Deck 7: Ocean Chemistry

Question 1

What is the colligative property of osmotic pressure?

A) The pressure exerted on biological membranes from the atmosphere
B) The pressure exerted on biological membranes from salinity differences outside the cells
C) The pressure exerted on biological membranes during temperature changes of water
D) The pressure exerted on biological membranes when surrounding waters phase change

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Ocean is becoming more acidic as it absorbs additional _________from the atmosphere.

A) carbon dioxide
B) ozone
C) oxygen
D) pollution

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What is the source of most of the dissolved materials found in the ocean?

A) Outgassing
B) Convection currents
C) Dissolving and weathering of crustal rocks
D) Biological activities

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which element would be surprisingly considered a trace element in the ocean despite its abundance in the atmosphere?

A) Sodium
B) Calcium
C) Chloride
D) Nitrogen

Question 5

The level of ____ increases with depth which is a factor in the calcium carbonate compensation depth.

A) Nitrogen
B) Oxygen
C) Carbon Dioxide
D) Ammonia

Question 6

What is the source of high carbon dioxide levels at middle depths in the ocean?

A) The decay of the remains of organisms
B) It diffuses from the atmosphere
C) Chemical reactions
D) Plant respiration

Question 7

What affects the residence time of an element?

A) Its saturation level
B) Its chemical equilibrium in water
C) Its chemical activity in water
D) The principle of constant proportions

Question 8

What causes a decrease in oxygen levels beyond the sunlit layer?

A) The respiration from marine animals and bacteria
B) The by-products of photosynthesis
C) There are fewer animals present
D) Decreased saturation because of cooler water

Question 9

What is not true of a mixture?

A) A mixture is different substances closely intermingled.
B) A mixture is able to maintain separate properties.
C) A mixture is able to disperse homogenously.
D) A mixture may have varying concentrations and properties throughout.

Question 10

What happens to pH levels in regions where there is more carbon dioxide present?

A) Carbon dioxide does not heavily impact pH levels.
B) The pH levels increase in these regions.
C) The pH levels decrease in these regions.
D) The seawater is able to buffer enough that there is no change.

Question 11

What enhances the ocean's buffering capacity?

A) The amount of dissolved inorganic carbon present
B) The amount of acid already present in the ocean
C) The amount of dissolved organic compounds
D) The amount of calcium

Question 12

How was salinity measured before the use of salinometers?

A) Silver nitrate was used to measure the chlorinity
B) The mass of the salts were measured after water was evaporated
C) The conversion of sodium levels to salinity based on equations
D) Measure of conductivity

Question 13

Which essential gas is often in an unusable form in the ocean and atmosphere?

A) Nitrogen
B) Oxygen
C) Carbon dioxide
D) Methane

Question 14

What is not a factor on the salinity of a particular region of ocean?

A) Evaporation
B) Precipitation
C) Freshwater run-off from the continents
D) Saturation levels

Question 15

What is the Forchhammer's principle?

A) The saturation level of seawater
B) The constant proportion of solids in seawater
C) The components of seawater from weathering surface rocks
D) The measure of the total mass of halogen ions

Question 16

What is the average length of time an atom spends in the ocean?

A) Longevity
B) Saturation time
C) Residence time
D) Durability time

Question 17

What is the greatest source of oxygen in deep water?

A) The respiration from bacteria
B) The lack of large quantities of organisms
C) Chemosynthesis
D) Polar waters that have sunk from the surface

Question 18

Why is the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater much less than the theoretical maximum saturation level?

A) Carbon dioxide is very soluble in water.
B) Carbon dioxide is able to form a weak acid when combined with seawater.
C) Carbon dioxide is quickly used by photosynthetic organisms.
D) Carbon dioxide moves quickly from the atmosphere to the ocean.

Question 19

What is a solute?

A) A substance, usually a liquid, which dissolves other substances
B) A substance that dissolves into another substance
C) A mixture of two or more substances
D) A polar molecule

Question 20

What type of water mass dissolves the most amounts of gases?

