3.10.2: Chapter Questions
- Page ID
- 45958
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Study Questions
- Why do we still know less, in some ways, about the floor of the oceans than we do about the surface of the moon?
- What are the principal difficulties encountered in determining ocean depth and mapping the seafloor?
- Why do oceanographers still use many different types of sampling equipment to obtain samples from the seafloor?
- If you were designing a sampler to obtain samples of water from deep in the oceans, what factors would you need to consider?
- Why do we believe there are many species of marine animals living in the deep sea that have never been seen or sampled?
- Do you think manned submersibles are necessary for ocean study? Explain your answer. Describe the types of studies for which they are most useful.
- Will satellites ever completely replace research vessels? Why or why not?
- Why is accurate navigation important to ocean studies? Discuss the reasons.
- What methods are used to obtain information about the sediments on and below the seafloor?
- What methods are used to obtain information about the chemistry of and organisms living in the water column of the deep oceans?
- Why is it easier to study ocean sediments than to study ocean water chemistry or organisms that live in the deep-ocean water column?
Critical Thinking Questions
- The process of lowering and retrieving instruments to the ocean floor often takes much longer than is planned at a particular site. What might be some of the reasons for such delays?
- You are planning the deployment, lowering, and retrieval of an instrument package to sample the seafloor in the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean. How do you decide where to sample, and what do you need to do to ensure that the samples are taken at this precise location?
- You are shown an instrument package that weighs several hundred pounds and is sitting on the deck of a research ship. You are told to deploy the package from the ship, lowering it to the seafloor, at a depth of 2 km. What do you need in order to do this, and how can you arrange to do this safely if the ship is in an area of strong wave action?
- Before reading this chapter, did you know that the pressure changes associated with space travel are much less than those associated with travel into the depths of the oceans? Besides pressure changes, what other challenges can you think of that travel in space and in the deep oceans have in common?
- Many oceanographers who first saw the Heezen and Tharp world ocean floor map in the 1970s and 1980s felt that they were being introduced to an entirely new planet. Why was this so? When did you first see a map of the ocean floor such as this? Why do you think many people are still completely unaware that there are long mountain chains on the ocean floor?
- Suppose you are looking for the lost city of Atlantis, which, according to legend, sank beneath the waves. You have been told the approximate geographic location of Atlantis. What information do you need to select a sampling device that is capable of locating the city?
- A research paper published in 1970 reported that the concentrations of several trace metals (zinc, copper, and iron) in North Atlantic Ocean waters appear to vary within a narrow range, but also appear to vary randomly with depth and location. Should you believe these data? What would you look for in the research paper to help you decide?
- A grab sampler is lowered to the seafloor at a location that has never before been sampled, and it comes back closed but empty. What are the possible reasons for this result?
- Undoubtedly, there are many species presently unknown to science that live in the deep oceans. It has been speculated that most of these are free-swimming in the water column and do not live sedentary lives in or on the sediment. Do you think this is a reasonable hypothesis? Why or why not?