Oceanography – Honors (H) Practice Test

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• Which statement best describes how latitude affects the Coriolis parameter f?
• In deep-sea environments, bioluminescence serves which roles?
• Which statement describes a potential impact of ocean acidification on calcifying organisms?
• Which statement describes how the CCD depth responds to climate change?
• Name two major tidal constituents and explain how they combine to form the observed tides at a coastline.
• Which part of a wave is the lowest point?
• Depleting fish resources faster than they can reproduce describes which phenomenon?
• Which zone is described as existing along the abyssal plains?
• Which statement describes the flow direction of warm currents?
• Vertical flow of water caused by changes in salinity and temperature is a ___.
• Which factor explains seasonal variations in the strength and position of the westerlies?
• Define the Redfield ratio and discuss how deviations indicate nutrient limitations in the surface ocean.
• El Niño and La Niña are examples of what kind of variability, and how do they affect productivity?
• Which property decreases with depth?
• What is the carbonate system in seawater and define total alkalinity.
• Which statement correctly describes currents that move toward the equator?
• Which zone is aphotic and found in ocean trenches?
• Number of gyres on Earth.
• Which statement differentiates the solubility pump from the biological pump in the ocean carbon cycle?
• Which zone is found where coral reefs are located, just above the continental shelf?
• Which current runs along the western coast of Australia?
• What is fetch?
• Which term identifies amplitude?
• Define Net Primary Productivity (NPP) and describe methods to estimate it using chlorophyll data and light-use efficiency.
• Why are hydrothermal vents important for deep-sea biology and chemistry?
• Which current is located between Greenland and Canada?
• Spring tides occur when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned.
• Why are hydrothermal vents ecologically significant in the deep ocean?
• Which hemisphere has more gyres?
• Westerlies are most prominent in which hemispheres?
• Waves break earlier with ____ slopes.
• Intra-annual seasonal blooms are primarily driven by which factors?
• Which property increases with depth and depends on other ocean properties?
• Why does sea level rise from both thermal expansion and ice melt, and how do these components vary with time?
• What effect do westerlies have on mid-latitude weather systems?
• Which of the following is NOT a major upwelling system?
• Where does conduction primarily occur in the ocean-atmosphere system?
• Where on Earth does rotational speed reach its maximum?
• Which zone lies between the high tide and low tide line along a coast?
• Average salinity of ocean = ___%
• Which statement describes currents that move toward higher latitudes (the poles)?
• What is the approximate average salinity of seawater?
• Describe the difference between a mixed layer and the thermocline, including seasonal changes.
• Coriolis Effect is zero at the equator.
• Waves break later with ____ slopes.
• Which tide has higher high tides and lower low tides?
• Which of the following is NOT a typical consequence associated with the westerlies?
• What role do calcium carbonate shells play in marine organisms that OA threatens?
• Overfishing disrupts food webs by targeting which group?
• Estuaries trap and process nutrients and sediments but are vulnerable to pollution because which is true?
• Explain the characteristics and significance of graded bedding in turbidites for interpreting past sedimentation events.
• Which tidal phase has the smallest tidal range?
• Which option best defines crest?
• Which statement about Northern Hemisphere gyres is true?
• Satellite altimetry and tide gauges are used to study sea level. Which statement correctly contrasts their data?
• Which statement about oligotrophic gyres is accurate?
• Which factors affect wave height?
• Westerlies are primarily found between which latitudes?
• What forms when carbon dioxide interacts with water?
• Evaporation ___ surface salinity.
• Which zone is completely aphotic and found along the continental rise?
• High temperatures and low salinity create the ___ density.
• If the surface nitrate to phosphate ratio is lower than the Redfield ratio of 16, which nutrient is most likely limiting primary production?
• Which current flows along the east coast of Asia, influencing regional climate?
• Which current lies on the west side of the North Atlantic Gyre?
• 1 out of ___ marine organisms found in coral reefs?
• Which direction does Ekman transport move surface water in the Northern Hemisphere relative to the wind?
• How often do tides occur?
• What is the primary consequence of strong density stratification in the ocean?
