University of San Diego
                 Marine Science and Environmental Studies Department
MARS 120      Fall 2006
               INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
EXAM 1 Study Guide
Be able to define the following terms and use them correctly in the appropriate context:

lithosphere                                lithospheric plate                                   density layered earth
asthenosphere                           fossil record                                          seismicity
mid ocean ridge volcanism        oceanic arc volcanism                           linear mountain chain
divergent plate boundary           convergent plate boundary                    transform plate boundary
mid ocean ridge basalt              gabbro                                                 peridotite
oceanic crust                            upper mantle                                         marine sediment
seismic reflection profile            hypsographic curve                               age/depth profile
subduction zone                        seamount                                              hot spot
fracture zone                             bathymetery                                          continental margin
passive continental margin         active continental margin                       continental shelf
continental slope                       continental rise                                      submarine canyon
deep sea fan                             abyssal plain                                         abyssal hill
lithogenous sediments                biogenous sediments                             hydrogenous sediments
cosmogenous sediments            sandstone                                             siltstone
shale (claystone)                       abyssal red clay                                    calcareous ooze
coccolith                                   foraminifera                                          chalk
limestone                                  carbonate compensation depth              siliceous ooze
diatom                                      radiolarian                                            phytoplankton
zooplankton                              upwelling                                              fecal pellet       
manganese nodule                     hydrothermal sediments                        black smoker
tektite                                       meteorite                                              evaporite        

Be able to identify on a map the following sea floor features:

  1. global distribution of modern earthquakes
  2. global distribution of modern volcanoes
  3. age distribution of oceanic rocks
  4. distribution of magnetic polarity of oceanic basalt
  5. global distribution of marine sediments
  6. typical sea floor land forms (mid ocean ridges, trenches, fracture zones, abyssal plains)

 

 Be able to discuss the following concepts:

  1. Oceanography as an interdisciplinary study of ocean systems that utilizes all the natural sciences
  2. Plate Tectonics as a viable theory that explains the landforms observed on the sea floor and continental margins
  3. Evidence supporting Plate Tectonic theory
  4. Origin of particles that accumulate as marine sediments