Oceanography Chapter 1 Key Concept Review

Front 1

1.Why did I write that theres one world ocean? What about the pacific and Atlantic oceans, the "seven seas"?

Back 1

There are few dependable natural oceanic divisions, only one great mass of water. The pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Mediterranean and other seas, so named for our convenience, are in reality only temporary features of a single world ocean.

Front 2

2.Which is greater: the average depth of the ocean or the average height of the continents about sea level?

Back 2

The average land elevation is only 840 meters, but the average ocean depth is 4 1/2 times greater.

Front 3

3.Is most of Earths water in the ocean?

Back 3

There is much more water trapped within Earth's hot interior than there is in its ocean and atmosphere.

Front 4

4.Can the scientific method be applied to speculations about the natural world that are not subject to test or observation?

Back 4

The process of science cannot be applied to speculations that are not subject to test or observation. Science requires a logical approach to problem solving and a critical attitude about being shown rather than being told.

Front 5

5. What is the nature of "truth" in science? Can anything be proven absolutely true?

Back 5

As our observations become more accurate, so do our conclusions about the natural world. Theories may change as our knowledge and powers of observation change, so all scientific understanding is tentative. Because observations (and interpretation of observation) is never perfect, truth can never be absolute.

Front 6

6. What if, at the moment you shake the keys, the wires under the hood are jostled by a breeze and fall back into place? what if the car starts when you try it again. ? can you see how superstition might rise?

Back 6

Superstitions arise by happenstance. Correlation does not assure causation-that is, just because one event coincidentally occurs with another event, one did not necessarily cause the other.

Front 7

7. Can scientific inquiry probe further back in time than the "big bang"?

Back 7

Time itself began with the big bang, so the concept of "before" is meaningless in discussing imagined events that preceded the big bang.

Front 8

8.What element makes up most of the detectable mass in the universe?

Back 8

Hydrogen appears to be the most abundant form of detectable matter in the universe.

Front 9

9. Outline the main points in the condensation theory of star and planet formation.

Back 9

The condensation theory suggest that stars and planets accumulated from contracting, accreting clouds of galactic gas, dust, and debris. Matterial concentrated near its center became the protosun. Much of the outer material eventually became planets, the smaller bodies that orbit a star and do not shine by their own light.

Front 10

10. Trace the life of a typical star

Back 10

The life history and death of a star depend on its initial mass. After forming by accretion and spending a long life generating energy from hydrogen fusion, a sunlike star will swell to red giant stage and then slowly pulsate, incinerating its planets and throwing off concentric shells of light gas enriched with these heavy elements.