Question 1

What is used to visualize ocean layering?

Accepted Answer

A)  A caballing chart 
B)  A circulation histogram 
C)  A layering table 
D)  A temperature-salinity diagram 
A)  A caballing chart 
B)  A circulation histogram 
C)  A layering table 
D)  A temperature-salinity diagram D

Question 2

What are the three types of geostrophic currents? What are their characteristics? Give at least one example of each type of current.

Accepted Answer

Answer should include: 
·Western boundary currents are those that move warm water towards the pole. They are narrow currents with relatively defined boundaries. They are deep and move fast. There are 5 large western boundary currents, the Gulf Stream being the largest. 
·Western boundary currents tend to be depleted of nutrients and have little or no upwelling events associated with them. This makes them relatively biologically unproductive. 
·Eddies are commonly found in western boundary currents as well. 
·Eastern boundary currents carry cold water towards the equator. They are shallow and broad with ill defined boundaries. These currents are slow moving. 
·Although eddies tend not to form in eastern boundary currents like eastern boundary currents, there is coastal upwelling commonly associated with them. 
·Transverse currents travel from east to west or vice versa. They are vital in connecting eastern and western boundary currents. These are a result from trade winds. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the transverse current which is the also largest of all ocean currents. 
·Mid-latitude, eastern flowing currents are wider and flow slower compared to equatorial transverse currents. This is due to the influence of trade winds. 
 Information can be found in the section Surface Currents Are Driven by the Winds .

Question 3

What direction would a gyre in the Southern Hemisphere flow towards?

Accepted Answer

A)  Left 
B)  Right 
C)  Towards the equator 
D)  Poleward 
A)  Left 
B)  Right 
C)  Towards the equator 
D)  Poleward A

Question 4

What is not a characteristic of western boundary currents?

Accepted Answer

A)  They move warm water poleward. 
B)  They are fast moving currents. 
C)  They are deep currents. 
D)  They are broad currents. 
A)  They move warm water poleward. 
B)  They are fast moving currents. 
C)  They are deep currents. 
D)  They are broad currents.

Question 5

When a large amount of dense water sinks at polar ocean basins, the same quantity rises elsewhere in the world ocean.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

The Antarctic Bottom Water in the Pacific retains its characteristics for up to 1,600 years.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

Langmuir circulation disturbs deep water currents due to twisting vortices.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

What is the name for slow, deep currents beneath the pycnocline?

Accepted Answer

A)  Surface currents 
B)  Convection currents 
C)  Thermohaline currents 
D)  Polar currents 
A)  Surface currents 
B)  Convection currents 
C)  Thermohaline currents 
D)  Polar currents

Question 9

El Niño Southern Oscillation events can cause flooding from both a rise in sea level and high precipitation.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

What is not a characteristic of an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ESNO)?

Accepted Answer

A)  High pressure area shifts to the western Pacific 
B)  Trade winds across the Pacific weaken or reverse directions 
C)  Equatorial currents stop 
D)  Trade winds across the Pacific strengthen 
A)  High pressure area shifts to the western Pacific 
B)  Trade winds across the Pacific weaken or reverse directions 
C)  Equatorial currents stop 
D)  Trade winds across the Pacific strengthen

Question 11

What influences contour currents?

Accepted Answer

A)  Salinity 
B)  Density 
C)  Topography 
D)  Trade winds 
A)  Salinity 
B)  Density 
C)  Topography 
D)  Trade winds

Question 12

If an eddy found in the Gulf Stream is rotating counterclockwise, then it is:

Accepted Answer

A)  a warm water eddy. 
B)  a cold water eddy. 
C)  a transverse current. 
D)  an eastern boundary current. 
A)  a warm water eddy. 
B)  a cold water eddy. 
C)  a transverse current. 
D)  an eastern boundary current.

Question 13

What is responsible for the large-scale global ocean circulation?

Accepted Answer

A)  Surface currents 
B)  ENSO events 
C)  Thermohaline circulation 
D)  Langmuir circulation 
A)  Surface currents 
B)  ENSO events 
C)  Thermohaline circulation 
D)  Langmuir circulation

Question 14

Thousands of lost shoes in the Pacific helped oceanographers refine circulation models.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

What maintains the permanent thermocline found at all low and mid-latitudes?

Accepted Answer

A)  Continual upwelling 
B)  Warm water currents 
C)  Density stratification 
D)  Downwelling 
A)  Continual upwelling 
B)  Warm water currents 
C)  Density stratification 
D)  Downwelling

Question 16

Although gyres flow continuously, oceanographers categorize them into four interconnected currents.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

What is not usually able to be measured by flow meters?

