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Geol 230 Final non-cumulative
Chapters 11 onward
51
Geology
Undergraduate 1
12/08/2012

Additional Geology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Territorial Sea
Definition
1 League or 3 nautical miles from shore
Term
How Many nautical miles on a pole to pole meridian?
Definition

60 minutes in a degree

180 degrees N to S

180 * 60 = 10,800 nautical miles

 

1 nautical mile = 1.151 U.S. miles

1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour 

= 1 minute of longitude per hour

Term
Coastal nations juristiction (Laws of the Sea)
Definition

12 nautical mile (19 kilometer) territorial sea

 

200 nautical mile EEZ from all land

 

EEZ = Exclusive Economic Zone

  •  Established fishing, mining rights; pollution regulation
Term
Ship Passage (Laws of the Sea)
Definition

Free passage for all vessels on the high seas, within territorial seas, and through navigational straits

Term

Deep-Ocean Mineral Resources 

 

(Laws of the Sea)

Definition

Regulated by International Seabed Authority

Controlled by United Nations

Term

International Disputes

 

(Laws of the Sea)

Definition

Arbitrated by United Nations Law of the Sea tribunal

 

Law of the Sea puts 42% of world's oceans under control of coastal nations

Term

General Characteristics

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Shallow Ocean close to shore
  • Coincide with continental shelf
  • River runoff, tidal currents, and seasons affect water character
  • about 95% of total mass of marine life
Term

Salinity

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Freshwater is less dense and overlies ocean water
    • Results in a well-developed halocline
  • Other Variations
    • Runoff and wind current mixed -- isohaline
    • Evaporative environment, saltier -- reverse halocline
Term

Temperature 

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • High-latitue areas, low temperature, isohaline
  • Low-latitude areas, high temperature, isohaline
  • Mid-Latitude areas, seasonal thermoclines
    • warmer surface water in summer
    • colder surface water in winter
Term

Coastal Geostrophic Currents 

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Wind, river runoff, and Coriolis Effect
  • Northern Hemisphere: current veers northward on western coast, southward on eastern coast
  • High volume runoff, low salinity water flows torward ocean, pushed to right in NOrthern Hemisphere 
    • ex; Davidson Current, Oregon and Washington
Term

Estuaries 

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • partially enclosed coastal body
    • where you have mixing of freshwater run off and ocean water
  • Most commonly developed at river mouths
Term

Coastal Plain estuary 

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Drowned river valleys
  • Ex: Chesapeake Bay
Term

Fjord Estuary

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Flooded, glacially carved valleys
  • Ex: Norway, Southeast Alaska
Term

Bar-built Estuary

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Body of water (lagoon) separated from sea by barrier bar
  • Ex: Chesapeake Bay, Laguna Madre
Term

Tectonic Estuary

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Formed by tectonic processes (faults, folding, faulting)
  • Ex: San Francisco Bay
Term

Freshwater and Seawater mixing in Estuaries

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Vertically mixed
  • Slightly stratified estuary 
  • Highly stratified estuary
  • Salt wedge estuary
  • Patterns vary with location, season, tidal or river conditions
  • Typically circulation pattern is low salinity toward ocean, subsurface flow of ocean water towards land
Term

Estuaries and human activities

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Important breeding and nursery gournds for many marine animals
  • Humans affect estuaries negatively through industry, manufacturing, waste disposal, shipping
  • Ex: Columbia River Estuary, Chesapeake Bay estuary
Term

Estuary circulation and plankton

 

(Coastal Ocean)

Definition
  • Phytoplankton distribution dependent on seasonal circulation patterns
  • Phytoplankton and other lifeforms move seaward from estuary in late summer
Term
Types of Wetlands
Definition
  • Salt marsh
  • Mangroves
  • Estuaries
  • Deltas
Term
Wetland Loss
Definition
  • Sea level rise
  • Global warming is not the same as global change
  • The median sea level is rising
  • Coastal wetlands may not keep up with rapid sea level rise
  • Human destruction of wetlands
  • Hurricane caused wetland loss
Term

Wetlands role in pollution mitigation

 

Definition
  • Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Term

Salt marshes serve as nurseries for over half of the commercially important fish in the 

southeastern United States.

