Tides and plate tectonics
Name the feature of the seafloor that is flat and empty.
Abyssal plane
What direction do surface currents (gyres) rotate in the southern hemisphere?
Anti-clockwise
What is the process of marine plants converting CO2 into organic matter?
Photosynthesis
What is the term given to waves as they bend due to changing depths?
Refraction
Which pollution type comes from a single, identifiable source?
Point source pollution
What is the primary cause of Earth’s tides?
Moon/sun gravity
Which process brings cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface?
Upwelling
What is the primary thing that produces oxygen at the oceans surface?
Phytoplankton
What is the process that moves sand primarily in one direction along a coastline?
Longshore drift
Give one example of non-point source pollution
- Runoff from roads or farms
- Plastic pollution (debris)
- Accept other correct answers
What type of plate boundary (process) is associated with mid-ocean ridges?
Divergent
A surfer counts 6 waves in 1 minute. What is the wave period?
10 seconds
What is the layer of the ocean that prevents surface waters mixing with deeper water, forming an oxygen minimum zone?
Pycnocline
Identify two coastal engineering strategies that can be employed to promote accretion or reduce erosion
- Groyne
- Seawall
- Artificial reef
- Sand nourishment
Which three factors must be balanced in sustainable marine management practices?
- Environmental
- Cultural/social
- Economical
Explain how tectonic processes form deep-sea trenches, give reference to specific tectonic plates.
Subduction of the oceanic plate under the continental plate.
What is the driving forces behind Ekman spiral transport?
Wind and earths rotation (Coriolis)
Why do oxygen levels drop below a pycnocline?
Respiration of bacteria
What is the purpose of the Tweed Sand Bypass System?
To transport sand from Fingal that has been stopped by the tweed river training wall and move it to the Queensland beaches
or
To replicate the effects of longshore drift
How does agricultural runoff impacts coastal ecosystems?
Increase in nutrients from fertilisers can cause blooms in marine plant life. This can lead to oxygen starved marine systems.
How does salinity and temperature changes at high latitudes drive thermohaline circulation?
Water freezing leaves salt behind, creating highly saline and cold water, this is more dense and sinks. This processes drives deep water circulation.
How is a gyre is formed?
Trade winds, earths rotation (Coriolis), continental deflection
What are the two pathways that sinking carbon (marine snow) such as dead plankton can take in the carbon cycle?
Decomposition by bacteria and storage on the seafloor
Identify 5 features of a beach profile.
Storm Bar
Swash zone
Micro ridge
Runnels
Strand line
Berm
Scarp
Dune
How could climate change (rising sea surface temps) alter thermohaline circulation?
Slowed circulation of deep sea currents due to less water freezing and singling at the poles.