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oceanography final: ch 13
this sucks nuts
55
Science
Undergraduate 3
12/04/2010

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Term
Marine Biology
Definition
the study of organisms that happen to be marine
Term
Biological Oceanography
Definition
the study of relationships between marine organisms and marine environments. The focus is on how these organisms make a living in the marine environment.
Term
living things...
Definition
  • have a metabolism (the use of energy)
  • react to the external environment
  • grow
  • reproduce
Term
What are the building blocks of life?
Definition
Water and organic compounds
Term
Organic Compounds
Definition
  • Contain Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen
  • Other elements in lesser amounts
  • Contain energy
  • Takes energy to make them, yields energy when you break them apart
Term
What do organisms get energy from?
Definition
  • Photo/Chemo - synthesis
  • "Food", breakdown of organic compounds
Term
Autotrophs
Definition
  • "self-feeders"
  • includes photosynthetic and chemosynthetic organisms
  • primary production
Term
Heterotrophs
Definition
  • "other feeders"
  • feed on other organisms
Term
Energy can be stored through photosynthesis
Definition
The flow of energy through living systems. At each step, energy is degraded (that is, transformed into a less useful form).
Term
Primary production
Definition
the amount of light energy converted to organic compounds by an autotroph during a given time period
Term
Phytoplankton
Definition
plankton which obtain energy by photosynthesis. They make up 84.4 percent of the primary production
Term
Chloroplasts
Definition
  • Light energy is captured and converted in chloroplasts: pigments
  • different species have different ones
  • all that have chloroplasts have Chlorophyll a
Term
chemosynthesis
Definition
the biological conversion of one or more carbon molecules (usually carbon dioxide or methane) and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic molecules (e.g. hydrogen gas, hydrogen sulfide) or methane as a source of energy, rather than sunlight
Term
euphotic zone
Definition
most of the biological productivity of the ocean occurs in this area near the surface
Term
disphotic zone
Definition
lies below the euphotic zone
Term
aphotic zone
Definition
the dark zone that lies below the disphotic zone. It's the vast bulk of the ocean where sunlight never reaches.
Term
How light affects productivity..
Definition
Productivity at surface is limited because of intensity of sunlight. Productivity begins to decline with depth and less light penetration.
Term
What are nutrients?
Definition
Materials other than C, H, and O needed to make organic compounds
Term
What are the major nutrients?
Definition
Nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, micro-nutrients, vitamins, etc
Term
Micronutrients (Trace Elements)
Definition

e.g., Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, Fe, Mo, Mn, B, Na, Cl

 

Generally, these are required to act as cofactors in enzymes

 

Iron is well recognized as being in short supply over large parts of the ocean. It is particularly important in Nitrogen Fixation. Copper, Zinc and Nickel have also been implicated in influencing the growth of open-ocean phytoplankton. Trace element interactions are complex, and incompletely understood.

Term
Nutrient availability
Definition
  • Phytoplankton are most abundant where there are nutrients
  • Nutrients are highest near coastal regions and in upwelling zones
Term
Nutrient sources
Definition
  • rivers, streams, and agriculture (runoff)
  • upwelling
  • recycling (messy eaters)
  • atmosphere (CO2, N2)
Term
Nutrient uptake
Definition
  • advantage of small size
  • simple diffusion to supply nutrients and remove wastes - large SA/V ratio
Term
surface to volume ration
Definition

Surface area increases as the square of the diameter.

Volume increases as the cube of the diameter.

Term
Do nutrients really diffuse?
Definition
  • Nutrients and waste products must pass through the cell membrane
  • Most phytoplankton cannot rely on passive diffusion!
Term

Diffusion Mechanisms:

 

