Exam 9: Oceans: The Last Frontier

Examine the graph. At what latitude do we find the maximum salinity?

The map shows the bathymetry of the ocean floor off the coast of Los Angeles, California. Note the prominent submarine canyon on the continental shelf and slope. How was this feature likely generated?

Attraction of seawater to submarine features like seamounts and oceanic ridges is due to ________; it results in areas where the surface of the ocean bulges upward by a small amount.

Why doesn't the sea get saltier over time?

A pile of clam shells is an example of ________ sediment.

Which one of the following is NOT part of the continental margin?

The deep-ocean basin makes up about 5% of the ocean floor's area.

Imagine that a helicopter drops you off on an island. You look north and south and see a long line of active volcanic islands poking up above the ocean's waves. At what sort of plate boundary are you likely to be? What is one way that could you test this interpretation to see if it is valid?

________ continental margins typically exhibit wide, extensive, continental shelves.

No thermocline exists in high-latitude regions because there is little temperature difference between the top and bottom of the water column. In such a situation the water column is said to be ________.

Where would you suggest we explore for oil: on a passive continental margin or an active margin? Explain.

A(n)________ marks the site where old, oceanic lithosphere begins its descent into a subduction zone.

Turbidites and siliceous oozes are both biogenous sediments.

Which of the four lettered locations in this figure shows a guyot?

Where is the continental rise?

The oceanic ridge is elevated above the abyssal plain because it is ________.

Submarine canyons form the deepest parts of the ocean basins.

Which one of the following statements concerning oceanic ridges is false?

In subduction erosion, sediment and rock are scraped off the bottom of the overriding plate and transported into the mantle by the subducting plate.

The layer in the ocean that is characterized by a rapid temperature change and marks the transition between the warm surface layer and the deep zone of cold water is known as the ________.