Oceanography Essays (Examples)

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Where, sharp increases or decreases in the temperature could have an effect on the eco system. As any one of the vital pieces of the food system and their way of life; would have ripple effects based on slight changes in temperature. This has the possibility of setting off a mass extinction. (Garrison, 2008)
The obvious effect on land would be that humans depend on the ocean as a source of food. However, changes in the temperature of the ocean could have an effect on global temperatures. As sharp rises or decreases in temperature, could cause changes in the weather patterns. This is because the warmth of the ocean water will determine the overall severity of storms such as: hurricanes and cyclones (with both needing warm water to grow stronger). If the ocean temperature becomes to warm, it could cause these storms to become more serve. This would have a….

Oceanography
Comparing Approaches to the Carbon-Based Productivity odel: Assessing the Sensitivity of Remote Sensing-Derived Phytoplankton Productivity to ixed Layer Depth.

The purpose of this review is to compare approaches or variations of approaches that are being used to assess the sensitivity of phytoplankton productivity to mixed layer depth.

The challenge to clarifying controls on primary productivity and the related responses and feedbacks is a key objective of research on global change. In order to accomplish this, however, measurements of NPP and the quantification of its variability in space and time must be refined. Carvalho and Eyre (2012), for example, suggest that conventional approaches to OCR and CRR may be misleading. They propose methods for CRR and photosynthetic measurement that can more precisely measure the concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon in water. This paper will review broad variations of the carbon-based productivity model.

References

Behrenfeld, ., E. Boss, D. Siegel, and D. Shea (2005), Carbon-based ocean….


Calculate the distance from the mid-ocean ridge to each of the sites

The distance from the middle of the ocean ridge each of the different sites would include: 878 km for site 14; 556 km for site 15; 300 km for site 16; 711 km for site 17; 556 km for site 18; 1189 km for site 19 and 1522 km for site 20.

How many kilometers correspond to 1o?

900,000 km.

Where is the oldest sediment located? Why?

The oldest sediment is located at 21 degrees. The reason why is: because of the paleontological sentiment showing an age greater than 76 million years old.

Is this rate reasonable for sediment thickness vs. age of the first sediment?

The rate for the age of the sediment thickness of 1,000 cm, for every 1,000 cm years is to low. This is because the report said that there was a rate of change of 2 cm per year, which….

On January 11 at 3:00 AM, high tide reaches its first peak at 31.248 feet at high tide. The corresponding low tide of this same day hits at 10 am at around 3.517 feet. There is a dramatic difference between the two tides occurring twice a day. On that same day, the second round high tide is at a height of 29.588 at 5 pm, a lesser degree than the first tide -- but the low tide is still incredibly different, at 5.09 feet at 11 pm. Then around the 16, the tides move towards the more neutral disparity that was seen earlier in the month. Only to once again increase in disparity later on in the month, this shows a pattern of an increase twice a month.
New London

According to its location on the Eastern seaboard of the Atlantic Ocean, New London experiences a semi-diurnal tide. Further south than….

Oceanography
Diurnal tides are the daily ones, and have a single high tide and low tide, respectively, each day. Semidiurnal tides have two high tides and low tides each lunar day, both of which are always at the same height. Mixed tides are when there's two high tides and two low tides, but the high tides are at different heights and the low tides are at different heights.

Ocean depth and rotational velocity also influence the heights and times of tides at any given location.

Spring tides occur during full moons and new moons, and are the most extreme tides that affect the sway of the ocean's currents the most. These occur when the sun, the moon and the earth are aligned. This produces the highest high tide and the lowest low tide. The neap tide occurs during a crescent moon and during a three-quarters phase of the moon, and takes place due….

hey are responsible for transporting the heat from tropics to mid-latitudes. On the other hand, speed is said to be lower in the case of eastern currents (e.g. California Current) which transport cold water to the tropics where this is heated and pushed back to the poles by the western streams. Consequently, ocean surface currents help the Sun energy spread from the equator to the poles ((http://science.hq.nasa.gov/oceans/physical/OSC.html).
Swells, breaking surf, tsunami

Swells may be defined as "a long series of ocean waves, generally produced by wind, and lasting after the wind has ceased" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swell).hey may be generated thousand of miles away from the beach by tropical storms or wind systems. Such a genesis explains their higher stability in direction and frequency, and the major attractiveness that they exert on surfers. hus, swells are the so called wave trains which display considerable wavelength or period. his is a parameter measuring "the average….

