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Oceanography

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8 views18 pages

Oceanography

Uploaded by

mszbhksn5x
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Oceanography

Ocean Facts
❖ A dynamic system in which many
chemical and physical changes take
place
❖ Formed over millions of years as
precipitation filled low areas on
Earth called basins and now covers
70% of the Earth’s surface
Ocean facts continued…
❖ Major mechanism of energy transfer in the
oceans, atmosphere, and the earth’s interior
is CONVECTION CURRENTS!
❖ Largest heat storage on earth.
❖Stored heat drives much of the earth’s weather
and causes the climate near the ocean to be
milder than climates that are at the interior of
continents.
❖ Example: Our daily temperature here verses
VA beach temperature
Composition
❖ 96.5% Water and 3.5%
salt
❖ Salts such as:
Na, Cl, S, Mg & Ca
❖ Salinity: measure of the
amount of dissolved solids
in seawater
❖ Hydrometer: instrument used to measure
salinity
❖ Desalination: process by which salts is
removed from ocean water to make
freshwater
Ocean Currents
❖ Mass Movement of ocean water
❖ Large current systems in the oceans that
carry warm water toward the poles and
cold water towards the equator.
❖ 3 Types
❖ Surface Currents: water that moves
horizontally powered by wind, current
curves due to the coriolis effect
❖ Density/ Deep Currents: movement of
water due to differences in density
❖ Upwelling: brings cold, nutrient-rich
water from the deep ocean to the
surface creating areas of rich biological
activity
What is El Nino?
⚫El Nino occurs when the trade winds slow or
stop.
⚫Causes a reversal in ocean currents and a
build up of warm water off the coast of South
America.
Ocean Waves:
❖ Rhythmic movement that carries energy
through water
❖Generated by wind, as wind speeds increase
so does the wave height
❖ Breaker: a wave that collapses on the shore
Tides
❖ Daily periodic rise and fall of the water level
(4x)
❖ Caused by gravitational pull of the moon and
sun on Earth’s water
❖ Tidal range: difference between the high tide
water level and the low tide water level
❖ Spring vs. neap tide
Tidal Range Example
Ocean Floor
❖ Topography of the ocean floor is as
variable as the continents.
❖ Some features of the ocean floor are
related to plate tectonics.
Parts of the ocean floor

🗉 Continental Margin (Contintental shelf, Continental


slope, continental rise)
🗉 Abyssal plain
🗉 Mid-ocean ridge
🗉 Seamount (underwater volcano)
🗉 Guyot
🗉 Trench
Shorelines
⮚ Rocky
⮚ Sandy beach
shorelines
⮚ Barrier
Islands
Oceans are environmentally and
Economically important!
▪ Important source of food
▪ Important source of oxygen (O2)
▪ Estuaries, like the Chesapeake Bay, are areas
where fresh and salt water mix, producing
variations in salinity and wildlife
▪ The ocean resources are finite (not that
many) and should be utilized (used) with
care.
Our impact on the Oceans
⮚ Human activities affect the oceans
⮚ Fishing: Effects food webs and reduces numbers of
other organisms that rely on other organisms as
food/ prey
⮚ Polluting the Bay: If we pollute, those pollutants no
matter how far away or no matter how inland will
eventually get to the oceans and effect the
ecosystems there as well as our availability of
freshwater in the process.
⮚ Offshore drilling: Effects benthos (bottom dwelling)
organisms as well as if there are spills which usually
occur on a small scale it can affect plankton and
other microscopic organisms numbers which also
negatively impact oceanic food chains.
⮚ This can also affect us by impacting the fishing industry,
Processes taking place
in the oceans
⮚ Photosynthesis: sea grass and other
plants creating oxygen and providing
food
⮚ Respiration: process in which oxygen
combines with food so the energy in
food can be used.
⮚ Chemosynthesis: process in which
bacteria produce food and oxygen by
dissolving chemicals
Ocean life zones
⮚ Plankton: small or microscopic
organisms (usually in top layer)
⚫ Diatoms, Krill

⮚ Nekton: larger animals which swim


⮚ Fish, turtles, whales
⮚ Benthos: bottom
dwellers
⮚ Corals, Snails,
Sea Urchins

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