Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
FINAL EXAM: OCEA101 online This Final Exam will have you review and expand your knowledge of 5 key oceanographic topics. The topics are covered by 5 essay questions worth 12 points each, for a total of 60 points for the exam. It is important that you allow adequate time to research and write your answers for this exam. Make no mistake—these are comprehensive questions and they require comprehensive answers. Because this is an open-book, open-assignment exam, I expect more from you in terms of thoroughness and accuracy than if this were a traditional, closed-book, time-limited classroom exam. As a guideline, approximately 400 words per question represents an appropriate level of detail. (Less than that will not likely answer each question with an adequate level of detail.) As always, you must use your own words and your own organization in your work. Answers that simply copy entire sentences and paragraphs blindly from the book, without integrating and explaining concepts and principles, will receive low scores. And as described in the academic honesty policy, any exam found with entire sentences copied from other sources without citing the source will be given a zero due to plagiarism. Instructions INSTRUCTIONS: Save your answers as a single document, with each answer labeled clearly, and in the correct order. As always, proofread and run spell-check (otherwise, points off for sloppiness). Then copy and paste all of your answers together into the box that appears at the bottom of the page. You can only submit this exam once, so be sure that everything looks right and is correctly placed before you click "Submit." GOOD LUCK & BEST WISHES! 1. PLATE TECTONICS (12 points) Imagine that you have taken a time-machine back to the early 1900s and are meeting Alfred Wegener for lunch. He is very depressed because almost no one believes his theory of continental drift. Explain to him how science in the decades after his death will confirm his theory and expand it into the larger theory of plate tectonics. In your explanation to him, be sure to explain: - Key discoveries about the ocean floor that happened since his day. (Note: in Wegener's day, almost nothing was known about the ocean floor. Think about how that later changed, and how it relates to continental drift.) - Evidence that proves that the sea floor spreads and that the earth's surface is divided up into moving plates. (Hint: this evidence includes paleomagnetism, the age of the sea floor, heat flow, and earthquakes.) 2. THE ORIGIN and PROPERTIES of WATER (12 points) - What processes do scientists think occurred early in the Earth's history that produced the Earth’s water, including the oceans? - Water (H20) is a polar molecule. What does this mean, and what special properties does water have as a result? - What is salinity, and what processes control ocean water’s salinity (that is, cause salinity to go up or down)? 3. OCEAN CIRCULATION (12 points) The circulation of the oceans is driven by two main processes: 1) the prevailing surface winds, and 2) differences in density between various water masses. The Coriolis effect also influences the movement of ocean currents. Use these concepts to explain: - the movements of SURFACE currents, particularly the subtropical gyres. - the movements of DEEP (thermohaline) ocean currents and the concept of “conveyor-belt circulation.” 4. PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY (12 points) Why is primary productivity high in some ocean areas and low in others? In your answer: identify areas of the ocean have generally high productivity versus generally low productivity evaluate the reasons for those differences in productivity based on the physical properties of the ocean (particularly water density, temperature, light levels and upwelling/downwelling). Your discussion of the above questions should include the concepts of the light availability, the euphotic zone, nutrients, upwelling, and the presence vs absence of a thermocline. 5. ADAPTATIONS OF MARINE LIFE (12 points) One theme runs consistently through Chapters 14 and 15, the two chapters that discuss the major types of pelagic and benthic animals. That theme is “adaptation.” Write an essay on the general theme of how marine animals are adapted to their environment, using at least three specific examples. In other words, from the many examples described in these two chapters, pick three key adaptations (physical features and/or behavioral strategies) of marine animals that, to you, illustrate particularly well this theme of adaptation. Spread your examples around; don’t limit your examples to fish or cetaceans, but include at least one example from the benthic invertebrate animals.