Deck 16: The Oceans, Coastal Processes, and Wind Processes

Question 1

The coast extends inland

A) to the foreshore dune.
B) to the backshore dune.
C) to the trough between the primary and secondary dune.
D) to the highest water line that occurs during a storm.
E) from the high tide level to the first major landform change.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Worldwide salinty varies between ________ and ________.

A) 5‰; 10‰
B) 34‰; 37‰
C) 47‰; 51‰
D) 65‰; 67‰

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Areas with heavy freshwater runoff and low evaporation will have ________ average salinity.

A) higher than
B) lower than
C) approximately the

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The worldwide average salinity of seawater is

A) 5‰.
B) 35‰.
C) 55‰.
D) 75‰.

Question 5

Which of the following is true of the Earth's coastlines?

A) Most of the Earth's coastlines are relatively young and undergoing continuous change.
B) The Earth's coastlines are among the oldest landforms on the planet.
C) There are few inputs that directly affect the Earth's coastlines beyond tidal action.
D) The Earth's coastline show a remarkable degree of similarity across the planet.

Question 6

Approximately what percentage of the United State's population live in coastal areas?

A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 65%

Question 7

Which of the following is true about seawater?

A) Seawater is pure water (H₂0).
B) Seawater is a solution.
C) The chemical composition of seawater has great spatial variability.
D) The salinity of seawater is negligible.

Question 8

Seawater with less than 35‰ is termed

A) brackish.
B) brine.
C) metahaline.
D) freshwater.

Question 9

Within the deep cold zone, average temperature and salinity

A) decrease with depth.
B) increase with depth.
C) remain fairly constant with depth.
D) decrease within the mixing zone, but increase the thermocline.

Question 10

Which of the following is incorrect regarding the littoral zone?

A) It spans both land and water.
B) Landward, it extends to the highest waterline reached on shore during a storm.
C) In general usage, it only includes the foreshore area of coastal environments.
D) Seaward it extends to where water is too deep for storm waves to move sediments.

Question 11

Approximately what percentage of the world's population lives near the ocean?

A) 33%
B) 25%
C) 40%
D) 70%

Question 12

Which of the following is true of the chemical composition of seawater?

A) Eighteen elements account for 75% of the dissolved waters in seawater.
B) Seawater contains dissolved gases, suspended and dissolved organic matter, and many trace elements.
C) Seawater is very heterogeneous, varying across the vast oceans of the world.
D) Samples of ancient seawater suggest a great deal of chemical variation over the Earth's history.

Question 13

What is the difference between an ocean and a sea?

A) The term sea is used to describe the global, interconnected water body covering 70% of the Earth's surface, whereas oceans refer to the individual basins within this global sea.
B) An ocean is a vast body of water encompassing 70% of the Earth, whereas a sea refers specifically to a large, inland, saline body of water.
C) Seas are generally smaller than an ocean and tend to be associated with land masses, whether partially enclosed by land or large, inland, saline water bodies.
D) There is no difference, just a different term for the same physical feature.

Question 14

On average, ocean water is

A) very acidic (low pH).
B) very basic (high pH).
C) neutral.
D) mildly acid (a pH slightly less than 7).

Question 15

A general term for the coastal area and shallow offshow environment is

A) shoreline.
B) coast.
C) coastline.
D) littoral zone.

Question 16

In which of the following region would you expect to have the highest levels of seawater sality?

A) equatorial oceans
B) subtropical oceans
C) polar oceans.
D) midlatitude oceans.

Question 17

Within the mixing zone and thermocline, average temperature and salinity

A) decrease with depth.
B) increase with depth.
C) remain fairly constant with depth.
D) decrease within the mixing zone, but increase the thermocline.

Question 18

Seawater that exceeds the 35‰ average is termed

A) brackish.
B) brine.
C) mesohaline.
D) freshwater.

Question 19

Which of the following affect the chemical composition of seawater?

A) the atmosphere
B) sediments
C) marine organisms
D) minerals
E) the chemical composition of water is affected by the atmosphere, marine organisms, minerals, and ocean sediments.

