Term
| Primary Productivity is the rate of what |
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Definition
| Primary productivity is the rate of energy stored in organic matter. |
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Term
| Primary productivity as defined by movement of energy |
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Definition
| energy being stored by carbon being locked up in organic matter from photo (or chemosynthesis, but this is rarer) minus energy from organic matter being utilized via respiration, which leads to carbon being released as CO2 |
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Term
| what percent of marine life relies directly or indirectly on photosynthesis for food? |
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Definition
| 99.9% of marine life relies directly or indirectly on photo for food |
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Term
| if only the two processes of physical transport and diffusion determined the distribution of nutrients in the world's oceans, then how would concentrations of nutrients (like nitrate and phosphate) in the surface waters be different? |
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Definition
| If physical mixing and diffusion were the only things that determined the distribution of nutrients in the ocean, then the distribution of nutrients in the ocean would be similar to salinity in that they would be uniform. Nitrate would have a mean surface concentration of 33 mmol/m^(3) and phosphate would have a mean concentration of 2.1 mmol/m^(3). In reality, there is very little of either nutrient in much of the ocean, and only in very rare circumstances do either nutrient get close to the above values in the surface ocean |
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Term
| what one over-arching process leads to low concentrations of nutrients in the surface waters |
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Definition
| The biological pump. Nutrients are utilized for photo. |
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Term
| what are the two macronutrients |
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Definition
| the two macronutrients are phosphate and nitrate |
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Term
| another name for micronutrients, an example, and what scale they exist on |
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Definition
1. micronutrients are also referred to as "trace elements"
2. Iron is an example of a micronutrient
3. micronutrients generally exist on the scale of umol(1/1,000,000th of a mol)/m^3 |
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Term
| biological pump at the surface has what effect on nutrients |
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Definition
| biological pump at the surface plays a role of reducing the amount of nutrients at the surface |
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Term
| definition of biological pump |
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Definition
| the biological pump is the movement of CO2/nutrients from the surface to the deep |
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Term
| what effect does physical transport (circulation and mixing) have on nutrients in the surface water? |
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Definition
| physical transport is responsible for bringing nutrient-rich deep water to the surface, so it puts nutrients into the surface water |
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Term
| what effect does the biological pump have on nurtients in the deep water |
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Definition
| the biological pump involves organic matter moving to the deep water and remineralizing back into nutrients. The biological pump brings nutrients to the deep ocean |
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Term
| what effect does physical transport (circulation and mixing) have on nutrient levels in the deep ocean? |
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Definition
| circulation and mixing, especially vertical movement of water, brings nutrient-rich water to surface and nutrient poor water from the surface to the deep, reducing the nutrients in the deep ocean |
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Term
| what percent of organic matter produced in the euphotic zone is decomposed in the euphotic zone? |
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Definition
| ~90% of the organic matter produced in the euphotic zone is decomposed in the euphotic zone |
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Term
| what percent of organic matter produced in the euphotic zone sinks to deeper waters? |
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Definition
| ~10% of the organic matter produced in the euphotic zone sinks to deep waters |
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Term
| what percent of organic matter produced in the euphotic zone ends up in sediment on the ocean floor? |
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Definition
| less than 1% of organic matter produced in the euphotic zone ends up on the ocean floor |
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Term
| who does the processes that puts in the most organic matter in the ocean? |
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Definition
| phytoplankton and macrophytes do phytosynthesis, primiary production puts the most organic matter in the ocean |
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Term
| four types of microscopic organisms that do photo |
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Definition
1. diatoms-have silica in them
2. coccolithopores- have CaCO3 in them
3. dinoflagellates
4. photosynthetic bacteria- they may be ~50% of total photosynthetc biomass in the ocean |
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Term
| where do Biogenic sediments come from? |
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Definition
| biogenic sediments are derived from hard parts of animals (shells, teeth, etc) |
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Term
| what is it called when hard parts of animals (shells, teeth, etc) end up at the seafloor as sediments? |
