Deck 23: Marine Biomes

Question 1

Ocean currents are created mainly by

A) pH and salinity gradients
B) Nutrient gradients
C) Winds and the Earth's rotation
D) The pull of the moon and sun
E) The positions of the stars

Answer 1

Winds and the Earth's rotation

Question 2

The Gulf stream

A) Brings warm water to the coast of South America
B) Brings cold water to California
C) Brings cold water to western Africa
D) Brings warm water to Europe
E) Has never stopped

Answer 2

Brings warm water to Europe

Question 3

When the surface currents move water away from the continents and it is replaced by water from cooler depths we term the process

A) Langmuir circulation
B) Coastal upwelling
C) Thermohaline circulation
D) Gravitational tides
E) Currents

Answer 3

Coastal upwelling

Question 4

The equatorial countercurrent generally runs

A) Clockwise
B) Anticlockwise
C) North to south
D) West to east
E) North to east

Question 5

Waves generally travel

A) In the same direction as the wind
B) Parallel to the wind
C) In the opposite direction to the wind
D) East to west
E) North to south

Question 6

The difference between a wave trough and a wave crest is known as

A) Swash
B) Backwash
C) Wave length
D) Wave height
E) Langmuir circulation

Question 7

The greatest wave heights are generally found in the

A) Mediterranean
B) South Pacific
C) North Atlantic
D) North Pacific
E) South Atlantic

Question 8

Tides are caused by the pull of

A) The moon and stars
B) The sun and Mars
C) The moon and the sun
D) Jupiter and Saturn

Question 9

A condition known as syzygy occurs when

A) There is a neap tide
B) The Earth, Sun and moon are at a 90° angle
C) The Sun, Earth and moon form a straight line
D) The moon is in its first or third quarter
E) The tide floods estuaries

Question 10

Which zone is the one immediately deeper than the mesopelagic in the open ocean?

A) Abyssal
B) Epipelagic
C) Hadal
D) Bathypelagic
E) Littoral

Question 11

Photosynthesis generally occurs in the

A) Mesopelagic
B) Bathypelagic
C) Epipelagic
D) Pseudopelagic
E) Interlittoral

Question 12

Which marine community is found only at water temperatures between 20 and 30°C, in the photic zone where nutrient levels are low?

A) Hydrothermal vents
B) Kelp forests
C) Coral reefs
D) Algal communities
E) Sea grasses

Question 13

In your submersible, the most common organisms visible from the porthole are large tube worms, clams and crabs. Where are you?

A) Hydrothermal vent
B) Kelp forest
C) Coral reef
D) Open ocean
E) Sea grass bed

Question 14

Kelp forests are not found in

A) The California coast
B) The Caribbean
C) The Southern Indian Ocean
D) Tasmania
E) New Zealand

Question 15

If you found Halodule or Thalassia, manatees and spiny lobsters, in which marine biome would you be?

A) Kelp forest
B) Intertidal
C) Sea grass
D) Coral
E) Open ocean

Question 16

If you find polychaete worms, clams, bivalves and sand dollars, in which marine biome would you be?

A) Sea grass
B) Coral reef
C) Rocky shore
D) Sandy shore
E) Kelp forest

Question 17

The center of mangrove diversity is in

A) The Caribbean
B) Australia
C) Africa
D) South America
E) The Indo-Pacific

Question 18

When near a coral reef, which organisms would you be most likely to see out of your submersible window?

A) Parrotfish, anglefish, and damselfish
B) Manta rays and squid
C) Mussels, limpets and chitons
D) Manatees and seagrasses
E) Kelp and seals

Question 19

Which is the most seaward plant of U.S. East coast salt marshes?

A) Salt meadow cordgrass, Spartina patens
B) Salt marsh cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora
C) Salt grass, Distichlis
D) Black needlerush, Scirpus
E) Common reed, Phragmites

Question 20

What is not a common organism in the open ocean?

A) Nekton
B) Phytoplankton
C) Coral
D) Zooplankton
E) Benthic invertebrates

Question 21

What organism is not part of the nekton?

A) Phytoplankton
B) Sea turtles
C) Squid
D) Manta rays
E) Whales

Question 22

The second highest tides in the world are found in the Bristol Channel, England.

Question 23

Salt water near the north pole freezes to form salty pack ice.

Question 24

There is little plant life in the upper littoral zone.

Question 25

Plant life is absent at hydrothermal vents.

Question 26

Water rich in hydrogen sulfide emanates from hydrothermal vents

Question 27

Mangroves have pheumatophores which exude salt and enable the plants to live in salty environments.

Question 28

Lower littoral organisms are more tolerant to desiccation than upper littoral organisms.

Question 29

If you were standing on the west coast of Australia, the prevailing ocean current would be running south to north.

Question 30

Salty water is lighter than freshwater and this difference helps fuel thermohaline circulation.