Question 20

Brine water may results from

A) the influx of river water into the ocean.
B) stagnation of water in a floodplain swamp.
C) high evapotranspiration rates.
D) heavy rainfall and low temperatures.

Question 21

The height of a tsunami grows as it approaches a coastline primarily because

A) its energy level increases.
B) its wavelength shortens.
C) the height of the surf is added to the height of the tsunami.
D) trick question-the height of a tsunami remains constant from the time of its origin.

Question 22

Undercutting action of the sea results in

A) barrier splits.
B) sea cliffs.
C) lagoons.
D) tombolos.

Question 23

As a wave approaches the shoreline and enters shallower water, energy and water move forward causing the water to rise and cascade down from the wave crest as a breaker. These waves are called

A) waves of translation.
B) swells.
C) waves of transition.
D) tidal waves.

Question 24

A longshore current involves all of the following except

A) effective wind direction.
B) effective wave direction.
C) waves of transition.
D) transportation of large amounts of sand and coastal materials.

Question 25

High tides are known as ________ whereas low tides are kown as ________.

A) flood tides; ebb tides
B) ebb tides; flood tides
C) spring tides; neap tides
D) neap tides; spring tides

Question 26

In deep water, a wave is not really migrating but is transferring energy through the water in simple cyclic undulations. These are called

A) waves of translation.
B) swells.
C) waves of transition.
D) tidal waves.

Question 27

When the Sun and Moon are neither in conjunction or opposition, the ________ occurs and results in the ________ tidal range between low and high tides.

A) spring tides; lowest
B) spring tides; greatest
C) neap tides; lowest
D) neap tides; greatest

Question 28

Particles of sand, gravels, and shells that move along the shore form the

A) breakers.
B) longshore current.
C) beach drift.
D) translation effects.

Question 29

Which of the following is correct regarding waves that travel in wave trains?

A) They are produced by storm centers and generating regions far distant from the shore where they may break.
B) They usually form relatively close to the affected coastline.
C) They experience refraction by the deep seafloor.
D) They are called breakers as they travel in the open sea.

Question 30

A wave-cut platform is the erosional remnant of a

A) barrier island.
B) spit.
C) tombolo.
D) cliff.

Question 31

Which of the following is not correct regarding tides?

A) They are produced solely by the gravitational pull of the Sun.
B) They are complex twice daily oscillations in sea level.
C) They are influenced by the size, depth, and topography of ocean basins.
D) They are influenced by shoreline configuration and latitude.

Question 32

Regular patterns of smooth, rounded waves are called

A) breakers.
B) wave ripples.
C) wave trains.
D) swells.

Question 33

Wave action works to straighten a coast as wave energy focuses around headlands and tends to disperse energy in coves and bays in a process called

A) longshore current.
B) breakers.
C) wave refraction.
D) tidal bore.

Question 34

When the height of a wave exceeds its vertical stability, the wave is called a

A) rip current.
B) wave of transition.
C) breaker.
D) tidal wave.

Question 35

When the Sun and Moon are on the same side Earth or on opposite sides of earth, the ________ occurs and results in the ________ tidal range between low and high tides.

A) spring tides; lowest
B) spring tides; greatest
C) neap tides; lowest
D) neap tides; greatest

Question 36

In the movie The Poseidon Adventure, a cruise ship is overturned by a tsunami while at sea. This plot is not valid because

A) tsunamis do not have the energy to overturn a ship of that size.
B) tsunamis do not occur in the open ocean.
C) tsunamis do not form high waves while in the open ocean.
D) the tsunami in the movie didn't occur in a tectonically active area.

Question 37

Which of the following occurs when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in alignment (i.e., in opposition or conjunction)?

A) maximum tidal ranges occur
B) neap tides occur
C) a lower tidal range occurs
D) ebb tides occur

Question 38

Which of the following is not an example of an erosional coastal landform?

A) sea arch
B) tombolo
C) wave-cut platform
D) notched cliff

Question 39

Which of the following is correct regarding mean sea level?

