Marine Ecology & Waves Waves

Question 0

When A wave is generated in the open ocean, and days later brakes on the shore thousands of kilometers away, did the water molecules in the area the wave was generated actually travel the entire distance? Explain your answer.

Answer 0

No. The energy is transferred and the molecules do not move

Question 1

Define each of the following: wave height, wavelength, wave period

Answer 1

Wave height: the vertical height from crest to trough
Wavelength: The horizontal distance from crest to crest
Wave period: The amount of time it takes for two sequential crests to pass a point

Question 2

What is the fetch, and how can it affect the size of the waves generated?

Answer 2

Fetch is the area over which the wind blows the larger the fetch the bigger the waves that are generated

Question 3

Give three factors that determine the size of wind generated waves.

Answer 3

Area of the fetch
Wind velocity
Wind duration
Original sea condition

Question 4

What is Stokes drift and how does it affect the development of the ocean currents?

Answer 4

Water in waves normally rise and fall creating a circle but if there is wind blowing each time the cycle goes it will drift in the direction of the wind creating a non-closed circle, this causes the ocean currents

Question 5

What is the wave base? How does this affect the transformation of the wave from a Deepwater wave to intermediate water wave to a shallow water wave?

Answer 5

Wave base is half the wavelength. A large wave will have a deep wave base a small wave will have a shallow wave base. Deep water waves the wave base does not reach the bottom of the ocean. Intermediate waves the wave base starts to feel the bottom and starts to slow down. Shallow waves the water is moving almost back and forth from rubbing on the bottom of the ocean

Question 6

What are rouge waves and do they form with constructive or destructive wave interference?

Answer 6

Rogue waves are occasional extremely large waves. They form with constructive wave interference.

Question 7

Often, when there is a large storm off shore, we will get large swells on on coastline even if the storm never hits here. Why are these large swells usually very regular, and with a long wavelength?

Answer 7

The longer the wavelength of a wave the faster it travels this is called wave dispersion. As waves leave storm areas the faster ones outrun the others and they sort themselves out by speed.

Question 8

Which forms on Shores with the steepest bottoms? spilling breakers, plunging breakers or surging breakers? Why?

Answer 8

Searching breakers because they don’t touch the bottom and they surge of because they don’t slow down

Question 9

When a wave “feels the bottom”, what changes does it undergo with respect to speed? Height?

Answer 9

It slows down due to frictional resistance from the bottom and it gets taller because the top out runs the bottom and crashes over

Question 10

What are storm surges? How can they increase the damage to coastal areas during hurricanes?

Answer 10

Sea level rises during large storms because of two things lower pressure, which causes the surface to rise, and very strong wind, which drives the waves onto shore. Most damage is not from the wind but from the storm surge

Question 11

What is seiche?

Answer 11

A standing wave which rocks up and down with a node in the center. For example water sloshing back-and-forth like in a bathtub.

Question 12

If you were in a boat on the open ocean when a tsunami was passing across the basin, would your boat be in danger? Explain your answer.

Answer 12

No, tsunamis only become dangerous when they move into shallow water when the water slows down and starts to pile up. These waves would pose no danger in the open ocean and would normally pass under a vessel undetected.

Question 13

What is the pelagic province? The benthic province?

Answer 13

The pelagic province is the open ocean up into the water column. the benthic province is the bottom dwellers

Question 14

What is the photic zone, and what is its importance to life in the ocean?

Answer 14

The zone through which light penetrates and organisms can survive by doing photosynthesis. Here you can get your primary producers the base of the food chain

Question 15

What is the difference between chemoautotrophs and photoautotrophs? Which is made up of bacteria only?

