Earth Science SOL Review Sheet #12: Oceanography

Earth Science SOL Review Sheet #12: 

Oceanography

Essential Knowledge and Skills

·   Most waves on the ocean surface are generated by wind.

·   The tides are the daily, periodic rise and fall of water level caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon.

·   There are large current systems in the oceans that carry warm water towards the poles and cold water towards the equator.

·   Sea level falls when glacial ice caps grow and rises when the ice caps melt.

·   Upwelling bring cold, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean to the surface and are areas of rich biological activity.

·   Estuaries, like the Chesapeake Bay, are areas where fresh and salt water mix, producing variations in salinity and high biological activity.

·   Algae in the oceans are an important source of atmospheric oxygen.

·   The oceans are an important source of food and mineral resources as well as a venue for recreation and transportation.

·   Pollution and over-fishing can harm or deplete valuable resources.

·   Chemical pollution and sedimentation are great threats to the chemical and biological well being of estuaries and oceans.

·   The stored heat in the ocean drives much of Earth’s weather.

·   The stored heat in the ocean causes climate near the ocean to be milder than climate in the interior of continents.

·   Features of the seafloor that are related to plate tectonic processes include mid-ocean ridges and trenches.

·   Other major topographic features of the oceans are continental shelves, continental slopes, abyssal plains, and seamounts.

·   Identify the effects of human activity on the oceans.

Let's practice some important words you need to know.

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Vocabulary

Multiple Choice

A flat stretch of the deep ocean around the margins of the continents

• oceanic ridge
• continental slope
• abyssal plain
• continental shelf

Multiple Choice

The zone separating the continents from the deep ocean bottom, includes the shelf, slope, and rise

• Deep sea floor
• Continental margin
• Oceanic trench
• Continental shelf

Multiple Choice

A zone of shallow water fringing most continents

• oceanic trench
• abyssal plain
• continental shelf
• continental slope

Multiple Choice

The zone of steeply sloped sea floor leading from the continent shelf toward the ocean bottom

• continental rise
• oceanic trench
• abyssal plain
• continental slope

Multiple Choice

A fluid (wind or water) moving in a particular direction

• tide
• current
• stream
• flow

Multiple Choice

A semi-isolated area of the ocean, which is diluted by freshwater drainage from the land

• Lagoon
• Bay
• Cove
• Estuary

Multiple Choice

An undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced; a constructive (divergent) plate boundary

• Continental shelf
• Subduction zone
• Mid-ocean ridge
• Ocean trench

Multiple Choice

The number of grams of dissolved salt in one kilogram of seawater

• salinity

• seamount

• acidity

• pH

Multiple Choice

An underwater volcano

• Ocean ridge

• Seamount

• Upwelling

• Trench

Multiple Choice

The periodic rise and fall of water level caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun as well as forces of circular motion

• Floods
• Currents
• Tides
• Waves

Multiple Choice

The deepest feature in the ocean; forms at subduction zones

• Abyssal Plain
• Mid-Atlantic Ridge
• Reef

• Trench

Multiple Choice

The rising of deep water to the surface

• Surface runoff
• Upwelling
• Downwelling
• Thermal stratification

Multiple Choice

The periodic up-and-down movement of water usually due to wind

• waves
• ripples
• tides
• currents

Now, let's practice some SOL-type questions.

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SOL Review

Multiple Choice

Which map best represents the global prevailing surface wind patterns responsible for generating Atlantic Ocean currents?

Multiple Choice

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is between which two plates?

• Eurasian and South American

• Pacific and Atlantic

• African and North American

• Eurasian Plate and North American Plate

Multiple Choice

In which general direction is the sand being moved along this shoreline by ocean (long shore) currents?

• northeast

• southeast

• northwest

• southwest

Multiple Choice

Use this diagram to answer:

Which letter represents the abyssal plain?

• Letter A

• Letter B

• Letter C

• Letter D

• Letter E

Multiple Choice

Use this diagram to answer:

Which letter represents the area that has the greatest diversity of life?

• Letter A

• Letter B

• Letter C

• Letter D

• Letter E

Multiple Choice

Use this diagram to answer:

Which letter represents the continental rise?

• Letter A

• Letter B

• Letter C

• Letter D

• Letter E

Multiple Choice

Use this diagram to answer:

Which letter represents the continental slope?

• Letter A

• Letter B

• Letter C

• Letter D

• Letter E

Multiple Choice

Use this diagram to answer:

Which letter represents the area that would be under greatest pressure?

• Letter A

• Letter B

• Letter C

• Letter D

• Letter E

Multiple Choice

Which best describes the Gulf Stream?

• A warm current flowing northeastward

• A cool current flowing southwestward

• A warm current flowing southeastward

• A cool current flowing northeastward

Multiple Choice

During a bad storm, a ship carrying a load of rubber duckies capsized and sank. Days later, the rubber duckies started washing ashore in Virginia Beach (X). Look at the map below and select the MOST LIKELY location to find the shipwreck.

• Location A

• Location B

• Location C

• Location D