A) A consistent value has yet to be determined due to all the variables involved in producing the tides.
B) It is at the same level along the entire North American coast.
C) It is calculated based on average tidal levels recorded hourly at a given site over a period of many years.
D) It has very little variability across all ocean basins and, therefore, is treated as an absolute value.

Question 40

An earthquake, a submarine landslide, or an eruption of an undersea volcano is capable of producing a

A) tsunami.
B) tidal wave.
C) slow-moving giant swell.
D) wave in the open ocean of great height.

Question 41

A shallow saltwater body cut off from the ocean by a bay barrier is known as a

A) barrier spit.
B) lagoon.
C) tombolo.
D) baymouth bar.

Question 42

Coral formations

A) tend to occur poleward of 30° latitude.
B) survive in a broad ecological range because they are tolerant of temperature, salinity, and depth variation.
C) require water that is high in sediment concentration.
D) are made of animals living symbiotically with simple algae.

Question 43

Long, narrow depositional features of sand that form offshore roughly parallel to the coast are called

A) tombolos.
B) barrier beaches.
C) baymouth bar.
D) groins.

Question 44

A ________ is deposited sediment that connects a shoreline with an offshore island.

A) barrier spit
B) lagoon
C) tombolo
D) baymouth bar

Question 45

A terrace is

A) an uplifted sea stack.
B) an uplifted wave-cut platform.
C) an erosional surface created by a massive tsunami.
D) an uplifted foreshore dune.

Question 46

Barrier beaches and islands occur worldwide, lying offshore of nearly ________ of Earth's coastlines.

A) 10 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 70 percent
D) 90 percent

Question 47

Human intervention along a coastline intended to interrupt beach drift can include all of the following except

A) tombolos.
B) jetties.
C) breakwaters.
D) groins.

Question 48

Which of the following is an example of a coastal wetland?

A) playa lake
B) mangrove swamp
C) saltwater marsh
D) both mangrove swamp and saltwater marsh
E) playa lake, mangrove swamp, and saltwater marsh

Question 49

Which of the following is not a "hard" shoreline protection measure?

A) groins.
B) beach nourishment.
C) jetties.
D) breakwater.

Question 50

Material deposited in a long ridge extending out from a coast is called a

A) barrier island.
B) lagoon.
C) barrier spit.
D) tombolo.

Question 51

Beaches are

A) places where sediment is stable and unchanging.
B) permanent coastal features.
C) places along the coast where sediment is in motion.
D) always composed of sand.

Question 52

Which of the following is not an example of a depositional coastal landform?

A) wave-built terrace
B) barrier spit
C) bay barrier
D) wave-cut platform

Question 53

On average, the beach zone spans the area

A) between high and low spring tides.
B) from several meters above high tide to several meters below low tide.
C) between high and low neap tides.
D) from the high tide line during a spring tide to the low tide line during a neap tide.

Question 54

If the material deposited in a long ridge extending out from a coast grows to completely cut off the bay from an ocean, it become a

A) barrier spit.
B) lagoon.
C) tombolo.
D) baymouth bar.

Question 55

These features create zones of still water near coastlines.

A) breakwaters
B) groins
C) jetties
D) tombolos

Question 56

Which of the following is not correct regarding coral bleaching?

A) The 1998 El Niño event caused the die-off of an estimated 30% of the world's reefs.
B) Scientists have identified the reasons polyps eject their algae.
C) The warming of sea-surface temperatures is a great threat to coral.
D) Coral reefs are under pressure from overfishing, pollution, sedimentation, and global warming.

Question 57

Coral bleaching refers to

A) the killing of coral formations by chlorine bleach pollution.
B) the replacement of normal, colored algae by white algae.
C) the loss of algae from the coral.
D) the process whereby corol change color to avoid detection by predators.

Question 58

These features, here from Lake Michigan, disrupt sediment movement along a coast.

A) breakwaters
B) groins
C) jetties
D) tombolos

Question 59

These features block material from entering a harbor.

A) breakwaters
B) groins
C) jetties
D) tombolos

Question 60

The artificial replacement of sand along a beach is called

A) groins.
B) beach nourishment.
C) jetties.
D) breakwater.

