History
What are the three Historical Eras of Oceanography?
Individual Mariners
Early Scientific Investigations
Modern Oceanography
Materials in the Earth's molten mass separated themselves based on what physical property?
Density
What are the three major areas in each ocean with distinct features?
Continental margins
Deep ocean basins
Midocean ridges
What are the three types of plate boundaries?
Divergent, Convergent, and Transform
Oceanography comes from what two Greek words?
Oceanus – Name of the Titan, son of the gods Gaea and Uranus.
Graphia – The act of recording and describing
What were some of the major groups that first started exploring and navigating the ocean?
Egyptians - developed the arts of shipbuilding and coastal piloting.
Polynesians - large-scale migration, oceanic navigation (stick charts), and Pacific island settlement.
Phoenicians - Established sea routes for the entire Mediterranean region
Greeks - Discovered connection between tides and the moon and drew the first "world" maps
Vikings - Sailed across Atlantic to North American continent
What are the chemical layers of the Earth?
What are the physical layers of the Earth?
Go in order from the surface layer to the deepest layer
Crust, Mantle, Core (Outer & Inner)
Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Mesosphere, Core (Outer & Inner)
Label the feature of the continental margin.
A. Shelf
B. Shelf Break
C. Slope
D. Rise
E. Submarine Canyon
What is a subduction zone, and what does it indicate?
A convergent boundary where the denser plate dives beneath the lighter plate into the mantle; can indicate that an ocean is starting to shrink.
How much of Earth's surface is covered with water?
How much of that surface water is in the Ocean's?
71%
97%
What were the main reasons that Western Europeans took up ocean exploration?
Political - Extend the kingdom and establish colonies
Economic - Money and treasures
Religious - Spread their God and gain followers.
What are the two primary rock types that make up continental and oceanic plates, respectively?
Basalt for oceanic plates
Label the features of the deep ocean basin.
A. Deep Sea Trench
B. Submarine Volcanoes
C. Abyssal Plain
D. Abyssal Hils
E. Guyot
F. Seamounts
How would one look at tectonic features and activities that happen much deeper within the crust (Subduction Zones, faults, and MOHO boundary)?
Seismic Reflection - measures seismic waves bouncing back from layer boundaries
Seismic Refraction - measures how seismic waves bend along the different layers
(Other possibilities include echo sounding, sidescan sonar, and alimetry)
What is the driving force behind plate tectonics and the many processes that drive the motion of the crust?
Mantle Convection due to uneven heating from the core. (Think about how pasta moves in boiling water).
What are the three significant voyages that defined early scientific expeditions?
HMS Beagle - Survey and collection missions in pacific coast of the Americas, most known for supporting Charles Darwin as he developed the Origin of Species
HMS Challenger - Aimed to resolve the controversy of whether life existed in the abyss (There is).
The Fram - Specifically designed for polar exploration, used by Fridtjof Nansen to look at polar currents and sea ice.
Describe Isostasy and how it applies to the structure of Earth's crust.
Isostasy is a state of equilibrium between Earth's crust and mantle, which allows the crust to float at an elevation that depends on its thickness and density. It accounts for the lighter, thicker continent floating higher on the mantle, while denser, thinner crust lies deeper, which results in said equilibrium.
Label the feature of the mid-ocean ridge.
A. Oceanic Ridge
B. Fracture Zone
C. Rift Valley
What is the area of high earthquake activity in the crust that traces the path of a subducting plate into the mantle?
Benioff Zone
What are the four primary elements that make up the entire Earth?
Iron (Fe), Oxygen (O), Silicon (Si), and Magnesium (Mg)
Modern Oceanography was issued in with the voyage of which ship, and what was its goal?
Meteor - A complete survey of the Southern Atlantic Ocean, using echo sounding to map the sea floor and taking vertical profiles of various ocean parameters.
What are the average densities of the mantle, oceanic crust, and continental crust?
The difference between these densities results in what phenomenon?
Mantle = 3.3 g/cm^3
Oceanic Crust = 2.9 g/cm^3
Continental Crust = 2.7 g/cm^3
Moho or M-discontinuity; typically deeper under continental crust because it is much thicker than ocean crust, and the less dense material results in continental crust floating higher on the mantle away from the boundary layer.
On the horizontal axis of a map projection, the horizontal scale ratio was 1 cm to 5 km. Using a ruler, you found that the vertical representative fraction was 3 cm for 250 m. What is the vertical exaggeration?
VE = (Vertical Scale) / (Horizontal Scale)
Make sure the fractions match
VE = (3cm / 250 m) / (1 cm / 5km)
Convert the units so they match
VE = (3cm / 250 m) / (1 cm / 5000 m)
Divide
VE = (3cm / 250 m) / (1 cm / 5000 m) = 60x
What are the 6 stages of the Wilson Cycle? How does each stage move? Give an example of each.
Embryonic - Uplift (African Rift Valley)
Juvenile - Divergence, Seafloor Spreading (Red Sea)
Mature - Divergence, Seafloor Spreading (Atlantic Ocean)
Declining - Convergent, subduction (Pacific Ocean)
Terminal - Uplift and Convergent, collision (Mediterranean Sea)
Suturing - Uplift and Convergent, collision (Himalaya Mountains)
What did each of these figures contribute to the field of oceanography?
Ferdinand Magallán
James Cook
Matthew Fontaine Maury
Inge Lehmann
Ferdinand Magallán - Led the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe.
James Cook - Took numerous voyages that produced accurate coastal charts and maps, mapped Australia and New Zealand, and sailed both polar seas
Matthew Fontaine Maury - Encouraged international cooperation in making ocean measurements and is considered the Father of Physical Oceanography
Inge Lehmann - Discovered Earth's inner core