Science Test Water and Oceanography

Question 1

What 4 factors determine whether precipitation becomes runoff or infiltrates the ground and becomes groundwater?

Answer 1

1. Soil Composition (site of the particles.
2. Soil Composition (amount of humus)
3. Vegetation
4. slope of land.

Question 2

Smaller stream branches that join together to form larger branches are called…

Answer 2

tributaries

Question 3

What is a watershed?

Answer 3

All the land areas whose water drains into a stream system.

Question 4

What is a divide?

Answer 4

Ridge that separates watersheds

Question 5

Where does precipitation that falls on the eastern side of the continental divide end up? Where does precipitation that falls on the western side end up?

Answer 5

Eastern- Gulf of Mexico And Atlantic Ocean
Western- Pacific Ocean

Question 6

Which major watershed is Maryland part of?

Answer 6

Chesepeake Bay watershed

Question 7

What is stream discharge? What happens when stream discarge is greater than the capacity of the stream bed?

Answer 7

Stream discharge: amount of water that flows past a given area in a given amount of time.
Stream bed: floods occur when the discharge is over the capacity of the stream bed.

Question 8

What is benthic macroinvertebre? Why do ecologists regularly collect and count macroinvertebres in a stream?

Answer 8

benthic: bottom, found in the bottom of a stream or river.
ecologists use them to determine how healthy a stream is.

Question 9

What is an aquifer?

Answer 9

Porous Layers of rock

Question 10

The upermost boundary of an aquifer is called…

Answer 10

water table

Question 11

Groundwater and spring water often contain dissolved minerals. How do these minerals pick up groundwater?

Answer 11

Water is a polar molecule, so it often picks up ions from other sources. as the water moves through an aquifer, it picks up dissolved minerals

Question 12

How does a cave form?

Answer 12

Water containing acid flows through cracks in limestone. Rocks, dissolving the rock and creating caves

Question 13

How do stalactites form?

Answer 13

water seeps from the ceiling and drips into the cave, leaving behind a small amount of dissolved minerals. As they build up they form stalactites.

Question 14

Name 3 sources of groundwater pollution

Answer 14

fertilizers, landfill waste, chemicals

Question 15

Which ocean is the biggest

Answer 15

Pacific Ocean

Question 16

What percent of the earth’s surface is covered by ocean’s

Answer 16

70%

Question 17

What ocean is the deepest.

Answer 17

Pacific Ocean

Question 18

What did the HMS challenger do that no ocean voyage or mission before it had ever done?

Answer 18

First ocean vessel dedicated to oceanographic research.

Question 19

What technologies can be used to study ocean currents.

Answer 19

Sonar Submersibles, Floats satellites

Question 20

what is the thermocline

Answer 20

layer between 300m-1000m where there us a rapid change in temperature

Question 21

Why does ocean temperature decrease with depth?

Answer 21

Less sunlight heats the lower depths of the ocean.

Question 22

What is the measure of salt in a substance?

Answer 22

Salinity

Question 23

Name 2 places on earth where the salinity of seawater is lower than in the rest of the ocean. Why is it lower?

Answer 23

Near the poles (where ice caps melt)
Near the equator (higher rates of precipitation)

Question 24

Name one place one earth where salinity is higher than the rest of the ocean. Why is it higher?

Answer 24

Medditeranean sea its Mid Latitude which increase rates of evaporation

Question 25

what causes tides?

Answer 25

Caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun and the rotation of the earth

Question 26

Know the difference between a neap tide and a spring tide

Answer 26

Neap tide: Sun and moon are at right angles and the high and low tide are more even. Spring Tide: Full and New moon earth, sun and moon are in line , creates high tides that are higher than normal and low tides that are lower than normal

Question 27

How many high tides and how many low tides do we experience every 24 hours?

Answer 27

2 high tides, 2 low tides

Question 28

What causes most surface waves?

Answer 28

Wind

Question 29

The high point of a wave is called...

Answer 29

crest

Question 30

the low point of a wave is called...

Answer 30

trough

Question 31

what causes breakers?

Answer 31

When a wave approaches the shore, the crest out runs the trough and the crest collapses, causing a breaker

Question 32

What happens underwater that causes a rip current? How would you know if you were caught in a rip current?

Answer 32

Strong waves tear through a longshore bar, causing a fast moving narrow current. You would know because you would be moving out to sea rather than parallel to the shore

Question 33

Which important current is located off the east coast of the US and affects the climate in our region?

Answer 33

Gulf stream

Question 34

What are gyres? How are gyres helpful?

Answer 34

Large, circular ocean currents- important for moving nutrients and balancing salinity in marine ecosystems

Question 35

What is the Giant pacific garbage patch? Why is it a problem?

Answer 35

Collection of debris in the pacific ocean that harms marine life when they eat it thinking its food

Question 36

Explain why nurdles and other micro plastic bits are a problem for almost every type of marine life.

Answer 36

Hurdles and micro plastics don't biodegrade so they just break into smaller pieces. Animals eat them as food but they don't get digested so they end up starving to death.

Question 37

What causes see urchins and see stacks

Answer 37

Erosion and removal of weaker rocks near Sea level

Question 38

How do volcanic islands form?

Answer 38

From underwater volcanoes called seamounts that reach the earth's surface.

Question 39

what is located after the continental shelp.

Answer 39

continental slope