Definition
  • Passive Diffusion - (based solely on the gradient of concentrations)
  • Facilitated Diffusion - "channels" allow ions to move through the cell wall
  • Active Uptake - There are transporters on the cell wall
Term
Stratification influences:
Definition
  • time spent in the photic zone
  • nutrient availabillity (e.g. nutrients sink)
  • the photic zone is often shallower than the mixed layer but cells circulating in the mixed layer are continually brought into the photic zone
  • pycnocline limits vertical mixing to the upper regions of lakes and oceans, once cells sink below it they are lost from the population
Term
global primary productivity
Definition
Oceanic productivity can be observed from space. NASA's SeaWiFS satellite, launched in 1997, can detect the amount of chlorophyll in ocean surface water. Chlorophyll content allows an estimate of productivity. Red, yellow, and green areas indicate high primary productivity; blue areas indicate low.
Term
Ecosystem
Definition
biotic community + environment
Term
Ecosystems and energy transfer:
Definition
  • Trophic levels: each level of organism
  • Trophic transfer: percentage of energy
Term
Autotrophs
Definition
organisms that make their own food, also called producers
Term
Heterotrophs
Definition
organisms that must consume other organisms for energy
Term
trophic pyramid
Definition
a model that describes who eats whom
Term
primary consumers
Definition
these organisms eat producers
Term
secondary consumers
Definition
these organisms eat primary consumers
Term
top consumers
Definition
the top of the tropic pyramid
Term
food chains
Definition
short, direct transfer of energy from phytoplankton to apex predators
Term
What are some atoms and molecules that cycle in biogeochemical cycles?
Definition
  • Carbon - present in all organic molecules
  • Nitrogen - found in proteins and nucleic acids
  • Phosphorus and silicon - found in rigid parts of organisms
  • Iron and trace metals - used for electron transport
Term
the "biological pump"
Definition
combined biological processes which transfer organic matter and associated elements to depth
Term
Physical and Biological Factors affect the functions of an organism
Definition

Biological factors also affect living organisms in the ocean. Some biological factors that affect ocean organisms:

  • feeding relationships
  • crowding (competition for space)
  • Metabolic wastes
  • Defense of territory
Term
temperature influences metabolic rate
Definition
temperatures of marine waters capable of supporting life. Some isolated areas of the ocean, notable within and beneath hydrothermal vents, may support specialized living organisms at temperatures of up to 400 degrees C or 750 degrees F
Term
Organisms in the ocean rely on these processes for many life functions:
Definition
  • Diffusion - mixing due to random molecular movements
  • Osmosis - diffusion of water through a membrane
  • Active transport - the transport of a substance against a concentration gradient. It requires energy input.
Term
Marine environment zones:
Definition
areas with homogeneous physical features. Classified by location and the behavior of the organisms found there.
Term
pelagic zone
Definition
in the water column
Term
neritic zone
Definition
area over continental shelf
Term
oceanic zone
Definition
area off continental shelf
Term
epipelagic zone
Definition
upper 200m of ocean surface
Term
photic zone
Definition
max depth for photosynthesis
Term
Pelagic --> Neritic zones
Definition

High tide to 200 m depth
Characterized by :

  • Shallow water, so large fluctuations in temperature and salinity
  • Tides expose/submerge the shallow neritic
  • Breaking waves disperse a lot of energy
Term

Pelagic --> Oceanic zones

 

Definition

Everything seaward of the Neritic Zone

Divided by Depth:

  • Epipelagic 0-200 meters (only zone with enough light for photosynthesis! Bottom of the surface waters)
  • Mesopelagic 200-1000 meters
  • Bathypelagic 1000-4000 meters
  • Abyssopelagic 4000-6000 meters
  • Hadalpelagic >6000 meters
Term
Pelagic --> Oceanic --> Mesopelagic
Definition

Mesopelagic 200-1000 meters

  • Usually includes the oxygen minimum zone
  • Also has the nutrient maximum (700-1000m)
  • Bioluminescence is most common here
  • Includes the Deep Scattering Layer (DSL)
Term
Pelagic --> Oceanic --> Bathypelagic and Abyssopelagic
Definition

Bathypelagic 1000-4000 meters

Abyssopelagic 4000-6000 meters

  • Includes over 75% of the living space in the oceanic environment
  • There is essentially no light
  • Most fish are blind or rely on bioluminescence
  • Oxygen concentrations increase due to cold, deep polar water masses
Term
Benthic
Definition
  • Subneritic Province: extends from high tide line to 200m, and approximately equals the continental shelf
  • Suboceanic Province: Everything seaward of the Subneritic Province
Term
taxonomy
Definition
the study of biological classification
Term
Carolus Linnaeus
Definition
the father of modern taxonomy. He invented three supreme categories or kingdoms: animal, vegetable, and mineral. Today's biologists leave the mineral kingdom to the geologists and have expanded his two living kingdoms to six. His great contriution was a system of classification based on hierarchy, a grouping of objects by degrees of complexity, grade, or class.
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