Unit 10 Study Guide- Oceanography KEY
This unit addresses the movement of water through the crust, ocean, and atmosphere
#1 Students will recognize the significant role of water in earth processes.
Explain that a large portion of the Earth’s surface is water, consisting of oceans,
rivers, lakes, underground water, and ice.
Relate various atmospheric conditions to stages of the water cycle.
Describe the composition, location, and subsurface topography of the world’s oceans.
Explain the causes of waves, currents, and tides.
#2 Students will describe various sources of energy and with their uses and conservation.
Explain the role of the sun as the major source of energy and its relationship to wind and water energy.
Questions – students will be asked to answers these questions throughout the unit.
#1 How does the location of water on Earth's surface and the conditions of the atmosphere affect its
path through stages of the water cycle?
#2 How are the geological features that exist on land similar to the geological features on the ocean
floor?
THE OCEANS
1. Locate and name the five major oceans.
A) Arctic Ocean
B) Atlantic Ocean
C) Indian Ocean
D)PacificOcean
E)Southern Ocean
2. The earth's oceans are connected.
3. Almost 80% of the earth's surface is covered by water.
4. The majority of Earth's surface is covered with water.
5. Underneath the ocean, the earth has plains, mountains, and valleys, which are often larger than those on dry land.
6. Draw and label the following ocean floor features: coast, continental shelf, continental slope, continental rise, ocean.
7. Draw and label the following ocean floor features: Mid Ocean Ridge, Volcanic Island , Seamount, Abyssal Plain, Trench
8. Salinity is the amount of salt in a solution.
9. Name three things that can affect ocean salinity.
Evaporation of ocean water
Rivers entering the ocean
Currents
10. Where would the salinity of the ocean probably be the lowest? River Deltas
11. What happens to the temperature of ocean water as you go deeper? Colder
12. Since the majority of Earth is covered in water, most precipitation falls on Earth’s oceans.
CURRENTS
13. Ocean currents can be caused by factors such as wind, salinity, temperature, the Coriolis Effect, and gravitational pull.
14. Ocean currents flow in predictable patterns around the earth.
15. Differences in density and temperature causes currents.
16. Surface currents are the currents on the surface of the water (within 200 meters of surface)
17. Surface currents are formed by wind, uneven heating of surface of Earth, and the rotation (spinning) of the Earth.
18. List three factors that control surface current.
global surface winds
continental deflection
rotationof the earth (Coriolis Effect)
19. Surface currents alter an area’s climate. Theheat from the oceantransfersto the adjoining continents.
20. Deep currents are water moving below 200 meters of the surface.
21. Deep currents are formed by differences in water density.
22. Deep Currents - An increase in salt increases density and causes water to sink.
23. Deep Currents - Colder water at the poles increasesocean density causing water to sink.
24. Deep Currents - Warmer water at the equator flows towards pole and this creates the deep currents.
25. Down wellingis the movement of water from the surface to greater depths
26. Upwellingis the vertical movement of deep water up to the surface.
27. The Gulfstream is the warm ocean current flowing from the Equator along the East Coast of the United States (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, New York) to England.
28. What is theCoriolis Effect? Curving ocean currents.
29. How is the Coriolis Effect formed? Earth’s rotation.
30. The Coriolis Effect deflects moving objects to the right (clockwise) in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left (counter-clockwise)in the SouthernHemisphere.
31. Coriolis Effect is important in the formation of weather systems like hurricane and cyclones.
32. Ocean water often changes direction when it meets a land mass. This is calledContinental Deflection.
33. El Nino is warm water flowing from the Southwest Pacific towards South America and then continental deflection forces the warm water to flow north along the coast of Mexico and the U.S.A.
34. El Nino causes warmer climate on the western coast of South and North America.
TIDES
35. The moon's gravitational pull and the rotation (spinning) of the earth cause ocean water to bulge, producing tides.
36. List the three things that cause high and low tides to form.
gravity of the moon
centripetal force of the rotating Earth
gravitational pull of the sun
37. Tides cycle as the Moon rotates around the Earth and as the position of the Sun changes. Throughout the day the sea level is constantly rising or falling.
38. The tidal range is the difference in sea level between low tide and high tide. The tidal range will vary in different locations depending on the location of the Sun and the Moon as well as the topography of the shore line.
39. Draw a diagram showing the following: tidal range, high tide, low tide
40. High tide is the point in the tidal cycle where the sea level is at its highest.
41. Low tide is the point in the tidal cycle where the sea level is at its lowest.
42. A Spring Tide is an extremely high tide and extremely low tide formed when the sun, moon and Earth are lined in a straight line.
43. Spring Tides occur at the New Moon and Full Moon phases of the moon.
44. Draw TWO pictures of the sun, moon, and Earth during a spring tide.
45. A Neap Tide is moderate high tide and low tide formed when the sun and moon form a 90 degree angle with the Earth.
46. Neap Tides occurs at the First Quarter and Third Quarter phases of the moon.
47. Neap tides have high tides that are lower than average and the low tides are higher than the average.
48. Spring Tides are extreme high and low tides while Neap Tides are moderate high and low tides.
49. Draw TWO pictures of the sun, moon, and Earth during a neap tide.
SPECIAL WAVES
50. A wave is a long body of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore.
51. A Tsunami is a large wave that is formed by earthquakes.
52. A rip current is a strong, narrow surface current flowing outward from a shore that results from the return flow of waves and wind-driven water.
53. Draw a rip current
54. Undertow is the water rushing back to the ocean after a wave crashes at shore. Undertow may be strong enough to knock a person off their feet.
55. A long shore current is an ocean current that travels parallel to the shore.
56. Draw a long-shore current
57. A storm surge occurs when wind pushes a large mass of water to shore during a hurricane.
Vocabulary
wave - a long body of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore
currents - a body of water moving in a definite direction
tides - the alternate rising and falling of the sea due to the attraction of the moon and sun.
energy the ability to do work. Energy is how things change and move.
salinity – the measure of the amount of dissolved salt contained in water.
density – the relative heaviness of objects, measured in units of mass per units of volume
down welling – the movement of water from the surface to greater depths
upwelling – the vertical movement of deep water up to the surface.
Gulfstream –Warm ocean current flowing from the Equator along the East Coast of America to England.
Coriolis Effect - the effect tends to deflect moving objects to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern and is important in the formation of cyclonic weather systems.
El Nino - Warm water flowing from the Southwest Pacific towards South America and then continental deflection forces the warm water to flow north along the coast of Mexico and the U.S.A. This warm water changes the climate of the western coast of South and North America.