Deck 17: Prologue: The History of Oceanography

Question 1

The Challenger Expedition circumnavigated the world.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The Phoenicians engaged in extensive trading voyages in the Mediterranean Sea and even circumnavigated Africa.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Compass bearings are indicated on portolano charts.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Oceanography may be described as a collection of basic sciences that are applied to the sea.

Question 5

The Glomar Challenger was a ship built to duplicate the original Challenger cruise.

Question 6

Matthew F. Maury produced the first published atlas of sea conditions and sailing directions.

Question 7

Ferdinand Magellan's ship was the first vessel to circumnavigate Earth.

Question 8

Early Arab sailors understood the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean and used them in their trading voyages.

Question 9

Matthew F. Maury's systematic collection of wind and current data and the resulting current charts of the North Atlantic shortened sailing times.

Question 10

The Polynesians used many navigational aids to accomplish long open ocean voyages.

Question 11

Sailors were able to find longitude at sea before they could measure latitude.

Question 12

The first person to circumnavigate Earth was Amerigo Vespucci.

Question 13

The Scandinavian oceanographer, Fridtjof Nansen, studied the Arctic Ocean on board the specially designed vessel, Fram.

Question 14

John Harrison solved the problem of accurate time-keeping at sea.

Question 15

The first information about the oceans was gathered by sailors on extended sea voyages.

Question 16

The modern science of Oceanography is dated from the Challenger Expedition.

Question 17

A portolano is a harbor finding chart.

Question 18

Viking voyages to North America are believed to predate Columbus' voyage to the new world.

Question 19

Eratosthenes' estimate of Earth's circumference wasn't even close to being correct.

Question 20

Benjamin Franklin measured the salt content of seawater to map the position of the Gulf Stream.

Question 21

Keeping accurate time at sea is necessary to make

A) measurements of latitude.
B) measurements of longitude.
C) measurements of latitude and measurements of longitude.
D) accurate maps.
E) measurements of longitude and accurate maps.

Question 22

Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) was most famous for

A) his voyage around Africa.
B) providing charts for Christopher Columbus.
C) sailing around the world with Magellan.
D) founding and teaching navigation, astronomy and cartography.
E) None of these are correct.

Question 23

Oceanography is considered an interdisciplinary science.

Question 24

Captain James Cook (1728-79)

A) made three voyages to chart the Pacific Ocean and its islands.
B) used John Harrison's chronometer to produce accurate charts.
C) circumnavigated the globe.
D) was killed on the island of Hawaii.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 25

The earliest recorded explorations of the sea took place in the

A) Arctic Ocean.
B) Western Atlantic Ocean.
C) Mediterranean Sea.
D) South Pacific Ocean.
E) Indian Ocean.

Question 26

Ferdinand Magellan's expedition (1519-1522) was the first to

A) circumnavigate the world.
B) visit Australia.
C) sail around Africa.
D) visit Australia and sail around Africa.
E) circumnavigate the world, visit Australia, and sail around Africa.

Question 27

The voyages of Christopher Columbus were an effort to

A) find a westward route to the East Indies.
B) explore the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
C) map the coastline of Africa.
D) search for gold and other treasure.
E) None of these are correct.

Question 28

Satellites allow measurement of world-wide oceanic surface features.

Question 29

Expeditions led by Prince Henry, of the 15^th Century, moved slowly because Mariners believed that waters at the equator were at the boiling point and contained sea monsters that could engulf ships.

Question 30

The main purpose of the Challenger Expedition was to find new fishing areas for England.

Question 31

The first world atlas was produced by

A) the Vikings.
B) the Greek, Ptolemy.
C) Christopher Columbus.
D) Ferdinand Magellan.
E) Captain James Cook.

Question 32

Fridtjof Nansen froze the vessel, Fram, into the ice to explore

A) the current system of the Arctic.
B) the current systems of the Antarctic Ocean.
C) the fishing potential of the Arctic Ocean.
D) the Earth's magnetic field.
E) the current system of the Arctic and the fishing potential of the Arctic Ocean.

Question 33

The primary advancement of the Middle Ages was knowledge of navigation.

Question 34

The drilling ships, Glomar Challenger and Joides Resolution have been used

A) to study wave and tide patterns in deep water.
B) as platforms for submarines and submersibles.
C) to identify areas for deep-sea mining.
D) to study Earth's crust beneath the sea.
E) as platforms for submarines and submersibles and to identify areas for deep-sea mining.

Question 35

The Venerable Bede (671-715) illustrated his account of tides with data from

A) the Phoenicians.
B) the Vikings.
C) along the British coast.
D) Arab translations of Greek studies.
E) Dutch charts.

