knowledge review questions (1)

Knowledge review questions: The highest part of a wave is known as the _______. a. wave height b. wave trough c. wave crest d. wavelength e. wave period The lowest part of a wave is the _______. a. wave height b. wave trough c. wave crest d. wavelength e. wave period The vertical distance from crest to trough of an oscillating wave is the _______. a. wave height b. wave trough c. wave crest d. wavelength e. wave period For waves propagating through relatively deep water, the nearly circular orbits of water particles weaken with increasing depth and essentially disappear at a water depth of _______ the wavelength, known as the wave-base. a. one-quarter b. one-third c. one-half Constructive wave interference _______. a. seldom happens in the ocean b. is always happening in the ocean c. occurs when wave crests coincide making the resulting wave heights greater than the original wave heights d. occurs when a wave crest and trough coincide making the resulting wave heights less than the original heights e. Both b and c are correct. Waves that continue to propagate beyond the area of strong storm winds are known as _______. a. sea b. swell c. breakers d. surf If a wave on the ocean has a wavelength of 200 m, the wave is a deep-water wave only if the water is _______.

a. deeper than 200 m b. deeper than 100 m c. shallower than 100 m d. shallower than 50 m Tsunamis are _______. a. tidal waves b. deep-water waves because they travel so fast over deep water c. shallow-water waves because their wavelengths are far greater than the ocean is deep d. generated only by submarine earthquakes Tsunami would be more likely to occur in a. the Atlantic b. the Pacific Tsunamis can be generated by _______. a. Earthquakes b. Meteor impact c. Submarine landslides d. Calving glaciers e. All of the above When they reach a shoaling coast or island, tsunamis _______. a. make the transition from deep-water waves to shallow-water waves b. slow, shorten, and build c. are often first noticed on a beach as an abnormal retreat of water off the beach d. all of the above e. Both b and c are correct Ocean tides are caused by the gravitational attraction _______. a. between the Sun and Moon b. between the Sun and Earth c. between the Moon and Earth d. both b and c are correct Semidiurnal tides have _______ high tide(s) and _______ low tide(s) per day. a. 2…2 b. 1…1 c. 1….2 d. 2…1 Spring tides occur when _______. a. the Moon is lined up with Earth and the Sun b. the angle from the Sun to Earth to the Moon is 90° c. the Moon is “new” d. the Moon is “full” e. All of the above except b are correct. Non-astronomical factors affecting ocean tides include _______.

Ekman transport is the _______. a. average motion of seawater between the surface and a depth of 10 m b. average motion at the bottom of the Ekman spiral c. sum of all the motion vectors that form the Ekman spiral Viewed from above, subtropical gyres rotate _______ in the Northern Hemisphere and _______ in the Southern Hemisphere. a. clockwise … counterclockwise b. counterclockwise … clockwise Ekman transport causes a broad mound of water to form near the _______ of subtropical gyres. a. outer rim b. southern portion c. center The large-scale surface horizontal ocean circulation is characterized by _______. a. strong poleward flow along the west sides of the subtropical gyres b. weak equatorward flow along the east sides of the subtropical gyres c. economically important coastal upwelling along the east sides of the subtropical gyres d. All of the above are correct. e. None of the above is correct. Which feature of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current distinguishes it from other ocean-surface currents? a. It is wind-driven. b. It flows eastward. c. It circles the globe. d. Its speed decreases with depth. A large component of the trade winds blow from east to west along the equator. Considering both sides of the equator, the trades winds cause _______. a. Ekman transport away from the equator generating upwelling b. Ekman transport toward the equator generating downwelling c. neither upwelling nor downwelling Ekman transport directed away from the coast generates _______. a. coastal upwelling. b. coastal downwelling. c. neither upwelling nor downwelling. The thermohaline circulation is driven primarily by slight differences in ocean _______. a. pressure b. density c. Ekman transport d. -atmosphere heat flux

Currents are strongest along the _______ sides of ocean basins. a. northern b. southern c. eastern *d. western Currents are strongest along the _______ sides of ocean basins. a. northern b. southern c. eastern d. western Instrumented floats obtain vertical profiles of _______. a. temperature b. pressure (a measure of depth) c. conductivity (a measure of salinity) d. All of the above are correct. e. None of the above is correct. In the North Atlantic, newly formed water masses _______ because they are _______ than surrounding waters. a. rise … less dense b. rise … denser c. sink … less dense d. sink … denser Water masses are classified based on _______. a. source region b. current speed c. relative depth in the ocean where they reach equilibrium with their surroundings d. Both a and c are correct. e. Both b and c are correct. When sea ice forms, the injection of salt from brine rejection and cooling of surface water _______ the density of the surface water. a. decreases b. increases Deep water _______ form in the Pacific Ocean basin. a. does b. does not El Niño refers to a coupled atmosphere-ocean oscillation that takes place in the tropical _______ Ocean. a. Atlantic

A linkage between weather changes occurring in widely separated regions of the globe is known as a _______. a. teleost b. teleconnection c. Southern Oscillation d. telegraphy e. None of the above is correct. El Niño occurs about _______. a. once a year b. every 3 to 7 years c. every 9 to 11 years d. every 20 years