OCE 1001

Fall 2023
Exam 3
Study Guide

This study guide is NOT a graded assignment.

These questions are tools to review key concepts for chapters 9-12. Please note that the exam
questions are a subset of the homework questions, and this study guide is NOT SUFFICIENT
for preparing for the exam alone.

Chapter 9:

 Tides occur because of forces involved between Earth and which two objects in our solar

system?

o Which type of force explains the attraction between Earth and the moon?

o Which object exerts more force on Earth’s tides? Is this because of it’s size or it’s

distance from Earth?

 What are tidal bulges, and how is the tidal period between them affected by the lunar

day?

o Is the lunar day longer or shorter than a solar day? By how much?
 o Why does a tidal bulge occur on the opposite side of the earth from the moon?

 When the tides appear to move water towards the shore, it is called the _____ tide. When

the tides appear to move water away from the shore, it is called the ____ tide.

 Spring tides have nothing to do with the season of the same name, instead they are caused

by phases of the moon. During which phases do spring tides occur, and what differences

in the tide are observed during these phases?

o How often do spring tides occur?

 Study figure 9.12. Which phase follows a new moon? Which phase follows a full moon?

 What is a blue moon? How often do they occur?

 Briefly summarize the three different types of tidal patterns.

o Which is the most common worldwide? HINT: It occurs twice in figure 9.19.
  The maximum tidal currents occur approximately when during the tidal cycle?

Chapter 10:

 The size (and composition) of particles on a given beach is related to

_________________________________________.

 Which term defines the part of the shore that migrates back and forth with the tide?

 Describe the difference between a summertime and wintertime beach? How are each of

these formed?

o Use the terms swash and berm in your answer.

 How is sediment supplied to coasts? Hint: there are THREE main sources.

 Define rip currents.

 What is a delta?
 Which features are associated with depositional shores? Erosional shores?

 What are emerging and submerging coastlines? Give an example of each from the U.S.

 What are jetties and groins? Compare and contrast them.

 Seawalls SEEM like a good idea to protect coastal human infrastructure, however,

seawalls lead to steepened erosion on the _______ side of the wall, eventually destroying

the beach and hastening the destruction of the very structures they were built to protect.

 Estuaries are one of the most economically important coastal features. What are the four

major types of estuaries, and how did they form (specifically, what is their geologic

origin?)

 Estuaries have unique properties that make them important sites for humans, animals, and

biogeochemical processes. The balance between humans and these ecosystems, however,
 is easily disrupted. In the Chesapeake Bay in particular, what anthropogenic change kills

many benthic animals?

o This is also in issue in the Gulf of Mexico, causing many “dead zones” and

affecting the livelihoods of local fishery workers.

 How are most marginal seas formed?

 Describe how the temperature between surface and deeper water varies (or doesn’t) in

coastal oceans in a) high-latitude, b) middle-latitude, and c) low-latitude regions.

 Which ecosystem is defined as having a water table close to the surface that results in

frequent or constant saturation? Hint: they are also sometimes defined by the presence of

hydric soils and inundation-adapted plant species.

o Human activities have already caused the degradation and loss of many of these

ecosystems, but future sea level rise is anticipated to destroy ___ % of those
 remaining in the United States. This is a huge problem, because these ecosystems

have been described as acting as the lungs or kidneys of the land, removing

harmful nutrient pollution and even heavy metals/other pollutants! They also

provide natural buffers against hurricanes and other destructive coastal processes.

This loss will affect not only marine ecosystems, but human health, coastal

infrastructure, and local economies!

Chapter 11:

 What is the WHO definition of marine pollution?

o Oil and acids can occur naturally in the ocean from offshore seeps. Are these

considered to be pollutants?

 Acid rain results from which specific acid pollutant, released largely as a waste product

from industrial production? Fun fact: it is also present in relatively small amounts in

vehicle exhaust.

 What is the largest source of mercury pollution?

 This removal of this chemical from widespread use in the United States occurred partly

as a result of public awareness of its harm to bald eagles, but it also caused major

population declines in offshore birds like pelicans and ospreys. What was it?

 When we think about oil pollution in the ocean, we think about large oiling events like

the Exxon-Valdez spill. However, most of this type of pollution comes from normal

shipping operations and ___________ from cities.

 The world’s largest oil spill is also considered by some to be an act of environmental

terrorism! What was it?

 What are the two techniques widely accepted as the best options for cleaning up an oil

spill, especially when considering potential effects from cleaning efforts on the whole

affected environment?

