Exam 3 Flashcards
(143 cards)
1
Q
What is the definition of coasts?
A
The land of the continent adjacent to the beach; land extending inland as far as marine influence is seen
2
Q
Y/N Is SDSU on the coast?
A
Yes
3
Q
What is offshore?
A
extends from breakers to edge of continental shelf
4
Q
What is the beach?
A
shore and nearshore (waves); very active
5
Q
Why is the beach active?
A
It is filled with organisms, humans and lots of waves
6
Q
What is the berm?
A
dry area usually sandy; sometimes underwater
7
Q
When should you avoid the beach?
A
When the berm is underwater
8
Q
What is the wave cut platform?
A
flat eroded bedrock at beach; eroded by breaking waves
9
Q
What is a notch?
A
cave cut into a sea cliff by wave erosion (sediments/rocks breaking
10
Q
During the summer wave energy is _____
high/low
A
low
11
Q
Sandy beach = _____ berm
(wide/narrow)?
A
wide
12
Q
During winter, wave energy is ____.
high/low
A
high
13
Q
Rocky beach = ____ berm
(wide/narrow)?
A
narrow
14
Q
Do Algae flourish during summer or winter?
A
Algae flourishes during winter
15
Q
Why do sea levels lower at mid-ocean ridges?
A
Slow spreading
16
Q
When does the berm get submerged?
A
In the winter
17
Q
When are sewage spills most common?
A
In the winter
18
Q
What are features of a depositional coast?
A
- flat
- controlled by subsidence and deposit sediment
- includes deltas, barrier islands
- passive margins
19
Q
What are features of an erosional coast?
A
- has some uplift, tectonically controlled
- promontories/headlands,
- uplifted terraces (which are relatively flat because they were once a wave-cut bench),
- Active margin
- Sea caves, sea arch and sea stacks (3 seas)
20
Q
Why do sea levels rise at mid-ocean ridges?
A
Fast spreading
21
Q
Why do sea levels lower at mid-ocean ridges?
A
Slow spreading
22
Q
What happens to sea levels when experiencing global warming?
A
Sea levels rise
23
Q
What happens to sea levels when experiencing an Ice Age?
A
Sea levels lower
24
Q
What are the two main factors that affect sea level rise and fall?
A
Climate change and tectonics
25
What does a seawall do to a berm?
It starves it from its sand
26
What are seawalls?
manmade wall structures made to protect the coastal rocks and its erosion
27
What is the San Diego margin classified as?
An active margin
28
What kind of coast does San Diego have?
Erosional
29
What is the origin of fossil fuels?
Ancient marine microscopic plankton/algae
30
In California, about ____% of sand comes from erosion of coastal cliffs.
70%
31
What is an example of a depositional coast?
Coast of Louisiana
32
What is an example of an erosional coast?
La Jolla
33
The marine terrace was once a ______.
beach
34
T/F La Jolla is a promontory and a terrace
True
35
In which vertical order would you find substances within the porous rock?
Water, oil, gas
36
What was the largest oil spill ever recorded? How many gallons were spilled?
The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, 210 million gallons
37
How can we prevent marine pollution?
Reduce, reuse, recycle (the 3 R's)
38
What is a longshore current?
Current parallel to the shore, very close to berm
39
Where can you see trilobites in the fossil rock from the Cambrian era?
British Columbia
40
Water moves in the surf zone as a result of longshore currents... why?
Because longshore current waves approach at an angle
41
What is beach drift?
Movement of sand upon waves (zigzag motion)
42
For the most part (in Southern California), longshore currents travel ___ to ___
North to South
43
What controls SD's coast?
The Rose Canyon Fault
44
Who brought attention to the North Pacific garbage patch?
Charles Moore
45
Which kingdoms belong to the Prokaryote domain?
Archaea domain and Bacteria domain
46
Which kingdoms belong to the Eukaryote domain?
Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia
47
Deltas occur at which type of margin? Provide some examples
Passive
| Ex: Nile River Delta, Mississippi River Delta
48
Where are beach houses built on? (think classification of coasts)
The terrace
49
What is the difference between platform and terrace?
Platform is flat area at beach, terrace is flat area uplifted (no longer a beach)
50
T/F East/gulf Coasts are tectonically active, have passive margins and are flat areas affected by rising sea levels
False, they are not tectonically active (the rest is correct)
51
What are some of the characteristics of the Pacific coast?
- Erosional coast
- active and controlled by tectonics
- oceans do not migrate in land
52
What are some of the characteristics of the Atlantic coasts?
