Deck 2: A History of Marine Science

Question 1

The Smithsonian obtained many specimens and artifacts from which groundbreaking hybrid expedition?

A) The Discovery Expedition
B) The Resolution Expedition
C) The United States Exploring Expedition
D) The Challenger Expedition

Answer 1

C
The United States Exploring Expedition conducted sampling throughout its mission. They returned with charts, specimen, and artifacts. The final report associated with it was nineteen volumes. This was the first big hybrid expedition, but it was still primarily a naval expedition. Information can be found in the section The First Scientific Experiments Were Undertaken by Governments.

Question 2

Who set out to explore worldwide wind and current patterns for commercial and naval purposes?

A) Charles Wilkes
B) Benjamin Franklin
C) Tim Folger
D) Matthew Maury

Answer 2

D
Although Benjamin Franklin and Tim Folger were the first to document these patterns off eastern North America, Matthew Maury used their information and a trove of additional information to create worldwide charts with these patterns. He would then issue these charts to mariners in exchange for their own logbooks. Information can be found in the section The First Scientific Experiments Were Undertaken by Governments.

Question 3

What did Polynesians use to determine if an island was near, but could not be seen yet?

A) The change in the rhythmic set of waves against the hull
B) The Flight tracks of birds at dusk
C) The Smell of the water
D) All of these choices were used

Answer 3

D
The Polynesians used many indicators to find islands that were out of sight over the horizon. They used the pattern of waves, bird flight patterns, and the smell of water. They also used stars, water's temperature, salinity, and color to find these islands. Information can be found in the section Understanding the Ocean Began with Voyaging for Trade and Exploration.

Question 4

How many degrees of longitude equals one hour of time?

A) 15°
B) 24°
C) 25°
D) 45°

Question 5

Who led a fleet of at least 317 during the dark ages?

A) Bjarni Herjulfsson
B) Prince Henry
C) Admiral Zheng He
D) Christopher Columbus

Question 6

What is the possible cause for the Renaissance in Europe?

A) The start of exploring for commerce
B) The reestablishment of information from Alexandria
C) The need to come together for protection
D) Climate change

Question 7

Who was able to prove that there was not an actual continent in the Arctic?

A) John Murray
B) Fridtjof Nansen
C) Robert E. Peary
D) Charles Wyville Thomson

Question 8

What was the Meteor expedition's most important innovation?

A) The echo sounder
B) The bathyscaphe
C) Modern optical equipment
D) The steam winch

Question 9

What kind of information can be determined about the ocean with the use of satellites?

A) The height of the sea surface
B) The temperature of the sea surface
C) The amount of plankton productivity
D) All of these choices

Question 10

What stimulated the new field of science called oceanography?

A) The results of the HMS Beagle expedition
B) The naturalist Alexander Agassiz
C) Samples and information from the Challenger expedition
D) The United States Exploring Expedition's discovery of new species

Question 11

Whose expedition was able to prove circumnavigation of the globe was possible?

A) Captain James Cook
B) Matthew Murray
C) Ferdinand Magellan
D) Christopher Columbus

Question 12

____ was one of the first researchers to attack issues related to deep-sea sampling.

A) Sir John Ross
B) Matthew Maury
C) Fridtjof Nansen
D) John Harrison

Question 13

What information was not available for early cartographers to put on charts?

A) Direction of currents
B) Water depths and related information
C) Location of rocks in harbors
D) Sailing times

Question 14

What prevented explorers like Christopher Columbus from finding precise longitude?

A) Calculations necessary for determining longitude
B) The lack of accurate pendulums
C) A durable and precise clock
D) Longitude was not the issue, latitude was the problem

Question 15

Who is considered the first marine scientist?

A) Captain James Cook
B) Hypatia
C) Prince Henry
D) John Harrison

Question 16

The first consistent ocean traders were the:

A) Egyptians
B) Cretans
C) Greeks
D) Vikings

Question 17

Who was responsible for most of the progress in science and math after the fall of the Roman Empire?

A) Arabs
B) Greeks
C) Asians
D) Vikings

Question 18

What was not an invention rendered by the Chinese to facilitate their ocean voyages?

A) Central rudder system
B) Watertight compartments
C) Chronometer
D) Compass

Question 19

What was not the goal of Admiral Zheng He's explorations?

