Survey of the Seas
The Atmosphere
Water Vapor & Air Masses
Storms & Forecasting
Consider the Heavens
100

What type of current is made of seawater mixed with mud or silt and can erode the ocean floor to produce submarine canyons?

turbidity current

100

How does air normally move in the atmosphere?

high pressure to low pressure

100

What is the process in which rain forms from melted snowflakes?

Bergeron-Findeisen process

100

What portion of a lightning bolt produces thunder?

return stroke

100

What is a chunk of space debris that has reached Earth’s surface?

meteorite

200

What oceanographic tool charts currents far beneath the surface and sends back accurate measurements of those currents and water properties?

profiling float

200

Which type of current causes most of the earth’s weather?

convection current

200

From what does a frontal cyclone draw its energy?

warm air mass
200

When does a rotating column of air become a tornado

when it reaches the ground

200

What star is located at the north celestial pole?

Polaris

300

Why can icebergs float in seawater?

icebergs are less dense than seawater

300

What portion of Earth’s magnetic field stretches away from the sun?

magnetotail

300

With what type of front does a frontal cyclone usually begin with?

stationary front

300

What is a tropical low-pressure system that does not have rotating winds?

tropical disturbance

300

What is the primary factor that determines the brightness of average stars in the main sequence?

temperature

400

What is an upward-flowing current that occurs when a land breeze pushes surface water away from the coast?

upwelling

400

What is the most important and abundant greenhouse gas?

water vapor

400

How does an occluded front form?

a cold front overtakes a warm front
400

What instrument indicates the direction of wind?

weather vane

400

Which of Neptune’s satellites experiences the coldest known temperatures in the solar system?

Triton

500

What is a wave that grows taller and steeper as it travels to shore and topples forward with a white crest called?

breaker

500

What doughnut-shaped regions surround the earth and trap particles from the solar wind?

Van Allen radiation belts

500

What process occurs when a liquid becomes a gas?

evaporation

500

What is a map that summarizes the weather conditions throughout the entire country at a single point in time?

surface weather map

500

What type of star is cool, small, and dim?

red dwarf

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