 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are important “emerging” pollutants with many

aromatic rings. They are often carcinogenic or otherwise toxic to humans and other

animals (like benzene, toluene, and naphthalene, the last of which used to be the main

active ingredient of moth balls). Are all hydrocarbons also polycyclic aromatic

hydrocarbons?

o Fish exposed to PAHs from crude oil have been observed to experience changes

in ______________________, which cause abnormalities in development,

increased embryo mortality, and affect reproduction.

 In the last chapter, we talked about how fertilizer runoff can result in oxygen depletion

and cause marine life die-offs. They can also cause harmful _______ blooms, which can

lead to oxygen depletion, but can also cause the contamination of seafood products and

result in human illness and death.

 The majority of debris in the ocean comes from which type of trash?

o Does the majority of this debris sink or remain at the ocean surface?

 Which two single-use items are most commonly encountered by beachgoers?

 Perhaps the most visible impact of plastics in the ocean is the significant biological

damage from large plastic waste, like packing straps and six-pack rings. How do these

endanger marine life?

 Biological pollutants, also called invasive species, are significant problems because they

often lack _____________________ in the environments they are introduced into.

 Some marine pollutants are biodegradable. Name some that are, and some that are not.
  While marine pollution is a systemic issue, individual people can take action to help

mitigate pollution. What are some things you might do to reduce your individual impact

on marine pollution?

o Exam Hint: the test answer bank includes one poorly worded answer choice that

can imply “reusing” a plastic straw. This is not the intended interpretation and

refers to using single-use disposable plastic straws.

 Is skimming the ocean for floating trash a viable solution to plastic pollution? Think

about the environmental and economic costs of operating boats in general, and the fate of

retrieved debris.

Chapter 12:

 Bacteria are single-celled organisms. How do bacterial cells differ from the cells of

animals and plants?

 Archaea are often extremophiles. Where might they be found in the ocean?
 Fungi are surprisingly abundant in marine ecosystems, usually existing symbiotically

with cyanobacteria and algae. Which of the six kingdoms of organisms is most POORLY

represented in the ocean?

 What is the most important factor that determines the distribution of marine life?

 Using the Linnean classification system, what is the most specific grouping level that

humans share with dolphins and whales?

 Which group of animals has the largest number of species on Earth?

 How do we distinguish phytoplankton from zooplankton?

o The majority of Earth’s biomass is represented by which type of plankton?

 Zooplankton migrate vertically in the water column throughout the day. Why do they do

this? What are the benefits of this behavior?

 We can also classify plankton based on their life cycle. How do we distinguish

holoplankton from meroplankton?

 And by size! How do we distinguish macroplankton from picoplankton?

 What are infauna?

 Crabs live primarily on the ocean bottom, but can “swim” above the ocean floor to seek

out new food sources or escape predators. What term would we use to describe these

types of organisms?

 What are some advantages to being small as a marine organism?

 The ocean is salty! Marine animals have tissues adapted to the salinity of the ocean. The

body fluid of most marine invertebrates is __________ to ocean water, which causes no

net movement of water molecules between their tissues and their environment.

Movement of water to or from your tissues to your environment is a bad thing, causing

your cells to either burst or dangerously shrink!

o Coastal organisms that can tolerate large variations in salinity are known as

____haline.

 Differences in water temperature generally result in physiological differences in warm-

and cold-water species. Compare and contrast the following between warm and cold

waters, which are all features directly caused by differences in temperature.

 o The size of floating organisms.

o The growth speed and life expectancy of organisms.

o The plumage of copepods (and other organisms!)

o The frequency and timing of reproduction.

 What is the minimum amount of dissolved oxygen needed by most fish for long-term

survival?

o Non-test related question for your general understanding of oceanography: think

about how this relates to nutrient-related oxygen depletion in coastal waters from

the previous chapters.

 A scientist is identifying organisms observed during a marine survey. They observe an

animal with a relatively small body and an extremely large mouth filled with very sharp

teeth. Which ocean zone was this animal most likely encountered?
 Which zone is home to the most phytoplankton? Why?

o Why is buoyancy so important to phytoplankton in relation to this?

 The highest levels of nutrients in the ocean are also found in the zone with a dissolved

oxygen minimum layer. What is this zone?

 The continental shelf is home to waters that are generally shallow. This means that these

waters are generally within the _______ province, within the __________ zone, and have

abundant light leading to high productivity.