- Depositional coast
- passive, flat, unaffected by tectonics
- When ocean levels rise, it will migrate inland
53
What are some of the characteristics of the Gulf Coasts?
- below sea level, most in danger
- depositional
- ocean migrates the farthest inland
54
What causes the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone to have the color that it has?
Bacteria
55
Are sea level currently rising or decreasing?
slowly rising
56
What is the average change in sea levels/year
increases about 3.1 mm per year
57
What would be the increase of sea level if all ice melted? What would happen to the US?
about 70 m, South eastern part of the US would be flooded if not gone
58
What would be exposed if sea levels decreased (by a lot )?
the shelf of a continent
59
When does a cliff collapse?
When undercut rock can no longer support it
60
What is the purpose of a seawall?
Protect homes from falling due to erosion
61
What do we call the process of piling sand back at beach?
Dredging
62
What is an example (from class) where the beach disappeared due to a seawall?
New Jersey's coast
63
What % of species live in the oceans?
14%
64
What % of specific live on the continents/land?
86%
65
T/F The oceans provide a stable environment for species.
True
66
What are the classifications of marine organisms?
Plankton, Nekton, and Benthos
67
What helps lead to the bringing of nutrients to the surface?
Ekman Flow
68
Which kingdom of life has the simplest, single-celled organisms?
Archaea domain
69
What are features of benthos? Examples of benthos?
Bottom dwellers, live on the seafloor, shore; deep-sea floors, hydrothermal vents, etc. (example: sea cucumbers, coral reefs, sea stars)
70
How long have sharks been on Earth?
Over 300 million years
71
What are the two principal marine environments?
Pelagic and Benthic
72
Which organisms live in the Pelagic zone?
Plankton and nekton
73
Which organisms live in the Benthic zone?
Benthos
74
Which principal marine environment zone has the most diversity, Pelagic or Benthic?
Benthic
75
T/F crude oil is not biodegradable
False, crude oil comes from ground is biodegradable.
76
What type of oil is not biodegradable?
The one we refine and use for our cars (much more toxic)
77
Most of the refined oil in our beaches come from where?
Consumption on land
78
T/F population correlates with oil production
true
79
Oil is a _____ resource.
| renewable/nonrenewable
non renewable
80
San Diego is affected by plastic and sewage coming from ____?
Tijuana
81
What do high levels of mercury and lead poisoning lead to?
brain damage, in extreme cases Minamata disease
82
What are deltas?
Rivers that empty into the ocean
83
The Rose Canyon fault extends from where to where?
Border to LA
84
Why do ice ages cause a sea levels to lower?
A lot of water from oceans are turned into ice/snow on land
85
Mid ocean Ridges and their influence in sea levels are an example of what principle?
Archimedes Principle
86
Y/N Does cliff "armoring" significantly decrease supply of sand to our beaches?
Yes
87
In what type of continental margin is SD incorporated?
Active
88
What type of coast is SD?Why?
Erosional because it is tectonically active and lifted
89
What are the four types of pollution?
- Petroleum
- Sewage
- heavy metals
- solid waste
90
What type of oil is biodegradable and natural? (crude or refined)
crude oil
91
We find most of our refined oil in oceans.. where does it mainly come from?
almost all comes from the consumption on land
92
What percent of oil in the oceans are natural? what percent are human sources?
47 % are natural
| 53% are human sources
93
Briefly state the sources of oil in oceans (percentages)
Consumption on land- 72%
Petroleum transportation (ship spills) 22%
Extraction spills 6%
94
T/F Plankton/algae come in large amounts and die in large amounts
true
95
During which spill did the cleanup process do more harm than good? why?
Exxon Valdez oil spill, they tried to clean crude oil
96
During which season do sewage spills most occur (in SD)? where does the sewage come from?
The sewage comes from TJ and almost every winter, there is a spill in SD.
97
Why does Imperial Beach experience more closures than any other beach in the US?
Because plastic and sewage come down from TJ river to SD
98
What organism has the highest amounts of mercury?
Swordfish
99
Briefly explain the bioaccumulation of Methylmercury
According to this, mercury levels increase from species to species for example, a dolphin will have high levels of mercury as compared to a fish because mercury levels are transferred and accumulated from predator to predator.
100
According to the bioaccumulation of Methylmercury, is it better to eat from the top or bottom of the food chain?
Bottom of food chain, small levels of mercury.
101
What are some characteristics of plastic?
```
made in large amounts
floats
non biodegradable
inexpensive
strong
```
102
What is the result of plastic (solid waste) in our oceans?