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Definition
| biogenic sediment (not ooze) is when hard parts of animals settle on the seafloor as sediments |
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Term
| which is larger source of biogenic sediment, macroorganisms or microorganisms? |
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Definition
| the vast majority of biogenic sediment has it's origins from microorganisms |
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Term
| what two types of microorganisms (plankton, bacteria, etc) organisms contribute the most to biogenic sediment? |
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Definition
the two types of organisms that contribute the most to biogenic sediment are
1. algae
2. protozoans |
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Term
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Definition
| biogenic ooze is sediment that is at least 30% biogenic sediment (the rest is often clay that is deposited alongside the biogenic sediment) |
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Term
| most biogenic sediment is made of either one of these two substances |
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Definition
most biogenic sediment is either
1. CaCO3 (calcium carbonate)
2. SiO2 or nH2O*SiO2 (silica) |
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Term
| what does it mean that biogenic sediments are generally planktonic? |
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Definition
| planktonic means free-floating |
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Term
| what two organisms would contribute to silacous ooze? |
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Definition
| diatoms and radiolarians have silica shells, thus when their shells sink they will form silicous ooze if they get to ocean floor |
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Term
| are diatoms primary producers or heterotrophs, what ype of organisms are they, and what kind of shell to they have? |
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Definition
| diatoms are primary producers, they are algae, and they have SiO2 shells |
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Term
| are radiolarians primary producers or heterotrophs, what type of organism are they, and what kind of shell to they have? |
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Definition
| radiolarians are heterotrophs, they eat diatoms, they are protists, and they have SiO2 shells |
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Term
| what single type of organism produces the majority of the oxygen in the atmosphere? |
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Definition
| diatoms produce over 50% of the oxygen in the atmosphere |
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Term
| if there is a lot of silacous ooze, what can that be evidence of and why? |
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Definition
| if there is a lot of silacous ooze, it is an idicator of lots of diatoms and thus high NPP |
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Term
| the longer silica particles stay in the ocean, the more what happens and why? |
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Definition
| the silica particles are dissolved because the ocean is undersaturated with silica |
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Term
| are coccolithopores primary producers or heterotrophs, what type of organism are they, and what kind of shells do they have? |
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Definition
| coccolithopores are primary producers, they are single shelled planktonic algae, and they have CaCO3 shells |
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Term
What organism is this?
http://www.co2.ulg.ac.be/peace/objects/218-01.JPG |
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Definition
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Term
| what does the CaCO3 rich ooze from coccolithpore plates lithify into? |
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Definition
| the CaCO3 rich ooze from coccolithophore plates lithifies into chalk |
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Term
| what are they two organisms that have CaCO3 in thier shells and what type of organism is each? |
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Definition
the two organisms that have CaCO3 are
1. coccolithophores: planktonic (free-floating) photosynthetic single cell algae
2. formanifera: heterotrophic protists |
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Term
| this organism is a close relative to radiolarians, the important difference is that it has a CaCO3 shell |
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Definition
| formanifera are heterotrophic organsims with CaCO3 shells |
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Term
| four biolimiting reagent chemicals in surface waters |
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Definition
four biolimiting reagent chemicals in surface waters are:
1. Nitrate
2. Phosphate
3. Silica
4. Iron |
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Term
| what does the curve of nitrate concentration do as you descend from surface to bottom of eutrphic zone? |
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Definition
| Nitrate cocentration is ~0% at surface, it steadily increases as you move downwards along that interval |
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Term
| what process leads to less O2 in the ocean? |
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Definition
| respiration is directly resonsible for decreasing O2 in the ocean |
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Term
| where are four places where sea-surface nitrate is high? |
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Definition
sea-surface nitrate is high in
1. north pacific
2. north atlanitc
3. waters around south america
4. equitorial upwelling zones |
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Term
| what is the physical barrier agaisnt vertical movement of water between deep and shallower waters? |