Accepted Answer

A)  Surface currents 
B)  Intermediate waters 
C)  Bottom waters 
D)  Coastal waters 
A)  Surface currents 
B)  Intermediate waters 
C)  Bottom waters 
D)  Coastal waters

Question 18

Researchers believe the catalyst for the 1982-83 El Niño event was actually the volcanic eruption of El Chichón.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Which water mass is not produced by caballing?

Accepted Answer

A)  North Atlantic Intermediate Water 
B)  Antarctic Intermediate Water 
C)  Antarctic Bottom Water 
D)  Mediterranean Deep Water 
A)  North Atlantic Intermediate Water 
B)  Antarctic Intermediate Water 
C)  Antarctic Bottom Water 
D)  Mediterranean Deep Water

Question 20

What are the different types of water masses? What is the most distinctive water mass? Give the characteristics and behaviors of that water mass.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are the different types of water...

What is used to visualize ocean layering?

What are the three types of geostrophic currents? What are their characteristics? Give at least one example of each type of current.

What direction would a gyre in the Southern Hemisphere flow towards?

What is not a characteristic of western boundary currents?

When a large amount of dense water sinks at polar ocean basins, the same quantity rises elsewhere in the world ocean.

The Antarctic Bottom Water in the Pacific retains its characteristics for up to 1,600 years.

Langmuir circulation disturbs deep water currents due to twisting vortices.

What is the name for slow, deep currents beneath the pycnocline?

El Niño Southern Oscillation events can cause flooding from both a rise in sea level and high precipitation.

What is not a characteristic of an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ESNO)?

What influences contour currents?

If an eddy found in the Gulf Stream is rotating counterclockwise, then it is:

What is responsible for the large-scale global ocean circulation?

Thousands of lost shoes in the Pacific helped oceanographers refine circulation models.

What maintains the permanent thermocline found at all low and mid-latitudes?

Although gyres flow continuously, oceanographers categorize them into four interconnected currents.

What is not usually able to be measured by flow meters?

Researchers believe the catalyst for the 1982-83 El Niño event was actually the volcanic eruption of El Chichón.

Which water mass is not produced by caballing?

What are the different types of water masses? What is the most distinctive water mass? Give the characteristics and behaviors of that water mass.

The Origin of the Ocean

A History of Marine Science

Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics

Ocean Basins

Ocean Sediments

Water and Ocean Structure

Ocean Chemistry

Circulation of the Atmosphere

Waves

Tides

Coasts

Life in the Ocean

Plankton, Algae, and Plants

Marine Animals

Marine Communities

Marine Resources

The Ocean and the Environment

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Exam 9: Circulation of the Ocean

What is used to visualize ocean layering?

What are the three types of geostrophic currents? What are their characteristics? Give at least one example of each type of current.

What direction would a gyre in the Southern Hemisphere flow towards?

What is not a characteristic of western boundary currents?

When a large amount of dense water sinks at polar ocean basins, the same quantity rises elsewhere in the world ocean.

The Antarctic Bottom Water in the Pacific retains its characteristics for up to 1,600 years.

Langmuir circulation disturbs deep water currents due to twisting vortices.

What is the name for slow, deep currents beneath the pycnocline?

El Niño Southern Oscillation events can cause flooding from both a rise in sea level and high precipitation.

What is not a characteristic of an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ESNO)?

What influences contour currents?

If an eddy found in the Gulf Stream is rotating counterclockwise, then it is:

What is responsible for the large-scale global ocean circulation?

Thousands of lost shoes in the Pacific helped oceanographers refine circulation models.

What maintains the permanent thermocline found at all low and mid-latitudes?

Although gyres flow continuously, oceanographers categorize them into four interconnected currents.

What is not usually able to be measured by flow meters?

Researchers believe the catalyst for the 1982-83 El Niño event was actually the volcanic eruption of El Chichón.

Which water mass is not produced by caballing?

What are the different types of water masses? What is the most distinctive water mass? Give the characteristics and behaviors of that water mass.

The Origin of the Ocean

A History of Marine Science

Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics

Ocean Basins

Ocean Sediments

Water and Ocean Structure

Ocean Chemistry

Circulation of the Atmosphere

Waves

Tides

Coasts

Life in the Ocean

Plankton, Algae, and Plants

Marine Animals

Marine Communities

Marine Resources

The Ocean and the Environment

Filters