Oceans cover approximately __________ percent of the Earth's surface.

30
50
70
90


The height of an ocean wave increases as _________ .

the wind speed increases
the wind blows for longer times
the distance over which the wind flows over the water increases
all of these


The distance between two wave crests is called the ___________ .

wavelength
wave height
throw
period


Waves cause small particles floating on the surface to move in _________ .

horizontal elliptical orbits
vertical elliptical orbits
horizontal circular orbits
vertical circular orbit


The orbital motion of water particles due to surface waves stops at a depth _________ .

of about twice the wavelength
equal to the wavelength
of about one-half of the wavelength
of about one-tenth the wavelength


Waves run up onto the beach forming a _________, and run back down as ________.

swash ... backwash
wave ... swash
front swash ... retroswash
wave ... backwash


As waves approach a beach, the rows of waves gradually bend to a direction more parallel to the short. This change in direction is called ___________ .

longshore drift
swash
tidal surge
wave refraction


____________ refers to the movement of sand grains along the beach.

Wave refraction
Turbidity current
Longshore drift
Ebb tide


How many high tides are there in a day?

1
2
3
4


What causes the tides?

wind
seismicity
ocean currents
gravity


A tsunami is ______________ .

a tidal surge caused by a storm
a large wave caused by an undersea event
an earthquake which causes a large wave
an undersea landslide


The muddy or sandy areas that are exposed during low tide, but are flooded at high tide are called ________ .

estuaries
tidal flats
surf zones
passive margins


Which of the following landforms are caused by wave erosion?

barrier islands
stacks
estuaries
submarine canyons


A coastal body of water connected to the ocean and supplied with fresh water from a river is a(n) __________ .

river
atoll
spit
estuary


Deep valleys eroded into the continental slope and shelf are called __________ .

estuaries
submarine canyons
oceanic trenches
abyssal valleys


Where is the ocean floor deepest?

in rift valleys
in the abyssal plain
in submarine canyons
in oceanic trenches


At what plate boundary setting is the ocean floor deepest?

divergent
subduction
continent - continent collision
transform


Which of the following is an active continental margin?

the east coast of North America
the Gulf Coast of Texas
the west coast of South America
the west coast of Africa


What type of currents erode and deposit fine-grained sediments on the continental slope and rise?

tidal currents
turbidity currents
longshore currents
river currents


Large fan-shaped deposits of fine-grained sediments that accumulate on the continental rise are called __________ .

submarine fans
atolls
alluvial fans
spits


Most volcanic activity on the seafloor takes place on ________ .

continental shelves
abyssal plains
continental rises
mid-ocean ridges


Black smokers are enriched in ___________ .

carbon dioxide and metals
dissolved hydrogen sulfide and metals
oxygen and metals
nitrogen and metals


Pelagic sediments ___________ .

are fine-grained
are deposited far from continental margins
settle very slowly to the seafloor
all of these


Pelagic sediments consist of ___________ .

reddish-brown clays derived from the continents
foraminiferal oozes
silica oozes
all of these


The shells of diatoms and radiolaria, which accumulate on the abyssal plain, are composed of ____________ .

calcium carbonate
sodium chloride
iron sulfide
silica


Ripples in the ocean grow to full-sized waves when the wind reaches a speed of about ______ per hour.

3 meters
30 meters
3 kilometers
30 kilometers




In this diagram, the wavelength is the distance ________.

A - B
A - C
A - D
3A - E


In this diagram, the distance F to H is called the ________.

crest height
trough height
wave height
total displacement


Which of the following equations correctly relates the velocity (V) to the wavelength (L) and period (T)?

V = L * T
V = L/T
V = L+T
V = L-T


When a wave gets close to shore, water particles near the bottom move in ______ orbits.

circular
elliptical
irregular
rectangular


The surf zone lies in the ______ part of the beach.

offshore
foreshore
backshore
all of these




The area labeled X is called the __________.

foreshore
surf zone
swash zone
backshore


The area labeled Y is called the __________.

foreshore
surf zone
swash zone
backshore


The area labeled X and Y is called the __________.

foreshore
surf zone
swash zone
backshore


If sand input is greater than sand output in a beach's sand budget, the beach will ________.

be long, wide and sandy
have large sand dunes
have a large tidal flat
have high cliffs


Planar rocky surfaces that form in the surf zone as a result of wave erosion are called ________.

stacks
backshores
wave-cut terraces
barrier islands


What do we call long offshore sandbars

stacks
estuaries
dorks
barrier islands


Sea-level changes by geologic studies of _________.

stacks
estuaries
wave-cut terraces
beaches




The Topographic Profile of the Atlantic Ocean from New England to the Mid-Ocean Ridge

The area W is called the __________.

abyssal plain
continental slope
shoreline
continental shelf


The area X is called the __________.

ocean trough
continental slope
shoreline
continental rise


The area Y is called the __________.

ocean trough
continental slope
shoreline
continental rise


The area Z is called the __________.

abyssal plain
continental slope
shoreline
continental rise


The Mid-Atlantic Ridge would stand __________ the abyssal plain

above
beneath
at the same elevation as
could be all of the above


A seamount is _________

a coral reef above a submerged volcano
a small rise in the seafloor
an extinct submerged volcano
a hill adjacent to a spreading center


Turbidity currents are most likely to be found __________.

where rivers empty into oceans
on the continental slope
on the abyssal plains away from the continental rise
on the continental rise


Superheated water approximately _______ degrees centigrade spouts from the hot springs on the East Pacific Rise

4
40
400
4000


A volume of seawater equal to the volume of the oceans cycles through submarine hydrothermal systems roughly every _________.

year
5,000 years
10 million years
one billion years

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