the amphidromic point
D) All of these choices
Q3) Tidal friction is gradually slowing Earth's rotation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Spring tides are seasonal tidal events.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is the tidal datum in reference to in regions with semidiurnal mixed tides?
A) Mean lower low water
B) Mean low water
C) Tidal range
D) Mean tide
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Chapter 12: Coasts
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Q1) Global glaciation events can create variations in local sea level changes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Where is the seaward limit of a beach?
A) Longshore bars
B) Berms
C) Where the longshore drift is the strongest
D) Where the sediment stops moving onshore or offshore
Q3) How do sediments move along a beach?
Q4) Where are deltas common?
A) Low energy shores
B) High energy shores
C) Leading edges of continents
D) At the base of mountains
Q5) Coasts refer to an entire area that is affected by biological processes in addition to tectonic activity.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Describe the three types of reefs that are formed. Can you hypothesize why they are important?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Life in the Ocean
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Q1) What kind of movement of particles is able to move against normal concentration gradients?
A) Active transport
B) Diffusion
C) Osmosis
D) Dispersion
Q2) Coastal waters often support larger blooms of plankton than open water due to a high nitrate level in runoff.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A small cell having a high surface-to-volume ratio is more efficient than a large cell with a high volume-to-surface ratio.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Although ectotherms can tolerate large ranges in external temperature, they are unable to sustain large fluctuations in their internal temperatures.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What are Darwin's postulates of natural selection?
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Chapter 14: Plankton, Algae, and Plants
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Q1) What research vessel carried out the first large-scale plankton study?
A) Meteor
B) HMS Challenger
C) HMS Beagle
D) HMS Discovery
Q2) Consumption in phytoplankton usually exceeds carbohydrate production which is why we end up with oxygen.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What Zooplankton is considered a keystone species?
A) Ctenophores
B) Meroplankton
C) Pteropods
D) Krill
Q4) What is created due to the decomposition of falling biological debris and zooplankton activity?
A) Bioluminescence
B) Oxygen minimum zone
C) Compensation depth
D) Disphotic zone
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Chapter 15: Marine Animals
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Q1) What unique feature do all echinoderms have?
A) Water vascular system
B) An expelling stomach
C) A complex chewing jaws
D) Brains
Q2) The vertebrates' skull made the evolution of intelligence feasible.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which is not a characteristic of an arthropod?
A) Exoskeleton
B) Articulation of appendages
C) Striated muscle
D) Central nervous system
Q4) Brittle stars employ a unique evasive technique that involves detaching an arm if grabbed by a predator.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Marine birds usually avoid land unless they are finding food.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Marine Communities
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Q1) If an animal is tightly attached to the rocks during intense wave activity, it is said to be:
A) sessile.
B) motile.
C) desiccated.
D) benthic
Q2) What is the largest marine community?
A) Intertidal community
B) Photic zone community
C) Between the photic zone and the deep bottom
D) Deep bottom communities
Q3) In a stable community, multiple populations can occupy the same role to ensure biodiversity.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What happens to climax communities after a disruption? How do these communities re-establish themselves after a disruption like a tropical storm? What is this process called?
Q5) What are the types of symbiotic relationships that organisms exhibit? Give examples of each.
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Chapter 17: Marine Resources
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Q1) What is the second most valuable marine resource?
A) Gravel
B) Oil
C) Gas
D) Salt
Q2) What is the fastest-growing energy alternative to oil?
A) Wave power
B) Current power
C) Tide power
D) Wind power
Q3) What are the three most valuable marine resources? How are they excavated from the ocean? Are these resources renewable or nonrenewable?
Q4) Most of the marine oil deposits are tapped from offshore platforms.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Why is methane hydrate not harvested for energy use?
A) It is costly to mine and liquefy the sediments.
B) It is dangerous to mine due to methane's combustibility.
C) The methane disappears as it is brought to the surface.
D) All of these choices.
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Chapter 18: The Ocean and The Environment
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Q1) Why are some male fish in the ocean developing female characteristics?
A) Evolution
B) PCBs
C) Estrogen-mimicking compounds
D) Mercury
Q2) Why is the ozone layer important?
A) It insulates Earth.
B) It increases the temperature.
C) It protects Earth from ultraviolet rays.
D) It stabilizes the atmospheric layers.
Q3) How are pristine conditions of the atmosphere determined?
A) Research conducted prior to the Industrial Revolution
B) Seawater samples from deep within polar ice packs
C) Sediment samples
D) coral skeletons
Q4) Human demands and pressures have surpassed Earth's ability to regenerate resources.
A)True
B)False
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