It is difficult to assess to what extent these changes be contributed to global warming, however, due to the relatively short history of observation available to oceanographers. The events put forth in the Pentagon eport are a plausible scenario, although many scientists contest the events as something which is not likely to happen in the near future. There is every possibility though that if climate change continues due to global warming then at some point in the near future ocean currents may become affected in such a way as to stop.
eferences

Bryden, H.L., Longworth, H.. And Cunningham, S.A. (2005) Slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at 25°N. Nature, 438, 655-665.

Danovaro, ., Dell'Anno, a., Fabiano, M., Pusceddu, a. And Tselepides, a. (2001) Deep-sea ecosystem response to climate changes: the eastern Mediterranean case study. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 16(9), 505-510.

Hakkinen, S. And hines, P.B. (2004) Decline of subpolar North Atlantic….

SUVIVAL STATEGIES: BENTHIC VS. PELAGIC ZOOPLANKTON
Oceanography, Marine Organisms

Phytoplankton is the primary food source for most marine organisms, either directly or indirectly. Since phytoplankton converts sunlight into energy, in the form of carbohydrates, their habitat is necessarily confined to the upper pelagic layers. The organisms that feed on the phytoplankton, the zooplankton, are thus forced to either remain in the upper pelagic layers or migrate vertically between the upper and lower layers. An important functional division within zooplankton is the ability to actively travel from location to location (nekton) or simply drift with the ocean currents (plankton) (Miller, 2004, p. 111). Whether an organism can swim or not determines to a significant extent what survival strategies are utilized.

Benthic Zone

Since plankton can't evade predators they rely on more passive defense mechanisms. Gastropods grow hard shells with narrow openings or elaborate sharp spines, and microalgae restrict the production of digestible structural material to….

Earth's Ocean Surface Current Patterns And How They Are Produced
The major ocean surface currents vary in speed, size, and depth by location, but generally help to dictate much of the weather patterns coming from the ocean's surface. This is due to the transfer of heat from one location to another on the planet. These current patterns create larger swirls of mixing currents in some locations called gyres. One of the largest gyres in the world, the Pacific Gyre is located in the waters between the cost of California and Hawai'i (McWilliams and estrepo, 1999). In other locations, currents form a connective band of moving water between oceans and seas where creatures are carried. Many of these currents mix downward and influence deeper currents as well (Mills, 2011).

Surface currents move and are created by the sun due to unequal heating of the Earth's surface. More specifically, these patterns are produced primarily….

Fact Sheet Oceanography
PAGES 4 WORDS 1046

Harmful Algal Blooms
Weather events can impact ocean conditions in a variety of different manners. First, extreme events like hurricanes, coastal storms, and floods can physically transport organisms from part of the ocean to another part of the ocean, causing the type of disruption that leads to a harmful algal bloom. Second, extreme weather conditions like El ino and La ina can cause temperature changes that impact growing conditions in the ocean.

Ocean nutrients play a role in algal blooms because the blooms occur when nutrients are sufficiently abundant to feed the algae. utrient levels are impacted by other species in the water, temperature, and pollution.

Pollution may contribute to algal blooms because pollution can provide the nutrients these harmful algae need to survive and kill predator species that normally keep harmful algae levels in a safe range.

Harmful Algal Blooms: an Overview

Harmful algae blooms are microscopic, single-celled plants that live in the….

Underwater Acoustics
PAGES 5 WORDS 1423

Kinsler defines acoustics as the science of sound: the generation, transmission and reception of energy in the form of vibrational waves in matter. This covers a large range of disciplines and problems, including noise control, vibration and structural acoustics, and underwater acoustics. Underwater acoustics is using acoustic energy to detect objects in the oceans or sea beds - underwater - just like using radar to detect objects in the air. Acoustics systems guide underwater vessels, such as submarines, through ocean depths in the pursuit (Acoustical Society of America 2002).
We know that sound is transmitted in very long distances, even hundreds of miles, through the wave environment, which makes sound a very important tool for both commercial and military purposes. (ASA) Acoustics signals detect the presence and location of commercially useful fish, map the ocean floor to establish the safest paths for supertankers, explore the earth's geological formations and discover oil….

