OCEAN 102 Practice Midterm Exam Questions with All Correct Answers

OCEAN 102 Practice Midterm Exam Questions with All Correct Answers Extreme weather threatens human health in all of the following ways except: a) Extreme weather events can lead to fatalities. b) Fires caused by extreme weather events can lead to poor air quality. c) Extreme weather events can lead to increases in the spread of disease. d) Extreme weather events can threaten the availability of pristine drinking water. e) Extreme weather events can lead to increases in food supply. - Answer-e) Extreme weather events can lead to increases in food supply. Economic disaster losses are ____________ in developed countries and fatalities are ____________ in developing countries. Fill in the blanks with the best word choices from the list below. a) lower; lower b) higher; higher c) higher; lower d) lower; higher - Answer-b) higher; higher True or False: The top few meters of the ocean store as much heat as Earth's entire atmosphere. a) True b) False - Answer-a) True True or False: As Earth has warmed over the last century, the oceans have absorbed most of that heat. a) True b) False - Answer-a) True Specific heat is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise ____ of a substance by ____. Fill in the blanks with the best word choice from the list below. a) 10 grams; 100 degrees Celsius b) 100 calories; 10 degrees Fahrenheit c) 1 gram; 1 degree Celsius d) 1 calorie;1 degree Fahrenheit e) 1 degree Celsius; 1 calorie - Answer-c) 1 gram; 1 degree Celsius Why does ice float on water? a) Ice is more dense than liquid water. b) Ice is less dense than liquid water. c) Ice is heavier than liquid water. d) Ice is colder than liquid water. - Answer-b) Ice is less dense than liquid water. In the tropics, high evaporation of water from the surface of the ocean causes surface waters to become ____________ salty and _________ dense. Fill in the blanks with the best word choice from the list below. a) more; more b) more; less c) less; more d) less; less - Answer-a) more; more Thermohaline circulation is driven by changes in: a) Specific heat and temperature b) Temperature and salinity c) Salinity and specific heat d) Wind and salinity e) Wind and temperature - Answer-b) Temperature and salinity Why does deep water form at the poles? a) The volume of the water decreases as it is cooled. b) Water becomes less saline as ice forms. c) There is nowhere for the water to go but down. d) The water becomes lighter as it in cooled by ice. e) The water becomes more dense as it is cooled by the atmosphere. - Answer-e) The water becomes more dense as it is cooled by the atmosphere. Which of the following does not contribute to the sinking of surface waters in the North Atlantic? a) Cooling winds b) Evaporation c) Low air temperatures d) Rainfall e) Sea ice formation - Answer-d) Rainfall On average, how long does it take for a parcel of water to travel around the world as part of the global conveyor belt? a) About 700-1000 years b) About 70-100 days c) Exactly 70-100 years d) About 10 years e) There is no flow of water from one ocean basin to another. - Answer-a) About 700-1000 years The global ocean conveyor belt could slow down if: a) sea ice formation increased b) global average temperatures continue to cool c) precipitation in the N. Atlantic continues to decrease d) large wind events continue e) a large influx of fresh water entered into the Atlantic from glacial melting - Answer-e) a large influx of fresh water entered into the Atlantic from glacial melting How was the MOC different during the last glacial period? a) faster than today b) slower than today c) no difference - Answer-b) slower than today All of the following are predicted by models of a future warmer world except: a) Decreasing sea level at the equator b) Greater warming at high latitudes than mid-latitudes c) Wetter tropics and poles d) Melting of polar ice e) Changes in the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water - Answer-a) Decreasing sea level at the equator