Oceanography
What causes the ocean water level to rise and fall in a regular pattern?
What are TIDES?
Which gas from the air does the ocean take in that changes its chemistry?
What is CARBON DIOXIDE?
Which warm ocean current in the Atlantic moves warm water toward northern areas?
What is GULF STREAM?
Which large bay in Virginia receives water from many rivers and is a major watershed in the SOL?
What is the CHESAPEAKE BAY?
What tiny, plant-like organisms in the ocean make food with sunlight and start most food chains?
What are PHYTOPLANKTON?
What do we call the layer in the ocean where temperature changes quickly with depth?
What is THERMOCLINE?
What single word describes the ocean becoming more acidic as it absorbs more CO2?
What is ACIDIFICATION?
What is the main process that moves heat up and down in the ocean and atmosphere?
What is CONVECTION?
This process happens when small pieces of sand, dirt, or rock sink to the bottom of water and slowly build up over time.
What is SEDIMENTATION / EROSION
This type of organism makes its own food using sunlight and is the starting point of a marine food web.
What is a PRODUCER?
What is the name for a tall, underwater mountain made by volcanoes on the seafloor?
What is a SEAMOUNT?
What happens to the shells of some marine animals when ocean water becomes more acidic?
What is DISSOLUTION / WEAKENING?
Name one climate pattern in the Pacific that changes ocean temperatures and affects weather.
What is EL NINO / LA NINA?
After an oil spill, this part of the ocean is affected first because oil floats and spreads across it.
What is SURFACE WATER?
If the population of small fish decreases in a marine food web, this type of organism would most likely be affected next because it depends on them for food.
What is a PREDATOR?
Name one feature of the seafloor that is formed by the movement of Earth's plates.
What is MID-OCEAN RIDGE / TRENCH?
What is the name of the common mineral made of calcium carbonate that many sea animals use to make shells?
What is CALCITE?
This type of ocean current moves warm water from the equator toward the poles, helping to warm nearby land.
What are SURFACE CURRENTS?
In Virginia, most agricultural runoff from farms eventually flows into these major bodies of water through rivers and streams (There are two answers).
Most marine life is found in this shallow part of the ocean because it receives sunlight and has abundant nutrients.
What is the CONTINENTIAL SHELF?
What process brings cold, nutrient-rich water from deep in the ocean up to the surface?
What is UPWELLING?
What one-word process describes when animals like clams and corals build their shells and skeletons from materials in seawater?
What is CALCIFICATON?
An increase in this ocean property makes water denser, causing it to sink and helping drive deep ocean currents.
What is SALINTY?
In Virginia, runoff from farms can carry fertilizers into rivers and the Chesapeake Bay, causing this problem where excess nutrients lead to low oxygen levels in the water.
What is EUTROPHICATION?
This increase in ocean water level can flood coastal habitats and disrupt marine food webs, especially in areas like the Chesapeake Bay.
What is SEA LEVEL RISE?