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Definition
| the thermocline acts as a barrier agaisnt vertical movement of water between deep and shallower |
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Term
| upwelling could lead to carbon moving which way between ocean and air? |
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Definition
| upwelling can lead to very high CO2 levels in surface waters, which results in carbon moving from ocean to the atmosphere. This phenomenom is called supersaturation |
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Term
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Definition
| supersaturation of CO2 is when CO2 is so high in surface waters that CO2 diffuses from ocean to atmosphere |
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Term
| what three areas of the ocean have the highest NPP? |
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Definition
| equitorial upwelling zones, polar regions, coastal upwelling zones |
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Term
| why are photosynthetic bacteria and dinoflagellates extremely unlikely to reach the seafloor |
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Definition
| photosynthetic bacteria and dinoflagelletes are too small to sink to the seafloor |
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Term
| diatoms and coccolithophores are studied when looking at this process |
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Definition
| diatoms and coccolithophores are studied when looking at movement of biomass |
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Term
| what do diatoms need to profilerate? |
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Definition
| diatoms need high silica content in the water |
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Term
| what areas of the surface waters will have high dissolved silica content? |
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Definition
| surface waters will have high dissolved silica in areas of high NPP |
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Term
| in experiment with light and dark bottles at different depths, what occurs in light vs dark bottles? |
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Definition
| dark bottles have just respiration going on, light bottles have photo minus respiration aka NPP |
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Term
| units of primary productivity in dark vs light bottle experiment |
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Definition
| units of primary productivity are (gC)/(L per 12 hours) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| in what type of area does the most carbon uptake (GPP) globally occur, and why is this counterinuitive |
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Definition
| open oceans account for more carbon uptake (GPP) than any other area (coastal upwelling zones, salt marshes, forests, deserts, etc), this is counterinutive becuase its carbon uptake/area-time isn't very high, it is just that the area of open ocean is so high |
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Term
| two main factors that determine NPP |
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Definition
the two main factors that determine NPP are
1. availity of sunlight
2. availibility of nutrients |
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|
Term
| which wavelengths of light does the ocean selectivly absorb? |
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Definition
| the ocean selectivly absorbs higher wavelengths (red, yellow) |
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Term
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Definition
| the top of the euphotic zone is the surface, the bottom of the euphotic is the compensation depth |
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Term
| where is compensation depth in clear vs. turbid water? |
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Definition
compensation depth in clear water is ~100m
vs.
compensation depth in turbid water is ~20m |
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Term
| salt marshes are turbid, but have high primary productivity. What does this say about what factor defines thier NPP |
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Definition
| the two factors that determine NPP are sunlight and nutrients. Salt marshes are turbid, meaning little sunlight is avialible. Thus, thier high NPP must be determined by nutrients |
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Term
| what is an example of how dominating input of nutrients can change from place to place? |
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Definition
| near the mouth of a river, the river may be the dominating source of nutrients, whereas in the open ocean upwelling would be the dominating source of nutrients |
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Term
| what is the biggest source of nutrients in surface waters globally (general process) |
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Definition
| upwelling is the biggest source of nutrients globally |
|
|
Term
| what is stratification and how does it relate to nutrients? |
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Definition
| stratification is when different layers of water at different depths are different temperatures, which limits vertical movement of water and thus limits movement of nutrients |
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Term
| how does the thermocline influence distribution of nutrients? |
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Definition
| above the thermocline, water is low density, below the thermocline water is high density, this stratifacation means nutrients can't move vertically |
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Term
| typical units of primary production |
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Definition
| typical units of primary production are gC/(m2-yr) |
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Term
| variability in primary production in one area over time is mainly due to what? |
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Definition