A) Show kindness to people in distant places
B) Display the powers of the Ming Dynasty
C) Distribute treasures
D) Conquer people in distant places

Question 20

What does voyaging offer people?

A) Expansion of trade
B) Increased availability of food
C) Mobility of residence
D) All of these choices

Question 21

Hipparchus developed our present grid system of longitude and latitude.

Question 22

The Norwegian Vikings began looking westward after French, Irish, and British strengthened their defenses against their raids.

Question 23

What motivated Europeans to explore during the Age of Discovery?

A) Empire expansion
B) Possible commerce
C) Food sources
D) Just to explore

Question 24

Which is not included in the specialized information that AQUA can obtain?

A) Evaporation rates of the ocean
B) Phytoplankton in the ocean
C) Wave heights
D) Land, air, and water temperature

Question 25

The orientation of charts that placed north at the top and east was on the right was done by:

A) Claudius Ptolemy
B) Eratosthenes
C) Hypatia
D) Hipparchus

Question 26

Where was the first "zero longitude" line?

A) Athens
B) Rome
C) Alexandria
D) Greenwich

Question 27

Which Library of Alexandria librarian is responsible for the development of the longitude and latitude system?

A) Hipparchus
B) Claudius Ptolemy
C) Hypatia
D) Eratosthenes

Question 28

What organization conducted the largest scientific program attempted by physical oceanographers?

A) International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)
B) Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)
C) Ridge Interdisciplinary Global Experiment (RIDGE)
D) World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)

Question 29

Although John Harrison was a cabinetmaker, he was awarded a monetary prize for building an accurate clock used to determine longitude.

Question 30

What country was the first to found an oceanographic institution to meet some of the demands associated with scientific oceanography?

A) United States
B) England
C) Japan
D) Monaco

Question 31

Longitudinal lines run parallel to the equator.

Question 32

Matthew Maury is considered to be the "father of oceanography" due to his life accomplishments pertaining to ocean and wind currents.

Question 33

Which European was responsible for the accumulation of detailed charts which led to increased commerce to include the west coast of Africa?

A) Christopher Columbus
B) Prince Henry
C) Charles Wilkes
D) Captain James Cook

Question 34

Alfred Thayer Mahan recognized and emphasized that military and commercial control of commerce and transportation had a great effect on the overall success of a nation.

Question 35

Phoenician sailors were more skilled then Greek sailors, so they ventured beyond the sight of land for trade on a regular basis.

Question 36

____ was longest continuous scientific oceanographic expedition.

A) The Challenger expedition
B) The Fram expedition
C) The Meteor expedition
D) The Albatross expedition

Question 37

What vessel is attributed to being able to descend into the Challenger Deep?

A) Glomar Challenger
B) Trieste
C) Meteor
D) HMS Challenger II

Question 38

Longitude can be found using a protractor and the north polar star.

Question 39

The fall of the Library of Alexandria can be attributed to growing tensions between Hypatia and early Christian Romans.

Question 40

The Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute are important examples of prominent oceanographic institutions in the United States.

Question 41

The Polynesian colonies used a system of shells and bamboo to represent island positions for navigation.

Question 42

What was the significance of the Library of Alexandria? How did it obtain information? What happened to the library? Include relevant dates and famous people associated with the library.

Question 43

Christopher Columbus was the first person to discover the "New World".

Question 44

National pride, scientific curiosity, and various advancements in shipbuilding fueled the golden age of polar exploration much like the spread of commerce fueled the original golden age of exploration.

Question 45

Compare and contrast the United States Exploring Expedition and the HMS Challenger expedition. How was each of these expeditions pioneering in their own right?

Question 46

What was the first expedition devoted entirely to marine science? What new equipment was used on this expedition to facilitate more research? What information was acquired?

Question 47

By the year 2010, the Census of Marine Life project culminated 10 years of research by 2700 scientists from 80 different countries into a summary report.

Question 48

Discuss the problems that occurred while trying to determine longitude. How was the longitude problem finally solved?

Question 49

The Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTAC) is acclaimed for launching both the deepest-diving manned and unmanned submersibles to date.

Question 50

How was Captain James Cook able to study science, navigation, and international relations? Include information on his various expeditions.