Question 36

Which of the following programs and projects have been important to the advancement of oceanography?

A) Deep Sea/Ocean Drilling Programs
B) World Ocean Circulation Experiment
C) International Decade of Ocean Exploration
D) Atomic Energy Commission
E) All of these are correct.

Question 37

In the years 1577-80 Francis Drake (1540-96)

A) circumnavigated the world.
B) visited the west coast of the U.S.
C) attacked and plundered Spanish ships.
D) circumnavigated the world and visited the west coast of the U.S.
E) circumnavigated the world, visited the west coast of the U.S, and attacked and plundered Spanish ships.

Question 38

The Vikings were highly accomplished seamen, exploring

A) the Mediterranean Sea.
B) Iceland.
C) Greenland.
D) inland rivers into Russia and Central Europe.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 39

English Biologist, Thomas Henry Huxley discovered, in samples of deep sea sediments, a primordial ooze from which all other life forms evolved.

Question 40

John Harrison became famous as the clock maker who sailed with the Challenger Expedition.

Question 41

Which of the following was the last to be explored and populated in the Pacific and Indian Ocean Basins?

A) New Zealand
B) Easter Island
C) The Hawaiian Islands
D) Sumatra
E) Madagascar

Question 42

The people who first explored and populated the Pacific and Indian Ocean Basins are known as the

A) Micronesians.
B) Aleutians.
C) Paleocians.
D) Austronesians.
E) Melanesians.

Question 43

Place the following explorers/groups in the correct chronological order of their exploration from earliest to most recent:

A) Polynesians, Ferdinand Magellan, James Cook, Vikings
B) Polynesians, James Cook, Vikings, Ferdinand Magellan
C) Ferdinand Magellan, Polynesians, Vikings, James Cook
D) Polynesians, Vikings, Ferdinand Magellan, James Cook
E) Vikings, Polynesians, James Cook, Ferdinand Magellan

Question 44

Who was the first of the European explorers to cross the Isthmus of Panama and thereby discover the Pacific Ocean?

A) Francis Drake
B) Vaco Núñez de Balboa
C) William Baffin
D) Juan Ponce de León
E) Fedinand Magellan

Question 45

SeaWIFS is a

A) new multinational research vessel.
B) program designed to interest students in becoming oceanographers.
C) satellite with a color scanner that monitors distribution of plant life at the sea surface.
D) satellite that traces hurricanes and other ocean storms.
E) None of these are correct-it is an oceanography research vessel.

Question 46

The Global Ocean Observing system (GOOS) includes

A) research vessels.
B) satellites.
C) buoy networks.
D) satellites and buoy networks.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 47

The early migration of people from Asia into the Pacific and Indian Ocean Basins was relatively easy because

A) it is an area of warm-water currents.
B) the prevailing winds in the region are generally offshore.
C) the distance between islands is comparatively short.
D) the art of constructing large ships was highly developed.
E) there was great incentive to engage in trade between cultures.

Question 48

The Chinese admiral Zheng He conducted seven voyages between 1405 and 1433 exploring

A) the western Pacific Ocean.
B) the central Pacific Ocean.
C) the Indian Ocean.
D) the Mediterranean Sea.
E) the western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

Question 49

The portolanos of the Middle Ages

A) were used to identify fishing areas.
B) illustrated tide levels through the year.
C) were specialized maps of wind directions.
D) were harbor finding charts.
E) were specialized charts of the waters around Portugal.

Question 50

Historians believe that seagoing ships of all kinds were probably derived from vessels built by

A) the Phoenicians.
B) the Vikings.
C) the Egyptians.
D) the British.
E) African Traders.

Question 51

The first scientific use of the echo sounder to measure ocean depths occurred during the Meteor expedition in the 1920s.

Question 52

WOCE (The World Ocean Circulation Experiment) studies the oceans with

A) computer models.
B) chemical tracers.
C) ships.
D) satellites.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 53

Large scale sea studies require that governments, universities, and national and international programs

A) set common goals.
B) have common priorities.
C) share program results.
D) All of these are correct.
E) None of these are correct-there are no such programs.

Question 54

The most significant advantage of satellite oceanography is that

A) more data can be taken more quickly at depth.
B) satellites are less expensive to use than research vessels.
C) the oceans are studied as a global system.
D) None of these are correct.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 55

Who was the first explorer to reach North America?

A) Pliny the Elder
B) Posidonius
C) Christopher Columbus
D) Leif Eriksson
E) Prince Henry the Navigator