🎯 Test Your Knowledge!​

1. During El Niño events, surface waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean become significantly warmer than average, leading to widespread changes in global weather patterns. What causes this abnormal warming?

2. A scientist is tracking a massive, continuous movement of ocean water driven by wind, density differences, and the Coriolis effect, transporting heat around the globe. What is being observed?

3. What is the name for the flat, deep ocean floor found beyond the continental rise, typically at depths between 3,000 and 6,000 meters?

4. What term describes the vast patches of plastic debris and other waste that accumulate in ocean gyres, particularly notable in the Pacific Ocean?

5. During periods of strong upwelling, nutrient-rich deep water rises to the surface, leading to an explosion of marine life, including large fish populations. What is the primary cause of this upwelling in many coastal areas?

6. What is ocean acidification primarily caused by?

7. Which of the following is the deepest known oceanic trench on Earth?

8. What causes the periodic rise and fall of sea levels, primarily due to the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun?

9. Which zone of the ocean is characterized by extremely low light levels, high pressure, and consistently cold temperatures, typically found below 1,000 meters?

10. Scientists are observing a phenomenon where increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide is dissolving into the ocean, leading to a decrease in the ocean's pH. What environmental issue is being described?

11. Which of the following marine ecosystems is known for its high biodiversity and is built by tiny polyps that secrete calcium carbonate?

12. You observe a massive wave approaching the coast, generated by a powerful underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption, rather than by wind. What type of destructive wave is this?

13. What is the primary process by which the ocean's surface water becomes denser and sinks, driving the global thermohaline circulation?

14. What percentage of the Earth's oxygen is estimated to be produced by marine phytoplankton through photosynthesis?

15. Imagine you are a marine biologist studying organisms that live in the sunlit upper layer of the ocean, where photosynthesis can occur. What is this zone called?

16. A marine biologist discovers a thriving community of organisms near a hydrothermal vent on the ocean floor, existing without sunlight and relying on chemical energy from the Earth's interior. What type of primary production supports this ecosystem?

17. Which ocean basin is the largest and deepest on Earth?

18. What is the primary factor responsible for the "deep ocean circulation" or "thermohaline circulation" that drives global ocean currents?

19. Which ocean current is primarily responsible for warming Western Europe?