 

True or False

Definition
TRUE
Term

Mangrove swamps are protective buffer areas in temperate latitude coastal 

ecosystems.

 

True or False

Definition
False
Term

One reason that coastal wetlands are important is that they are efficient at removing 

sediments and toxins from coastal run-off before it enters the ocean.

 

True or False

Definition
True
Term

Estuarine circulation associated with a shallow, low-volume estuary in which river 

water mixes evenly at all depths with ocean water would be called a:

A) highly stratified estuary.

B) salt wedge estuary.

C) slightly stratified estuary.

D) tectonic estuary.

E) vertically mixed estuary.

Definition
E
Term

Coastal wetlands are characterized by:

A) high levels of inorganic nutrients in the tidal zone and oxygen-rich sediments

B) high levels of organic nutrients in the tidal zone and anoxic sediments.

C) high levels of organic nutrients in the tidal zone and oxygen-rich sediments.

D) low levels of inorganic nutrients in the tidal zone and anoxic sediments.

E) low levels of organic nutrients in the tidal zone and oxygen-rich sediments

Definition
D
Term

The percentage of the original area of wetlands currently left in the United States is 

approximately:

A) 10%.

B) 25%.

C) 50%.

D) 65%.

E) 75%.

Definition
C
Term

Natural processes which help to remove oil spills from the ocean include all of the 

following except:

A) evaporation from the ocean surface.

B) digestion of significant amount by fish populations.

C) dispersal due to wave and wind action.

D) sinking due to aggregation into tarry lumps.

E) sinking of coated particles.

Definition
B
Term
What are estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves and how do they differ?
Definition
  • Estuaries: 
    • Formed where salt-water meets freshwater
    • Flooded by the tides
    • Usually at mouths of river channels 
    • Made up of tidal marshes, tidal flats, and open water channels 
  • Salt Marshes:Between land and open salt water that is regularly flooded by tides
  • Mangroves: Tropical and sub-tropical saline tidal areas
Term
Where are river deltas formed (review from chapter 10)?
Definition
  • Where Rivers flow into a body of standing water
Term
What are the leading causes of coastal wetland loss?
Definition
  • Filled in and developed
  • about 1/2 of wetlands in U.S. have been destroyed
Term
How do wetlands protect coastal areas?
Definition
Term
Shore
Definition

Between low tide and highest elevation affected by storm waves

Term
Coast
Definition

From shore to farthest inland ocean-related features (variable distance)

Term
Coastline
Definition

Boundary between shore and ocean

Term
Nearshore
Definition

Low tide breaker line to low tide shoreline

Term
Shore (two components)
Definition
  1. Backshore: above high tide shoreline
  2. Foreshore: exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide
Term
Offshore
Definition

Seaward of nearshore

Term
Beach
Definition

Deposit of shore area 

Term
Wave-cut bench
Definition

Flat eroded surface

Term
Berm
Definition

Dry, gently sloping region at foot of coastal cliff

Term
Beach face
Definition

Wet sloping surface from berm to shoreline

Term
Longshore Bars
Definition

Sand bars parallel to beach

Term
Longshore trough
Definition

Between longshore bar and beach

Term
Beach Composition
Definition
  • Composed of material that is locally available
  • Relationship of beach slope to size of particles:
    • Coarse-steep slope
    • Fine - shallow slope
Term
Terrigenous
Definition

Mud, sand, pebbles, gravel, boulders

Term
Biogenous
Definition

Muds, carbonate sands, shells

Term
Movement of sand on the beach
Definition
  • Perpendicular to shoreline
    • Swash: movement up beach from waves
    • Backwash: movement away from beach from waves
  • Parallel to shoreline
    • Longshore current: caused when waves come into shore at an angle
    • Rip Currents: concentrated backwas away from beach
    • Longshore drift: longshore current transport sediment parallel to shore
Term

Types of Shores

 

Erosional

Definition

Dominated by erosional features (e.g., West Coast of U.S.)

Term

Types of Shores

 

Depositional Type

Definition

Dominated by depositional features (much of east coast of U.S.)

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