Exam 10: The Restless Ocean

Examine the map shown here. You are considering buying property "C" on this stretch of coastline. Before signing the contract on the property, you hear that the owners of property "B" are considering building a groin like their neighbors recently did on property "A." Should you reconsider your purchase? Explain.

Imagine you are sailing a yacht across the Caribbean. You have to sail through a shallow lagoon in order to reach port at an island ahead of you. It is night time, and you look up to observe a "quarter moon," such as the one pictured here. You know that the lagoon is only safely navigable at high tide during the spring tide. Should you keep going tonight, or should you wait for a better time? (If so, when?)

Which of the following is correct regarding a wave in the open ocean?

Cold currents can trigger desertification because they stabilize air that might otherwise rise and generate precipitation.

Deep ocean currents are driven by thermohaline circulation, rather than prevailing winds.

The height, length, and period of a wave depend upon ________.

________ are large circular-moving currents of water within an ocean basin.

A shoreline is a(n)________, a common boundary where different parts of a system interact.

Breakwaters, sea walls, and groins are all examples of ________.

Climate change is particularly acute in the Arctic. Some scientists are concerned about the melting of the Greenland ice sheet because the extra water will cause sea level to rise around the globe. However, another concern is related to the thermohaline "conveyer belt" of ocean circulation. How might the melting of the Greenland ice sheet cause changes to that pattern of currents?

Waves approaching a beach at an oblique angle ________.

The ________ is the distance the wind has traveled across open water.

You visit a coastal area for the first time. You note the presence of marine terraces, sea stacks, and sea arches. Based on these features, the area is likely to be ________.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis effect causes surface currents in the ocean to be deflected slightly ________ compared to the winds that cause them.

One disadvantage of beach nourishment as compared to hard stabilization is ________.

Fossil fuels are a cheap way to make electricity, but burning them generates greenhouse gases. Nuclear power produces a lot of low-carbon energy, but nuclear accidents may release dangerous radioactivity. Windmills generate electricity from the movement of air currents, but the wind doesn't always blow. In light of all these "down sides" to energy production, consider how you might harness longshore currents to produce electricity. Describe your plan in detail, and sketch out how it would work. What might be some of the potential drawbacks to your plan?

Which of the following shoreline features is a result of erosion?

Longshore currents and beach drift ________.

Tidal flats are submerged during ebb tide.