MENTOR SCIENCE OLYMPIAD INVITATIONAL2/16/08

OCEANOGRAPHY TEST

Name(s): ______Team/School:

______Team Number: ______

Multiple Choice: On the line provided, clearly print the letter of the answer that best answers the question or completes the given statement.

1. _____One of the first indications that an El Nino event may be occurring is:

a. Ekmann flow phenomena occurs, causing the movement of surface currents

b. the prevailing Westerlies increase as they flow over South America

c. upwelling increases along the coast of Peru

d. warm water from near Australia migrates toward South America.

2. _____Rising warm air is associated with regions of ______atmospheric pressure caused by thermal ______.

  1. high; compression
  2. low; compression
  3. high; expansion
  4. low; expansion

3. _____Areas of high atmospheric pressure (at Earth's surface) generally

experience what kind of conditions?

  1. sinking air, with cloudy, rainy weather
  2. rising air, with cloudy, rainy weather
  3. rising air, with dry, clear weather
  4. sinking air, with dry, clear weather

4. _____There is no pycnocline in ______latitude regions because ______.

  1. low; the water is too cold there
  2. high; there is an excess of carbon dioxide at the surface, thus creating conditions of pH disequilibrium
  3. low; it obeys the Principle of Constant Proportions
  4. high; the water column is uniformly cold and dense

5. _____How is it that the floor of the ocean is so much younger than the ocean

itself?

  1. Because radioactive age dating techniques are still so uncertain
  2. Because we’ve never drilled into the ocean floor very far
  3. Because the sediment that is deposited on the top of the ocean floor is so young
  4. Because the ocean floor keeps regenerating itself

6. _____A volcanic arc forms near where there is:

  1. subduction
  2. a hotspot
  3. isostatic rebound
  4. seafloor spreading

7. _____Plate boundaries where new lithosphere is being added along a mid-

oceanic ridge are called:

  1. transvergent boundaries
  2. divergent boundaries
  3. convergent boundaries
  4. volcanic boundaries

8. _____When an oceanic and a continental plate converge:

  1. neither subducts
  2. the oceanic plate will be subducted
  3. an oceanic ridge forms
  4. the continental plate will be subducted

9. _____When two continental plates converge:

  1. the older one subducts
  2. the younger one subducts
  3. neither subducts; instead a mountain range forms
  4. a spreading center is formed

10. _____Beneath the calcite compensation depth (CCD):

  1. organisms with siliceous hard parts cannot live
  2. calcium carbonate dissolves in seawater
  3. calcareous oozes are currently forming
  4. the water temperature rises

11. _____Most chalk is made from:

  1. oolites
  2. coccoliths
  3. diatomaceous earth
  4. none of the above

12. _____Wave refraction is:

  1. a decrease in wave height associated with shoaling water
  2. the bending of waves as they approach a coastline
  3. the way in which waves are modified during storms
  4. the bouncing back of wave energy as they approach a coastline

13. _____Circular orbital motion in waves becomes negligible (dies out) at

depths greater than:

  1. 10 meters
  2. 2 times the wave’s height
  3. half the wave’s wavelength
  4. 1/7 the wave’s steepness

14. _____The reason that a lunar day is ______a solar day is

because______.

  1. longer than; the Sun rises later every morning
  2. longer than; the Moon is also moving in its orbit around Earth
  3. the same as; the Moon and the Sun remain in fixed positions relative to Earth
  4. shorter than; the Moon experiences retrograde motion

15. ______tides occur during the first or third quarter moon phases

and are characterized by a small tidal range.

  1. spring
  2. neap
  3. lunar
  4. solar

DIAGRAMS

Correctly identify the stages of coral formation shown in the diagram below.

B C A

16.Which picture above represents the atoll stage of coral reef formation? ______

17.Which picture above represents the fringing stage of coral reef formation?______

18.Which picture above represents the barrier reef stage of coral reef formation?______

19.What is the name of the specific tectonic process involved with these stages of coral reef formation?

______

The graph below shows the relationship between nitrate – an important nutrient for phytoplankton growth – and temperature. These data are from the California coast (i.e., Monterey Bay)

20. Based on this graph, what is the general relationship between temperature and nitrate concentration? (possible 2 points)

______

21. Define (do NOT just give examples of):

a) Conservative constituents of seawater: (possible 2 points)

b) Nonconservative constituents of seawater: (possible 2 points)

22. Is nitrogen a conservative or nonconservative constituent of seawater? (possible 1 point)

______

Average Yearly Temperatures of San Francisco, CA and Norfolk, VA

Figure 1

23. Based on the information in Figure 1, compare the yearly temperature ranges of San Francisco, CA and Norfolk, VA. (possible 2 points)

24. Both cities – San Francisco, CA and Norfolk, VA - lie on approximately the same latitude (each is the same distance from the Equator). Discuss why San Francisco, CA is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than Norfolk, VA in terms of water’s property of thermal inertia. (possible 5 points)

25. What is the name of the cold water current off the West coast of the United States?(possible 1 point)

______

26. What is the name of the warm water current off the East coast of the United States?

______(possible 1 point)

Graph A Graph B

Examine graph “A” and graph” B” above which show the area off the coast of South Africa (near the Benguela Current). Graph “A” shows average sea-surface temperatures over 2003; Graph ”B” shows average chlorophyll-a concentration over the same time period.

27. What correlation, if any, do you see between sea-surface temperature and chlorophyll-a concentrations? (possible 3 points)

28. What is upwelling? (possible 1 point)

29. What interpretation can one make when comparing the graphs with regard to how chlorophyll-a concentration is related to upwelling? (possible 4 points)

30. In order for upwelling to occur, warm surface water is moved from nearshore to offshore by surface winds. On these graphs, if warm surface water is being moved offshore, from which direction is the wind coming? (2 points possible)

______

Tiebreaker questions:

1) The temperature of the water blasting from hydrothermal vents has been measured as high as 350C (660 F). Why doesn’t the water immediately flash into steam at this temperature? (possible 2 points)

2) How does the energy distribution in a tsunami differ from the energy distribution in a “regular”, i.e., wind-generated wave? You may draw a diagram, as long as it is clearly labeled. (possible 4 points)

3) Can a tsunami wave be surfed like a wind-generated wave? If not, why? (possible 3 points)

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