• Compare aragonite and calcite with respect to solubility and vulnerability to ocean acidification.
• Explain coral reef calcification under ocean acidification and how reduced carbonate ion availability affects reef growth.
• Tidal range of neap tide
• In which depth zone is chemosynthesis typically associated with hydrothermal vents?
• What term describes contamination of the environment by human activities and waste?
• In terms of lunar-solar geometry and tidal amplitudes, which statement is correct?
• Which current flows eastward around Antarctica, making it the largest surface current?
• What is a result of thermohaline circulation?
• What conditions favor the formation of a Deep Chlorophyll Maximum in the ocean?
• Current west of Canada.
• Aphotic zone along the abyssal plains
• How are submarine canyons formed and what is their relationship to turbidity currents?
• What causes waves to break?
• The daily rise and fall of sea level due to gravitational forces is called the
• To escape a rip current, you should swim
• Which statement about neap tides is most accurate?
• Which term identifies wavelength?
• In oceanography, Westerlies contribute to which general direction of surface currents in the mid-latitudes?
• Explain the concept of saturation state (Ω) for calcium carbonate minerals and its climatic relevance.
• CO2 dissolving in seawater lowers ocean pH describes which process?
• Spring tides are associated with which pair of lunar phases?
• Which current is a warm water current that travels along the eastern side of the South American coast?
• What term describes the open ocean beyond the continental shelf?
• Which chemical form is produced when CO2 dissolves in water and contributes to ocean acidification?
• Which current runs along the eastern coast of Australia?
• What zone is found where the coast is alternately flooded and exposed between tides?
• Which statement best defines the ocean carbon cycle?
• What is upwelling and why does it support high biological productivity in regions like the Pacific coasts?
• Which tidal phase has the greatest tidal range?
• Which current is a cold current that flows along the west coast of southern Africa?
• In geostrophic balance, which forces are in the primary balance that drives mid-latitude ocean currents?
• What best differentiates the lysocline from the calcium carbonate compensation depth (CCD) in ocean chemistry?
• What causes ocean acidification?
• Which statement best explains Ekman transport and its role in coastal upwelling?
• Which current runs west of South America?
• Which pairing of gyre rotation and hemisphere is correct?
• Define Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) and describe why they form.
• Prevailing winds flowing towards the west are called ___.
• Water particles move in what motion when a wave passes?
• There are 2 high and 2 low tides each
• Total number of major gyres on Earth and their hemisphere distribution.
• Which option best defines trough?
• Which part of a wave is the highest point?
• Provide the formula for the Coriolis parameter f and explain how its latitudinal variation affects geostrophic balance.
• Which factor decreases surface salinity?
• Which zone marks the transition between the photic and aphotic zones?
• Waves transfer what form of energy?
• The production of light by living organisms is called what?
• Tidal range of spring tide
• What is the distance between two successive crests called?
• The Coriolis Effect is due to Earth's rotation. Which statement is true?
• Upwelling-favorable winds drive Ekman transport in which direction relative to the coastline, and what does this bring to the surface?
• Which statement about wave height is true?
• Which term is defined as the prevailing winds that blow from the west toward the east in the mid-latitudes?
• What is the term for light emitted by living organisms?
• What mechanism in the ocean-atmosphere system is driven by buoyancy differences causing vertical movement of water?
• What is the effect of westerlies on mid-latitude ocean currents?
• Which current is located east of Asia?
• What is thermohaline circulation and what drives its density contrasts?
• In the Northern Hemisphere, moving objects deflect due to the Coriolis Effect toward which direction?
• What is the process of seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges?
• What human activity most directly increases atmospheric CO2, driving ocean acidification?
• TOPEX/Poseidon is a satellite mission that uses radar altimetry to measure what?
• Which gravitational sources contribute to tides?
• Tides are caused by gravity of Moon and Sun.
• Which process most strongly drives the sinking of dense water that powers deep-ocean currents in polar regions?
• There are 2 spring and neap tides each
• Which statement about fetch is true?
• The deflection of moving objects due to Earth's rotation is called the
• A density current refers to which movement?
• What best describes the pycnocline in the ocean?
