Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
65 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Ocean sediments have recorded past climates of earth, how have scientists determined thisrecord of past climate change? |
Oxygen isotopes in calcareous plankton fossils in marine sediment coresreveal temperature |
|
Deep ocean red clays were a possible location for what activity? |
Storage of high level radioactive waste |
|
Which ocean basin as the most abundant carbonate sediments? |
Atlantic |
|
What is the best method to sample ocean sediments for climate studies? |
Drill Ship HPC cores |
|
What is the most common biogenous sediment in the ocean? |
carbonate shells and hard parts |
|
Tektites are composed primarily of ______ sediments? |
cosmogenic |
|
What type of sediments is found in the southern ocean around Antarctica? |
Glacial Marine Sediments |
|
Where are marine sediments that have graded bedding found? |
Continental rise and Abyssal Plains |
|
What type of plankton is made out of silica and is a plant? |
diatom |
|
What type of plankton is made out of carbonate and is an animal? |
foraminifera |
|
What two characteristics are used to classify sediments? |
Diameter and mineral composition |
|
What carbonate chemical species is stable in normal ocean water pH (pH ~ 8)? |
bicarbonate HCO3- |
|
What is the pH of household ammonia? |
11 |
|
What is the CCD? |
Calcite Compensation Depth |
|
Why is the absorption of anthropogenic CO2 in the oceans not effectively buffered in theoceans today? |
carbonate sediments are not in contact with surface water, the ocean turnover time is 1000 yrs while Atm CO2 concentrations are increasing on a decades time scale |
|
What drives the hyrological cycle? |
excess evaporation over the oceans, excess precipitation over the continents, andcontinental runoff |
|
Water is a good solvent because of what property? |
polar molecule |
|
Why are the major ions constituents that make up the salt in the ocean in constant proportions no matter what the salinity content? |
the residence time of the major ions is relatively long compared to the mixing times |
|
Temperature and salinity measurements are used to determine what important characteristicof the ocean? |
temperature and salinity determine density and affect patterns of water circulation |
|
Why does ice (solid) float on water (liquid)? |
The solid molecular lattice structure in ice is ridged and expands compared to theliquid lattice structure in water |
|
How many calories do you have to add to one gram of ice at -20oC to produce one gram ofsteam at 100oC? (Remember the heat capacity of water is 1 cal/gm/oC, but ice is only 0.5cal/gm/oC) |
730 cal |
|
When air masses are cooled and they descend and form high pressure zones, what is thedirection of air movement? |
circular & anti-cyclonic or clockwise |
|
What color of visible light is adsorbed first in clear ocean waters? |
red |
|
What depth in the ocean is the SOFAR channel found (depth of the minimum sound velocityzone)? |
1 km |
|
What area of the ocean is the most un-stratified, and where deep waters are formed anddescend to the ocean bottom? |
High latitude Polar Oceans |
|
Norfolk VA and San Francisco CA are the same latitude, which city has a more moderateclimate (less temperature variation)? Remember the wind tends to flow from west to east at thislatitude |
San Francisco weather is more moderate |
|
What characteristic of water controls ocean circulation and water movement? |
Density |
|
What type of atmospheric circulation occurs in a high latitudes (polar)? |
Cold dry air sinks |
|
Where does the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) move the most (north/south)during the course of a year and produce large rainfall events (monsoons)? |
The Indian Ocean |
|
What is a La Nina condition (the opposite of El Nino)? |
a period of strong equatorial upwelling and strong circulation - cold climate |
|
What type of weather does North Carolina have during an El Nino year? |
cooler and wetter |
|
Going from the surface to deep water, the halocline is a zone of rapidly ___________between the upper surface and deep water masses |
increasing salinity |
|
Conservative water mass properties (Cl concentration) are only effected by |
mixing and diffusion |
|
What moving object does Coriolis Effect not influence (greatly)? |
automobile |
|
Where in the ocean is the highest concentration of anthropogenic CO2 gas found? |
cold sinking deep waters in the North Atlantic |
|
If the average velocity of sound in the ocean is 1500 m/sec and a sonar ping takes 4 seconds to return to the hydrophone, how deep is the water? |
3,000 meters |
|
Why does oxygen have a minimum concentration in the thermocline at 1000 m water depth? |
bacterial respiration |
|
When is the direct (perpendicular) solar radiation at the most northern point on the globe? |
Summer solstice |
|
What quadrant of a hurricane (tropical cyclone) has the largest waves and highest stormsurge in the northern hemisphere? |
north eastern quadrant |
|
Why do hurricanes typically intensify as they approach the east coast of the USA? |
Pickup energy from the warm Gulf Stream |
|
Where do monsoons occur? |
all of the above |
|
Which type of front has gentle rains over a broad area? |
warm front |
|
As Sea Surface Temperature continues to increase, what do we expect will happen withtropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons)? |
Destructive power of storms will increase |
|
Since the 1975 the warm El Nino periods have |
increased in number and intensity |
|
Ocean pH is buffered and stays constant over long time scales even though acids fromvolcanos, rain and pollution regularly enter the ocean, what buffers ocean pH over long timescales? |
bicarbonate in the water, calcium carbonate on the ocean floor |
|
Why was Katrina so destructive to New Orleans in 2005? |
flood levees broke that increased the amount of flooding in the city |
|
What factor controls the power of tropical cyclones? |
sea surface temperature |
|
Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina will be remembered for what type of damage? |
extensive flooding along I95 corridor |
|
What fossil fuel energy source may dominate in the next century? |
methane gas hydrates |
|
Sediments record warmer periods during the past 68 million years than the present, what isthought to been the main control on climate since the KT boundary? |
atmospheric CO2 concentrations |
|
When atmospheric CO2 is absorbed into ocean waters, how does the water change? |
Ocean pH decreases |
|
How high do wind velocities need to be to form a hurricane in a tropical cyclonic storm? |
74 mph |
|
Where do the largest tropical cyclones form? |
Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean |
|
What time of year does the ITCZ move north and form the southwest monsoons in Africaand India that are so devastating to the local populations and cause flooding? |
July |
|
What important discover was recently made on Mars that is also featured in a movie thatopens this week starring Matt Damon? |
There is water on Mars |
|
What is an ooze that is found in deep sea sediments? |
Organic accumulation of marine plankton hard parts on the ocean floor |
|
What is the significance to dust blowing off the land and settling in the ocean surfacewaters? |
Iron fertilization of the oceans and increased primary productivity |
|
Where are the thinnest accumulation of sediments found in the oceans? |
Mid ocean ridges |
|
What type of sediment is associated with icebergs? |
ice rafted debris IRD |
|
How can the energy of the marine environment be determined from sediments? |
Diameter of sedimentary particles |
|
What type of marine sediment are the white cliffs of Dover made out of? |
Biogenous calcareous Coccolith sediments |
|
During the late Paleocene there was an abrupt warming of global climate of 4-8oC, whatcaused this change in climate that lasted about 100,000 years? |
Collapse of the methane clathrates on the Blake Outer Ridge |
|
Why haven’t the rich deposits of Manganese Nodules be recovered from the deep PacificOcean floor? |
No Law of the Sea Treaty has been signed by the participatory nations |
|
When does the land breeze occur? |
During the night |
|
What causes the Coriolis Effect to change the motion of moving objects on our planet? |
The rotation of the earth and angular rotation velocity differences equator to pole |