| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the % of ocean water compared to land? | 71% Ocean and 29% Land. |
| What is the most abundant salt in ocean water? | Sodium Chloride. |
| How did oceans form? | Steam from volcanos condensed causing rain and comets. |
| What is the salinity level at the mouth of a river? | Less salty at the mouth of the river because freshwater dumps into the ocean. |
| Which zone is the temperature most constant? | The deep zone because more salt at the bottom and the coldest. |
| As the salinity of the water increases what happens to the density? | Density increases. |
| Where does oxygen in seawater come from? | The atmosphere and from algae. |
| What are the salinity levels in warm temperature versus cold temperature areas? | Polar Areas and Warmer Areas equals high salinity. Cool waters have lower salinity levels. |
| What is the most important function of the ocean? | To balance temperature on Earth. |
| What properties increase as you descend through the water column in the ocean? | Salinity, Pressure, and Density. |
| Where does salt come from? | Freshwater rivers and streams dissolve rocks on the way down to the oceans bringing minerals. |
| Why are green plants not found on the ocean floor? | No sunlight so plants can't survive. |
| What is the rate of absorption between land and water? | Land heats and cools off faster than water. |
| In the open ocean, which zone do algae live in? | Algae live on the surface because it's closest to the sun's energy. |
| Which zone is the densest? | The Deep Zone is the densest because of cold temperature and more salinity. |
| What happens to the temperature of the water in the Thermocline/Transistion Zone? | Drastic Drop in Temperature. |
| Which zone does salinity change the most? | Surface Zone because of climate and addition of freshwater from rivers. |
| Which zone is most affected by weather? | Surface because it is closest to the atmosphere. |
| Why are submersibles useful? | People use this vehicle to explore the ocean and to protect from extreme pressure and temperature. |
| Why is it difficult to research the ocean floor? | Too much pressure and too cold. |
| What process occurs at the mid ocean ridege? | Sea Floor Spreading. |
| What type of boundary are mid-ocean ridges found? | Divergent Boundaries. |
| What type of boundary are trenches found? | Convergent because more dense oceanic plate sinks under less dense continental plate. |
| What is a gently sloping, shallow area of the ocean floor that extends outward from the edge of a continent? | Continental Shelf. |
| What process occurs at a trench? | Subduction. |
| What is the abyssal plain? | Flat, deep part of the ocean floor covered in mud. |
| What is happening to the Pacific that is the opposite of the Atlantic? | Pacific is shrinking because of so many trenches. |
| What is a deep canyon in the ocean floor called? | Trench. |
| What is the feature that is the result of volcanoes rising above the surface? | Volcanic Island. |
| What is SONAR? | Ships at the surface send pulses down to the ocean floor and then time it takes to come back up is measured and used to map ocean floor. |
| What is the true gentle sloped edge of a continent where rock that makes up the continent stops and the rock of the ocean floor begins. | Continental Shelf. |
| What are volcanos under the surface of the ocean? | Seamounts. |
| What is the name of the research vehicle or vessel that explored the deepest parts of the ocean? | Alvin. |
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