| seasonal variation has huge impacts on the primary productivty of a single area |
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Term
| subtropical gyres have what feature that restricts thier primary productivity? |
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Definition
| subtropical gyres have a permanent thermocline that restricts upwelling and primary productivity |
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Term
| variability in primary production between different areas is caused by what two main things? |
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Definition
variability in primary production between different areas is a result of
1. availibility of nutrients
2. availibility of sunlight |
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Term
| what is a defining feature of primary productivity in the polar ocean? |
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Definition
| primary productivity in the polar ocean is impacted hugely by the good resupply of nutrients to the surface waters |
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Term
| productivity in tropicals ocean is generally limited by what? |
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Definition
| productivity in tropical oceans isn't limited by sunlight, there is a lot of sunlight for tropical oceans to utilize. Thus, productivity in tropical oceans is limited by nutrients |
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Term
| where are three areas in tropical oceans that have unusally high primary producitivity, and why do they have higher PP? (3rd one is weird) |
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Definition
nutrients are the limiting reagent for PP in tropical oceans, so places where nutrients are high have high PP. These areas of areas of upwelling
1. coastal upwelling zones
2. equitorial upwelling zones
3. coral reef ecosystems |
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Term
| what areas of the world's oceans are notable for being isothermal and what impact does this have? |
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Definition
| the polar oceans are isothermal, being there is no stratifaction due to temperature and upwelling can occur. This has the impact of making the surface waters polar oceans nutrient rich |
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Term
| what area of the world's ocean sees the highest spike in phytoplankton growth/primary productivty in the summer? |
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Definition
| polar ocean see the greatest seasonal variability in the availibility of sunlight and have the most nutrients availble, they see a huge spike in the summer |
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Term
| which area of the world's ocean sees the least variability in primary productivty/phytoplankton growth over the course of a year? |
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Definition
| the tropical oceans see the least variability in the availibility of sunlight, which is the main cause for yearly changes in PP. They see very little change over the course of a year |
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Term
| in the spring, temperate oceans see a bloom in phytoplankton growth as sunlight increases. What eventually limits this "spring bloom"? |
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Definition
| as the temperate ocean heat up, a thermocline develops, which cuts of nutrients upwelling from the deep |
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Term
| what is the avialibility of nutrients/sunlight and the PP in temperature oceans for each of the four seasons? |
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Definition
Winter- no thermocline, good mixing, lots of nutrients, little sunlight, sunlight is limiting factor, low PP
Spring- sunlight becomes availible, it's penetrating depth goes up, compensation depth is deeper, spring bloom, highest PP of the year
Summer- thermocline forms, nutrients become limiting factor, still fairly high PP, but not as high as spring or fall
Fall: thermocline fades, nutrients rebound, mini-bloom not as big as spring bloom, 2nd highest PP. fall bloom is light limited. Compensation depth rises during the fall |
|
|
Term
| sketch flow chart for biological pump effeciency |
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Definition
| figure 4.1.4. in textbook |
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Term
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Definition
| POC is physical organic transport |
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|
Term
| from a climate change perspective, what is the best result of POC? |
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Definition
| from a climate change perspective, POC (phyiscal organic transport) could bring carbon to ocean floor where it would accumlate as a sediment |
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Term
| there are two forms of carbon is organic sediments, what are they? |
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Definition
the two forms of carbon in organic sediments are
1. solid organic carbon
2. dissolved carbon in pore water |
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|
Term
| why does oxygen concentration drop so quickly as you move down sediments on the ocean floor? |
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Definition
| oxygen is utilized for respiration, as you move down through the sediments it quickly dissapears |
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Term
| what would cause oxygen levels to drop more quickly in sediments as you move downwards in depth? |
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Definition
| more organic carbon for oxygen to react with would mean the oxygen would be utilized more quickly |
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Term
| why is denitrifacation the first form of anaeorbic respiration to be done in sediments once oxygen is all utilized? |
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Definition
| denitrifaction is the most energetically favorable of the the anaerobic respirations, and the microorgansims like it the best for this reason |