Kills fishes, mammals, birds and reptiles because they mistake it for food
103
What are the laws regarding the dumping of plastic? What are some examples of plastic spills?
In the US, it is illegal to dump alot of plastic and use the ocean as the "dumpster". Once in a while, cargo ships will spill into the sea dumping tons of plastic into the ocean
104
What is the one thing that can very slowly break plastic apart? What is this process called?
the sun (light), this process is known as photo degradation
105
T/F photo degradation is part of biodegradation.
False, photo degradation is opposite of it
106
Is photo degradation more or less harmful? why?
more harmful because since plastic starts diminishing, it is easier for animals to digest
107
According to lecture, which plastic material lasts forever?
plastic soda bottles
108
What are the 3 domains?
Eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea
| -bacteria and archaea are both involved with prokaryotes
109
What are the simplest cells?
Prokaryotes
110
what are the more complex cells? why?
eukaryotes, they have a nucleus, a membrane, organelles
111
What are the six kingdoms of life?
archaea, bacteria, protista, fungi, plantae and Animalia
112
of the 6 kingdoms, which are part of prokaryotes (simple cells) and which are involved with eukaryotes (complex cells)?
Archaea and bacteria = prokaryotes
| Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia = eukaryotes
113
which category/categories are both domain/s and kingdom/s?
Archaea and Bacteria
114
Which organisms are considered protista?
Micro algae and protozoans
115
Are fungi abundant?
No
116
which organisms (other than plants) photosynthesize?
some protista and bacteria
117
T/F organisms in the Animalia category can produce their own food
False, they cannot
118
What are some examples of vertebrates?
Fish, mammals, amphibians, snakes, birds
119
What are some examples of invertebrates?
starfish, annelids, mollusks
120
Are viruses alive or dead?
Neither
121
What are the smallest organisms on earth?
Viruses
122
What do viruses do?
they steal the DNA machinery and replicate
123
Where do most organisms live? Why?
Very close to land (shelf areas), coastal surface waters because theres sunlight for photosynthetic organisms which are related to the habitation of other animals because other animals rely on plants and some rely on the animals that eat the plants. (cycle)
124
What is evolution by natural selection?
Passing genes on to the next generation in order for adaptation
125
Adaptation leads to ______
speciation
126
What is the example of sexual selection?
Elephant seals- males fight with other males to get the females because there is 1 male for multiple females. Females (as a result) are attracted to the strong males because they want them to protect their offspring.
(strongest survive and pass their genes)
127
What percent of species (of earth) are in oceans?
14%
128
Do animals rely on stable or unstable conditions (environment)? Why?
unstable because variation and challenges lead to adaptation which leads to speciation, only the strongest survive.
129
What are the 3 classifications of marine organisms?
1. plankton, 2. Nekton, 3. Benthos
130
What are plankton described as?what are some examples?
tiny organisms that float and drift with currents
| ex: phytoplankton (plant like) and zooplankton(animal like)
131
What are nekton described as?what are some examples?
They are known as swimmers
| ex: fish, turtles, anything that swims and can move on their own
132
What are benthos described as?what are some examples?
They are known as bottom dwellers because they live on seafloors
ex:corals, tubeworms
133
What is the difference between phytoplankton and zooplankton?
Phytoplankton are "plant-like" because they do photosynthesis but are not plants
Zoo plankton are known as protozoans and they eat phytoplankton
134
Which type of marine organisms (classification) are the most abundant?
Benthos (bottom dwellers)
135
What are the 2 principal marine environments?
Pelagic and Benthic zone
136
What is the pelagic zone?
Open sea, where swimmers and floaters are found
137
What is the benthic zone?
seafloor, where bottom dwellers are found
138
Where is the greatest diversity of benthic organisms? What are the 2 main reasons for this?
On the shelf close to coast region called the littoral zone
One of the reasons is because of the amount of challenges, they either adapt or extinct. Another reason is upwelling, nutrients they need are at shore as well as rivers that empty out on beach
139
When homes are built on the berm, what other feature do they have?
Houses are generally built on stilts. During storms, the berm is flooded and stilts are at risk of breaking apart (especially during tsunamis)
140
Who discovered the North Pacific garbage patch?
Charles Moore
141
What domain/kingdom is the original organisms on earth?
Archaea
142
Are we (humans), eukaryotes or prokaryotes?
Eukaryotes
143
What is the cambrian radiation?
-545 million years ago
an explosion of diversity led to the appearance (over 5 million to 10 million years) of a huge number of complex, multi-celled organisms.
