Exam 9: Oceans: The Last Frontier

The proportion of land to water is about the same in both the Northern Hemisphere as in the Southern Hemisphere.

Which of the following would NOT be associated with turbidity currents?

The HMS Challenger was the world's first ________ survey vessel.

The oceanic ridge system is the ________ topographic feature on Earth.

Which of the following is associated with oceanic ridges?

Consider this scenario: you are hired as the sonar technician on an oceanographic research vessel. The ship is moving at a constant speed on a linear survey. Your echo-sounding equipment gives you the following dataset over the course of the 170-km transect: Recall that the average speed of sound waves in water is 1500 meters per second. What submarine feature has been documented by these data? Interpret the dataset as fully as possible.

The gently sloping submerged surface extending from the shoreline toward the deep ocean is termed the ________.

The surface waters in regions where evaporation rates are high, such as the Red Sea, have higher than average salinities.

At low latitudes, the ________ is a zone of rapid temperature change over a relatively short depth. It is associated with a similar depth zone marked by a change in density, called the ________.

The ________ Ocean is largest; the ________ Ocean is smallest.

Oceanic ridges are elevated features because they are warm and therefore less dense than older, colder oceanic lithosphere.

A rising mantle plume may be responsible for the vast outpouring of lava associated with a(n)________.

Turbidity currents are downslope movements of dense, sediment-laden water.

Identify and label the features shown on the figure.

An echo sounder operates by measuring the time required for ________.

The Atlantic and Pacific basins have oceanic ridges but the Indian Ocean has no oceanic ridge.

________ continental margins occur where oceanic lithosphere is being subducted beneath the edge of a continent.

Compare and contrast the three types of seafloor sediments, and given an example of each.

Examine the graph. At what latitude is the ratio of ocean water to land at its maximum? Choose from the following options.