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Term
| what are the six forms of respiration done in figure 6.1.6 in order of depth they are done at? |
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Definition
the six forms of respiration done in figure 6.1.6 in order of increasing depth
1. aerobic respiration
2. denitrifacation
3. maganese reduction
4. iron redution
5. sulfate reduction
6. methane fermenation (methaneogenesis) |
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Term
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Definition
| layer between sediments and water which molecules must diffuse through to travel between sediment and water |
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Term
| explain how little OM in the winter time could lead to a larger spring bloom of phytoplankton |
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Definition
| if there is little OM to sustain life, then will be smaller populations of zookplankton that eat phytoplankton. Then, when spring comes, there is a spring bloom from increased compensation depth and there not being a thermocline yet |
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Term
|
Definition
| the movement of organic matter downwards from the euphotic zone to the deep ocean |
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Term
| at steady state, how does export production relate to new production? |
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Definition
| at steady state, any new production must have a way of leaving the euphotic zone, the way it leaves is export production. Thus, new production = export production |
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Term
| difference between regenerated and new production |
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Definition
| the difference is in the source of nutrients utilized. regenerated production uses recycled nutrients, or nutrients that were put there from remineralization of OM in the euphotic zone. New production ultilizes nutrients from other areas that generally move via physical transport, generally upwelling |
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Term
| what is used to oxidize OM in denitrifacation? |
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Definition
| HNO3 is used to oxidize OM in denitrifacation |
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Term
| what is the biggest reason why water below 600 meters in the pacific ocean is so much more nutrient rich than deep waters in the atlantic? |
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Definition
| the reason is that the deep waters in the pacific are "older", there are a combination of arctic deep water and antarctic intermediate water. There is more downwelling in the northern atlantic, which means that currents have "newer" water. "Newer" vs. "older" refers to long it has been since the waters have been at the surface, newer waters have spent less time in the deep and thus haven't had as much time to accumulate nutrients |
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Term
| environment with a 100% efficient biological pump |
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Definition
| an environment with a 100% efficeint biological pump would see no organic matter in the surface |
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Term
| what would an enviroment with a 0% efficient biological pump look like? |
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Definition
| an evironment with a 0% efficient biological pump would have surface cocentrations of organic matter exactly the same as the deep waters below that are supplying those nutrients via vertical movement of water |
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|
Term
| what is the efficiency of a biological pump if the "v" term is 0? what does this mean? |
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Definition
| it means that there is no vertical movement of water and that the efficiency of the biological pump is 100%, the biological pump removes all the organic matter |
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Term
| which three forms of respiration make up the vast majority of the respiration done in sediments in the deep ocean? |
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Definition
| aerobic, sulfate, methane fermenation |
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|
Term
| what does methane react with when it moves upwards in sediment? |
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Definition
| methane is anaerobically oxidized by sulfate, so it never reaches the surface |
|
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Term
| what is sulfide and what is it a product of? |
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Definition
| sulfide is H2S, it is a product of sulfate reduction |
|
|
Term
| what is ammonium, and what is it a product of? |
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Definition
| ammonium is NH3, and it is a product of iron reduction |
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Term
| what two products of anerobic respiration other than methane did we study being removed before they reached the surface? |
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Definition
| sulfide which is H2S, and ammonium which is NH3, are oxidized by O2 to give sulfate, nitrate, and water. |
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Term
| why can input of O2 measure how much OM is oxidized even though other processes than aerobic respiration take place in sediments? |
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Definition
| because the products of all the other processes end up being oxizidized, and the balanced equation ends up being the same as it is for aerobic respiration. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| layer of rapidly changing density of water, same as the thermocline but for density, not heat |
|
|
Term
| what process is associated with supersaturation of CO2? |
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Definition
| CO2 moves from the ocean into the atmosphere if the water is supersaturated with CO2 |
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