A) Tropical water masses
B) Temperate water masses
C) Equatorial water masses
D) Polar water masses

Question 21

What factor allows for the carbon present in sediments to re-enter back into atmospheric and oceanic cycles?

A) Geological uplift
B) Acid rain
C) Sediments dissolving
D) All of these choices

Question 22

There is a hundred times the amount of gaseous oxygen in the atmosphere than there is dissolved oxygen in the ocean.

Question 23

The dissolved salts in seawater increases the freezing point, explaining the formation of sea ice.

Question 24

Which item is not considered to have a basic pH?

A) Seawater
B) Black coffee
C) Household ammonia
D) Baking soda

Question 25

Why does oil not dissolve in water?

A) It has covalent bonds connecting the atoms.
B) It is found within tissues of organisms.
C) It is not a polar molecule.
D) It has ionic bonds.

Question 26

What does carbon dioxide break down into once it is in the ocean?

A) Carbonic acid
B) Bicarbonate
C) Carbonate
D) All of these choices

Question 27

Water circulating through rifts and ridges gets altered by coming into contact with the fresh crust, stripping the water of magnesium and other elements.

Question 28

The addition of salts derived from the mantle and weathering rocks are unable to balance the amount of minerals being bound in the sediments.

Question 29

Why are some tropical waters unable to sustain life?

A) There is an addition of pollutants in many of these areas.
B) There is a low level of dissolved oxygen due to temperature.
C) There is a greater amount of carbon dioxide.
D) There are more conservative components in these waters.

Question 30

What is the approximate mixing time of the ocean?

A) 160 years
B) 1,600 years
C) 16,000 years
D) 1.6 million years

Question 31

Pure water has four colligative properties associated with it.

Question 32

What is diffusion?

A) The rate at which solute molecules present in a solution is equal to the rate they are being dissolved
B) The reforming of crystals
C) The amount of substances tied to biological cycles
D) The random movement of materials through a solution

Question 33

Residence times are dependent upon steady-state conditions and a well-mixed ocean.

Question 34

How do salinometers measure salinity?

A) It measures the number of salt molecules in a set mass of seawater.
B) It calculates the salinity based on the density of the seawater.
C) It measures the electrical conductivity of seawater samples.
D) It calculates the salinity by measuring the chlorinity.

Question 35

At any given pH carbon dioxide and the ions it disassociates into when in water are in equilibrium.

Question 36

What is the term for ocean components not accounted for by the weathering of continents?

A) Conservative constituents
B) Excess volatiles
C) Nonconservative constituents
D) Trace elements

Question 37

Salt as a compound does not truly exist in the ocean.

Question 38

The pH scale is the logarithmic measure of hydrogen ion concentrations.

Question 39

Rapid amounts of photosynthesis can create variations in the alkalinity of seawater.

Question 40

What is the average pH of the ocean?

A) 7.0
B) 7.5
C) 8.0
D) 8.5

Question 41

What is Forchhammer's principle? Give examples of the evidence which allowed Georg Forchhammer to develop this principle. How do residence times provide a foundation for this principle?

Question 42

Sodium and chloride are considered are considered to be nonconservative constituents which have long residence times in the ocean.

Question 43

Marine animals are unable to break down water molecules to acquire oxygen, but marine plants can produce enough carbon dioxide to support its own metabolism.

Question 44

What is the difference between major constituents, minor constituents, and trace elements? What are some examples of each?

Question 45

Carbon dioxide is abundant near the surface due to the photosynthesis activities of plants.

Question 46

Long residence times are generally associated with elements that are considered to be nonconservative constituents.

Question 47

What is the general behavior of pH in seawater? What affect can pH levels at various depths?

Question 48

How is the ocean a reservoir for carbon? How is the carbon dioxide able to re-enter oceanic and atmospheric cycles?

Question 49

How do ions alter the properties of seawater in comparison to freshwater properties?

Question 50

A higher level of pH is associated with more hydrogen ions.