The larger particles can influence the absorption rates of solar energy by a factor of three over particulates such as phytoplankton and minerals (Stramski and Woz'niak, 2005). This means that a small concentration of these particles can do a lot for the absorption rates of the water they are suspended in. The smaller particles can also have this effect, but their concentrations need to be proportionately higher to exact this same influence. The smaller particles are more influential as far as backscattering is concerned, and represent a massive shift in the way that scientists think about light diffusion and backscattering within the ocean. Previously, scientists thought that only the larger of these particles combined with other particulates were responsible for most of the solar radiation absorption (Bricaud, a., Morel, a. And Prieur, L., 1981). Now scientists understand that in shallow, mineral-rich waters, even a small presence of these tiniest….

Fate of Carbon in a
PAGES 17 WORDS 4902


The fact is that numerous rooted macrophyte structures are not full of naturally strong and healthy particles and sediments and nutrients. It is because of the restriction or absence of these particles, sediments and nutrients that the study of these systems has not been as extensive and thorough as the concentration on the terrestrial structures when understanding the fate, sources and sinks of Co2 levels in the ecosystems and the plants structures (e.g., Drake and Leadley 1991). Researchers assert that "rooted macrophyte systems can be sources of CO2, Chapter 4 and other gases through microbial processing of organic matter in the sediments and direct emission from leaves" (Delaune et al. 1990).

Table 1. Total net primary production (NPP) from world systems (Modified from Valiela, 1984)

Area

NPP

Tot. NPP1

% of Total

% of Total

106 km2

gC m-2 y-1

X106mTC y-1

System

Global

Marine System:

Open Ocean

46

15,355

74.1

24.1

Upwellings

0.4

74

0.4

0.1

Continental shelf

27

2,997

14.5

4.7

Algal eds & reef

0.6

2.7

0.9

Estuaries (exc. marsh)

1.4

3.7

1.2

Tot. Marine

57

20,726

32.5

Continental System:

Terrestr. Env.

39,540

91.7

61.9

Swamp and Marsh

2

1,110

2,220

5.1

3.5

Lakes and Streams

2

0.7

0.5

Tot. Continental

43,112

67.5

Total Global

63,838

Total….

" Because of the ability to reproduce in large amounts in a small amount of time, phytoplankton are considered as the first link in the food chain of nearly all marine animals. Phytoplankton provide food for a large variety of organisms, including the microscopic animals (such as the zooplankton), bivalve molluscan shellfish (like mussels, oysters, scallops, and clams), and small fishes (such as anchovies and sardines). To continue the food chain, these group of animals then provide their own kind of food to other group animals like crabs, starfish, fish, marine birds, marine mammals, and humans (Karl, et al., 2001).
Figure 1. Sample food chain involving phytoplankton

Source: (www.planktonfyi.com/images/foodchain.jpg,2006).

Mortality Rate of Phytoplankton

It was recorded that from 1980's to the present, phytoplankton have been continuously increasing in frequency and distribution worldwide. The reason for such continuing increase in biomass is yet to be determined, but scientists have provided several assumptions including (Karl, et….

" (SD, 1)
McClintock goes on to connect this to pointedly negative consequences for marine life, arguing that many invertebrates are distinctly vulnerable because their protective shells require many of the nutrients naturally available in their surrounding water to maintain hardness or to develop at all. This is a concern which is also raised in the article by Monroe (2009), where the results of an experiment designed to confirm this effect were as expected. Accordingly, "[Victoria] Fabry, a biological oceanographer and visiting researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, studies the effects of ocean acidification on the mollusks known as pteropods. In one experiment, only 48 hours of exposure to slightly corrosive seawater caused normally smooth shells to become frayed at the edges on their way to eventual dissolution, severely diminishing their owners' chances of survival." (Monroe, 1)

This demonstrates that the increased acidification of the ocean's waters is….