Answer 15

Chemoautotrophs make their own organic molecules using the energy from splitting the bonds from inorganic molecules. Photoautotrophs make their own organic molecules using energy from the sun. Chemoautotroph are made up of bacteria only

Question 16

Give four different ways that an organism can be a heterotroph

Answer 16

Carnivore
Herbivore
Omnivore
Ditritovore
Parasites 
Decomposers 
scavengers

Question 17

Give two important functions performed by members of the Kingdom Monera in ecosystems

Answer 17

They are decomposers. They can be primary producers. In coral reefs certain types glue the coral particles to build a solid reef. They play an important role in the nitrogen cycle.

Question 18

What types of organisms make up the phytoplankton?

Answer 18

Dinoflagellates
Diatoms
Coccolithophores

Question 19

What is the difference between zooplankton and nekton? Give an example of each.

Answer 19

Zooplankton drift at the mercy of the currents whereas nekton are powerful swimmers. Some examples of so plankton are protistants, fish larvae, invertebrates. Some examples of nekton are whales fish and squid

Question 20

Are giant kelp forest found in the open ocean or in coastal waters? Why?

Answer 20

They are found in coastal waters because they start to grow at the bottom And need to anchor themselves there but they need sunlight for photosynthesis so they only grow in the photic zone in shallow water

Question 21

Are all organisms in The zooplankton permanent members of it? Explain your answer

Answer 21

No, fish larvae travel as members of zooplankton and then settle as Nekton when they become adults

Question 22

In general, are there more plants and phytoplankton growing in cold water or warm water? Explain your answer.

Answer 22

Coldwater, because in Coldwater there are more nutrients. In Warmwater you have strong thermocline and surface water has less nutrients

Question 23

Will epipelagic or mesopelagic organisms be more likely to be tolerant of changes in salinity? Explain your answer

Answer 23

Epipelagic because they live near the surface where the salinity fluctuates more

Question 24

If you bring up a miso pelagic fish and a bottom blowing fish from the open ocean which is more likely to die as you bring it to the surface? Explain your answer

Answer 24

Mesopelagic fish because the bottom dwelling fish do not have a swim bladder. Mesopelagic fish have gas filled space inside them. This space expands when they come up to rapidly and will pop

Question 25

On land, most of the photosynthetic organisms are multicellular plants, while in the oceans most are single celled phytoplankton. Give two reasons why this difference occurs

Answer 25

Land plants have to get water and nutrients from soil and bring it to their above ground parts this requires complex bodies. Single cell algaes are surrounded by water and don’t need plumbing to bring it up from below. Land plants also need roots to hold down from gravity. In the ocean you’re buoyant and you don’t need support structures.

Question 26

Give two different adaptations phytoplankton have to prevent their sinking below the photic zone.

Answer 26

Phytoplankton have a high surface area to volume ratio which slows sinking the small size has many projections off the body and they store fat allowing them to float.

Question 27

What body shape and tail shape will a very fast cruising fish have? Why will unrelated fishes who cruise at high speeds have evolved this body form?

Answer 27

They will have a spindle-shaped narrowbody with a lunate tail. It has the least drag and natural selection will favorite because it’s the least energy expenditure for cruising

Question 28

What are the major adaptations seen in the organisms in the highest intertidal that are less developed in the organisms confined to the lower intertidal?

Answer 28

Higher needs to tolerate dessecation, salinity fluctuation, and temperature fluctuation. Organisms in the highest intertidal are out of the water for long periods of time, they must adapt to drying out, temperature change, salinity change, andand having ways of anchoring themselves to the rocks due to waves.

Question 29

Are organisms in the lower intertidal likely or less likely to be good competitors than organisms in the upper intertidal?

Answer 29

More likely because there are more competitors in the lower intertidal

Question 30

What is a keystone species? What is the keystone species for the giant kelp forest. Explain why it is a keystone species.

Answer 30

Keystone species is one that which determines the structure of an ecosystem, determining which species are found there. See otters are keystone species for the kelp forest by preying on sea urchins. See urchins destroy kelp forests by grazing through the bottom base of blade grass causing the kelp to float to the surface and wash up on shore.