Term
| Western Boundary Currents |
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Definition
hot, fast, deep
off east coasts of continents
move water towards poles
Gulf Stream is largest |
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Term
| Eastern Boundary Currents |
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Definition
cold, shallow, slow
off west coasts of continents
move water towards equator |
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Term
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Definition
closed circuit of flowing water; usually 4 currents combined
there are 6 of them |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
flow from east-->west
near equator |
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Term
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Definition
| wave moving through water that is less than half its wavelength deep |
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Term
capillary wave
a. disturbing force:
b. restoring force:
c. wavelength |
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Definition
a. wind
b. cohesion of H20 molecules
c. up to 1.72 cm |
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Term
wind wave
a. disturbing force:
b. restoring force:
c. wavelength |
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Definition
a. wind over ocean
b. gravity
c. 60-150m |
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Term
seiche
a. disturbing force:
b. restoring force
c. wavelength |
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Definition
a. change in atmospheric pressure, storm surge, tsunami
b. gravity
c. large, variable (a function of ocean basin size) |
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Term
seismic sea wave (tsunami)
a. disturbing force:
b. restoring force
c: wavelength |
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Definition
a. faulting of seafloor, volcanic eruption, landslide
b. gravity
c. 200 km (125 mi) |
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Term
Tides
a. disturbing force:
b. restoring force
c: wavelength: |
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Definition
a. gravitational attraction, rotation of Earth
b. Gravity
c. Half Earth's circumference |
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Term
| What is relationship between wavelength and speed? |
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Definition
the longer the wavelength, the faster the speed
C=L/T |
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Term
| Which ocean wave moves fastest? |
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Definition
| Tides (because they have longest wavelength) |
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Term
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Definition
| # of waves passing point A each second |
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Term
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Definition
| time required for wave crest at point A to reach point B |
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Term
| World's largest ocean basin is: |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| uninterrupted distance wind blows over the ocean to generate a wind wave |
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Term
| What is a tsunami like in open sea away from land? |
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Definition
| ocean rises a few feet and falls a few feet, but you'd never sense it |
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Term
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Definition
-occur every other week when earth, moon and sun form a straight line
-characterized by high high tides and low low tides |
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Term
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Definition
-the time of smallest variation between high and low tides occurring when Earth, moon and sun align at right angles;
-alternate with spring tides, occurring at two week intervals |
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Term
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Definition
| a wave stimulated by a high tide being squeezed by a funnel-shaped river mouth into a breaking wave that runs up the river |
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Term
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Definition
| accumulation of sediment, runs parallel to shore, marks normal limit of sand deposition by wave action |
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Term
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Definition
| highest point on a beach, corresponds to shoreward limit of wave action during high tides |
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Term
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Definition
| movement of sand, parallel to shore, driven by incomplete wave refraction |
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Term
| Where did sand on Newport Beach come from? |
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Definition
| Local mountains; may take 10,000 yrs for grain of eroding granite to travel down santa ana from big bear to newport beach |
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Term
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Definition
| a system that can capture, store and transit energy |
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Term
| What happens when sunlight hits a plant? |
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Definition
| When sunlight hits a plant, the plant uses energy to bond 6 atoms of carbon (in CO2) into a 6-carbon sugar (glucose) |
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Term
| When did life begin on earth? |
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Definition
- 4 billion yrs ago
- very soon after ocean's temperature fell below the boiling point |
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Term
What is DNA used for?
ATP?
water?
glucose? |
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Definition
DNA: genetic molecule
ATP: immediate energy source
water: solution matrix
glucose: intermediate energy source |
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Term
| What does "commonality" mean when describing life on earth? |
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Definition
- common origin
- all life on earth has same biochemistry |
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Term
| What was the earliest life on earth? |
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Definition
| DNA able to self-replicate |
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Term
| Were the first living things similar to living things today? |
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Definition
| No. They had no cells, no organelles. |
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Term
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Definition
| multicellular organism that is unable to synthesize its own food and often capable of movement |
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Term
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Definition
| 600-900 million years ago |
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Term
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Definition
- an organism that makes its own food by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis
- primary producer |
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Term
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Definition
- catastrophic interruption of life on earth; has occurred at least six times in the last 450 million
- could be caused by asteroid or comet |
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Term
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Definition
| an organism capable of using energy from light or energy-rich chemicals in the environment to produce energy-rich organic compounds |
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Term
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Definition
break-even depth
glucose production = glucose consumption |
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Term
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Definition
| drifting or weakly swimming organisms in water |
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Term
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Definition
| plant-like, single-celled plankton, producers |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| spend only part of their life drifting |
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Term
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Definition
permanent members of the plankton communty
ex: diatoms and cocopods |
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Term
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Definition
| glass shell with perforations; modern/recently evolved; sophisticated and efficient biochemistry (55%) |
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Term
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Definition
| cellulose shell; ancient; primitive biochemistry; cause red tides |
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Term
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Definition
east-west or west-east current linking eastern and western boundary currents
ex: North Equatorial current |
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