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5 Pages
Term Paper

Business - Miscellaneous

Oceanography What Were the Significant

Words: 1574
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Where, sharp increases or decreases in the temperature could have an effect on the eco system. As any one of the vital pieces of the food system and…

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1 Pages
Term Paper

Business - Miscellaneous

Oceanography Comparing Approaches to the Carbon-Based Productivity

Words: 379
Length: 1 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Oceanography Comparing Approaches to the Carbon-Based Productivity odel: Assessing the Sensitivity of Remote Sensing-Derived Phytoplankton Productivity to ixed Layer Depth. The purpose of this review is to compare approaches or variations…

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3 Pages
Essay

Business - Miscellaneous

Oceanography What New Phase of

Words: 879
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Essay

Calculate the distance from the mid-ocean ridge to each of the sites The distance from the middle of the ocean ridge each of the different sites would include: 878 km…

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4 Pages
Essay

Business - Miscellaneous

Oceanography Oceanic Tides Differ Greatly

Words: 1011
Length: 4 Pages
Type: Essay

On January 11 at 3:00 AM, high tide reaches its first peak at 31.248 feet at high tide. The corresponding low tide of this same day hits at…

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1 Pages
Essay

Science

Oceanography Diurnal Tides Are the Daily Ones

Words: 376
Length: 1 Pages
Type: Essay

Oceanography Diurnal tides are the daily ones, and have a single high tide and low tide, respectively, each day. Semidiurnal tides have two high tides and low tides each lunar…

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7 Pages
Term Paper

Physics

Oceanography Identifying the Current Location

Words: 2030
Length: 7 Pages
Type: Term Paper

hey are responsible for transporting the heat from tropics to mid-latitudes. On the other hand, speed is said to be lower in the case of eastern currents (e.g.…

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5 Pages
Term Paper

Weather

Oceanography the Effects of Climate

Words: 1589
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Term Paper

It is difficult to assess to what extent these changes be contributed to global warming, however, due to the relatively short history of observation available to oceanographers. The…

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2 Pages
Essay

Oceanography

Oceanography Marine Organisms

Words: 690
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Essay

SUVIVAL STATEGIES: BENTHIC VS. PELAGIC ZOOPLANKTON Oceanography, Marine Organisms Phytoplankton is the primary food source for most marine organisms, either directly or indirectly. Since phytoplankton converts sunlight into energy, in the…

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2 Pages
Essay

Oceanography

Oceanography Surface Current Patterns

Words: 509
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Essay

Earth's Ocean Surface Current Patterns And How They Are Produced The major ocean surface currents vary in speed, size, and depth by location, but generally help to dictate much of…

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4 Pages
Research Paper

Science

Fact Sheet Oceanography

Words: 1046
Length: 4 Pages
Type: Research Paper

Harmful Algal Blooms Weather events can impact ocean conditions in a variety of different manners. First, extreme events like hurricanes, coastal storms, and floods can physically transport organisms from…

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5 Pages
Term Paper

Oceanography

Underwater Acoustics

Words: 1423
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Kinsler defines acoustics as the science of sound: the generation, transmission and reception of energy in the form of vibrational waves in matter. This covers a large range of…

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10 Pages
Essay

Business - Miscellaneous

Ocean Water Modifies and Influences

Words: 3103
Length: 10 Pages
Type: Essay

The larger particles can influence the absorption rates of solar energy by a factor of three over particulates such as phytoplankton and minerals (Stramski and Woz'niak, 2005). This…

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17 Pages
Literature Review

Business - Miscellaneous

Fate of Carbon in a

Words: 4902
Length: 17 Pages
Type: Literature Review

The fact is that numerous rooted macrophyte structures are not full of naturally strong and healthy particles and sediments and nutrients. It is because of the restriction or absence…

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11 Pages
Term Paper

Criminal Justice - Forensics and DNA

Mortality and Loss Processes in

Words: 3007
Length: 11 Pages
Type: Term Paper

" Because of the ability to reproduce in large amounts in a small amount of time, phytoplankton are considered as the first link in the food chain of nearly…

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3 Pages
Research Paper

Business - Miscellaneous

Invertebrate Ocean Acidification and the

Words: 921
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Research Paper

" (SD, 1) McClintock goes on to connect this to pointedly negative consequences for marine life, arguing that many invertebrates are distinctly vulnerable because their protective shells require many of…

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