• Which change to carbonate chemistry would most reduce the saturation state Ω for calcium carbonate minerals?
• Which current is west of the United States?
• Which statement describes the flow direction of cold currents?
• Which zone encompasses the open ocean beyond the continental shelf and contains many pelagic organisms?
• Which current is a warm current that flows along the coast of Norway?
• Examples of what ocean acidification affects include which organisms?
• Which process distributes heat into the deep ocean and around the globe?
• Which combination yields the highest seawater density?
• Which property increases with depth?
• Which statement about Southern Hemisphere gyres is true?
• Number of gyres in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Configuration for neap tides
• Define latent heat flux and discuss its role in ocean-atmosphere energy exchange and climate variability.
• What causes thermohaline circulation?
• Which current is on the east side of the Indian gyre?
• How might climate change influence sea ice extent and the thermohaline circulation, and what are potential feedbacks?
• Gyres rotate clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
• In which latitude band are westerlies most prevalent in both hemispheres?
• Ocean acidification dissolves and deforms which structures?
• Which pelagic zone is completely photic and lies above the continental shelf?
• Bioluminescence in deep-sea organisms is used for which ecological roles?
• Number of gyres in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Why do oligotrophic gyres have low nutrient concentrations and what does this imply for productivity?
• Ocean acidification greatly affects organisms with hard shells made up of which substance?
• In the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis deflection is directed to the which direction?
• Which current is the western boundary current of the North Atlantic system?
• What best defines a biogeochemical cycle in oceanography, with an ocean-relevant example?
• Earth rotates more slowly at which part of the globe?
• Which data source provides long local records of sea level and tides, complementing global height measurements?
• Which zone forms the sunlit surface layer of the ocean?
• Which items are listed as types of pollution?
• Which zone is found in the deepest ocean trenches?
• Which ecosystem is commonly associated with coral reefs and is affected by OA?
• The Coriolis Effect arises from which property of Earth?
• What is a primary use and a key limitation of satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST)?
• In a typical mid-latitude weather pattern, what is the role of the westerlies?
• Movement of deep, cold, nutrient rich water to the surface is called ___.
• Which condition increases surface salinity?
• Westerlies are most prominent in which latitude range?
• Gyres rotate counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
• The gravity of the Moon and Sun creates ocean bulges; what are these bulges called?
• Which current connects the Gulf Stream to the Norwegian Current?
• The Coriolis effect is an apparent deflection due to Earth's rotation. Which statement best describes its role?
• How does the ocean biological pump affect the carbon cycle, and what factors control its efficiency?
• Which term describes the vertical difference between high and low tides?
• What causes typical ocean waves?
• Which current lies off the west coast of Europe and Africa?
• Low temperatures and high salinity create the ___ density.
• What climatic significance do shifts in the lysocline and CCD generally have?
• Which statement best describes how the westerlies influence weather patterns in temperate regions?
• What is a thermocline and how does its depth vary seasonally and with latitude?
• What term describes prevailing winds that blow from the west toward the east in mid-latitudes?
• Spring tides are associated with which lunar phases?
• Which statement about the Coriolis effect on westerlies is accurate?
• Which current lies on the west side of the South Pacific gyre?
• What are turbidity currents and what role do they play in submarine canyon formation and deposit layers?
• The fastest surface rotation occurs at the equator.
• Chemosynthesis commonly occurs near ___ in the abyssopelagic zone
• In the Southern Hemisphere, the Coriolis deflection is directed to the which direction?
• River runoff ___ surface salinity.
• Which current is west of Europe/Africa?
• Which statement describes a gyre in the ocean?
• Tsunamis are caused by
• Which factor most influences the depth of the thermocline across latitudes?
• Which celestial body has the greater effect on tides?
• Which current is equatorward current between Greenland and Northern Europe?
• Describe the distribution of chlorophyll in the vertical ocean profile, including the Deep Chlorophyll Maximum and factors that shape it.
• Horizontal flow of water caused by prevailing winds is called a ___.
• Which direction do westerlies blow relative to the surface?
• What is a gyre in ocean circulation?