Question 61

Which of the following is not a cause of the ejection of nutrient-providing algae from coral?

A) pollution
B) sedimentation
C) oceanic acidification
D) warming sea-surface temperatures
E) pollution, sedimentation, acidication, and warming temperatures all contribute to this phenomenon.

Question 62

Coral and algae have a reciprocal relationship in which the algae perform photosynthesis, providing the coral with nutrition and helping with the calcification process. In return, the coral provide the algae with nutrients. This is an example of a ________ relationship.

A) parasitic
B) opportunistic
C) symbiotic
D) predator/prey

Question 63

For purposes of discussing eolian processes, the wind acts like a

A) solid.
B) gas.
C) plasma.
D) fluid.

Question 64

Desert pavement refers to

A) specially constructed roadbeds in dry and hot regions.
B) surfaces of concentrated pebbles and gravels.
C) deposits of silt and clay.
D) sand-covered surfaces.

Question 65

Which of the following terms is not a correct reference to a desert pavement?

A) gibber plain
B) lag gravels
C) sand seas
D) reg desert

Question 66

Large, lithified formations of calcium carbonate formed from both living and skeletal coral colonies are called

A) atolls.
B) coral reefs.
C) barrier islands.
D) tombolos.

Question 67

The destruction of a mangrove swamp might lead to

A) the loss of aquatic species.
B) the erosion of the coast.
C) sediment accumulation on nearby reefs, and their consequent death.
D) loss of species, coastal erosion, and sediment accumulation.
E) there is no evidence of the loss of mangrove swamps.

Question 68

The grinding and shaping of rock surfaces by the "sand blasting" action of particles captured in the air is termed

A) deflation.
B) abrasion.
C) saltation.
D) deposition.

Question 69

The sinuous, branching channels that characterize a salt marsh result from

A) animal paths through the marsh.
B) storm tracks.
C) manmade drainage canals.
D) the ebb and flow of tides.

Question 70

The term eolian refers to

A) stream-related processes.
B) glacial processes in areas outside the polar regions.
C) erosion, transportation, and deposition by the wind.
D) weathering and mass movement in humid regions.

Question 71

The term used to describe rocks that are pitted, fluted, or polished from eolian erosion is

A) desert pavement.
B) pumice.
C) ventifacts.
D) deflation hollows.

Question 72

The smallest features shaped by individual saltating grains are

A) ripples.
B) dunes.
C) sand seas.
D) reg deserts.

Question 73

The removal and lifting of individual loose particles by the wind is termed

A) deflation.
B) abrasion.
C) saltation.
D) deposition.

Question 74

An atoll is approximately ________ in shape because it forms ________.

A) circular; around seastacks
B) circular; around submerged volcanic islands
C) linear; along barrier islands
D) linear; along continental shorelines

Question 75

When coral expel their own nutrient-supplying algae, a phenomena called ________ often follows.

A) bleaching
B) symbiosis
C) massive coral mortality (mcm)
D) coloration

Question 76

Barrier islands make ________ sites for real estate development because ________.

A) good; they provide excellent scenery
B) good; they are made of rock and are quite stable
C) poor; they are unstable and often mobile
D) poor; they can be overrun by storm surges
E) poor; they are unstable and often mobile and they can be overrun by storm surges.

Question 77

A major difference between a barrier island and a barrier spit is

A) a barrier spit is connected to the mainland, whereas a barrier island is not.
B) barrier spits are anthropogenic, modeled after natural barrier islands.
C) a barrier spit is a depositional feature that connects the barrier island to the mainland.
D) one of regional terminology, a barrier island and a barrier spit are the same thing.

Question 78

Elongated, streamlined ridges aligned parallel to the most effective wind direction are called

A) ventifacts.
B) yardangs.
C) desert pavements.
D) alluvial rock structures.

Question 79

A depression created by deflation is known as a

A) playa.
B) bolson.
C) blowout depression.
D) structural basin.

Question 80

A coral is a type of ________ that secretes ________ to form an organic rock home.

A) polyp; calcium carbonate
B) polyp; silica
C) algae; calcium carbonate
D) algae; silica