Buku Introduction To Oceanography PDF
Buku Introduction To Oceanography PDF
Buku Introduction To Oceanography PDF
OCE 1001
Lecture Notes
Chantale Bégin & Jessica Fry
Version 2.2
Introduction to Oceanography; OCE 1001
This is a 3 credit class, which involves a total of 45 contact hours. These will include both
lectures and field activities. The material of the class is divided into 5 sections: geological
oceanography, chemical oceanography, physical oceanography, biological oceanography,
and humans & the oceans. Besides quizzes and exams on material covered in class, you
will also be evaluated on papers and presentations that will allow you to further your
knowledge of one given topic related to oceanography, and conduct your own independent
research project.
The midterm exam covers material from two sections, chemical oceanography (30%),
geological oceanography (30%), the introduction lecture and labs (10%) as well as
questions on literature review presentations (30%). The final exam is not cumulative. It
covers material from the other three sections; physical oceanography (30%), biological
oceanography/coasts (30%), humans and the oceans (30%), as well as the concluding class
and questions on labs (10%).
The literature review paper is 4 pages long, and the literature review presentation is 8
minutes. The group research paper should as long as it needs to be to present your findings
in a clear and concise way. The group research presentation will be 10 minutes. Full
details of expectations for papers and presentation are presented in the appendices at the
end of the lecture notes.
This course is mostly based on the textbook Essentials of Oceanography (11th edition) by
Trujillo and Thurman. A few chapters also incorporate elements taken from An
Introduction to the World’s Oceans by Sverdrup, Duxbury and Duxbury, and from other
sources. This booklet includes only quick explanations of processes and concepts covered
in class. It is meant to help jog your memory and help you review for exams. If you need
more thorough explanations, you should read the associated chapters in the textbooks
and/or speak to your instructor.
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1. Introduction to Oceanography (Trujillo, Introduction & Chapter 1)
1.1. Background
Oceanography is the study of the oceans. It is not a pure science, but rather incorporates
many different sciences, such as chemistry, biology and physics, with a common goal of
understanding the oceans.
Why study the oceans? They cover 71% of our planet (Figure 1.1), and play an important
role in regulating global climate through their interaction with the atmosphere. Oceans
have been present for about 4 billion years, and life originated in oceans. Moreover, the
majority of the human population lives by the sea, and modern societies use biological and
mineral resources from the sea. Understanding the oceans is critical for optimal and
sustainable harvest of these resources.
Figure 1.1. Oceans cover 71% of the planet. The Pacific Ocean is the largest and when
viewed from that side the planet shows much more ocean than land.
Four major oceans have traditionally been recognized: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic.
Additionally, most oceanographers now recognize the Southern Ocean as its own entity
(Figure 1.2). Their average depth of all oceans is ~3.5 km. The Pacific means peaceful or
tranquil, but that is a misnomer as the Pacific Ocean has numerous earthquakes and
volcanoes along its edge (the Ring of Fire, see Chapter 3). The Pacific is the oldest ocean,
about 200 million years old, and the deepest, with an average depth of 4.2 km. It is the
largest (13,000 km wide) and covers 1/3 of the earth’s surface. The Atlantic Ocean is half
as old as the Pacific, and much smaller (6,600 km wide). It is 3.6 km deep on average.
The Indian Ocean is 7,000 km wide and has an average depth of 3.7 km. It is confined to
the Southern hemisphere. The Arctic Ocean is mostly frozen and has an average depth of
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1.1 km. The Southern Ocean is physically connected to the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian
Oceans but this body of water, south of about 50 degrees south, is defined by the distinct
circulation of the Antarctic convergence.
Seas are bodies of salt water that are smaller and shallower than oceans. They have a direct
connection to an ocean and are partially enclosed by land, often as indentations into
continents, or delineated by an island arc. There are many seas around the world, including
the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Red Sea.
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Figure 1.3. Movements of humans from Asia to the Pacific islands with approximate dates
of arrival. The map also shows the route of the balsa raft Kon Tiki, from South America
to Polynesia in 1947.
Early history
Oceanography is a relatively new science, compared to mathematics or physics. Modern
oceanographic research really only started towards the end of the 19th century. However,
humans have interacted with the ocean for thousands of years and in doing so, started to
develop knowledge of the oceans to gather food and to travel. As early as 4000 BC, the
first boats were built for trading in the South Pacific, and tools were developed for
navigation. Asian people populated the Pacific islands by sailing and paddling in
rudimentary canoes to Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia (Figure 1.3). While Thor
Heyerdahl showed in 1947 that it was possible to sail in a simple raft from South America
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to Polynesia, there is clear genetic and anthropologic evidence that supports migration from
Asia rather than South America. Around 450 BC, Herodotus made one of the first world
maps. It was centered on the Mediterranean and showed the world known at that time
(Figure 1.4). Around 325 BC, Pytheas found a method to determine latitude based on the
angle of the horizon and the North Star. He also made a connection between the moon and
the tides. Around this time, Greek scholars suggested that the earth was round and the
Greek Eratosthenes made remarkably precise estimates of the earth’s circumference.
Ptolemy produced around 150 BC a world map similar to those produced before him, but
which also included lines of longitude and latitude.
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Figure 1.5. Viking voyages and colonies
European discoveries
In the mid-15th century, the search for new trade routes to the east led Europeans to start
maritime explorations. Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator charged by the
Spanish royalty to find a new route to the East Indies across the Atlantic Ocean. In his first
voyage in 1492 (Figure 1.6), Columbus made landfall in the then uncharted Caribbean,
thinking he had arrived near India. Columbus made three more voyages to the Caribbean,
which inspired other explorers. John Cabot is thought to be the first explorer to reach
mainland North American in 1497, making landfall in the northeast of the continent. In
1519, Magellan organized the first successful circumnavigation of the world, which lasted
until 1522 (Figure 1.6.). He started with 5 ships and 280 sailors, and of those only 1 ship
with 18 men returned. Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines in 1521.
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Figure 1.6. Voyages of Columbus and Magellan
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Figure 1.7. James Cook’s voyages
Figure 1.8. The Gulf Stream, as drawn by Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century (left) and
captured by remote sensing of sea surface temperature in the 21st century (right).
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Figure 1.9. Route of Charles Darwin on the Beagle.
Around that time, interest in ocean science grew, but we lacked the technology to verify
hypotheses, which lead to a lot of unverified speculation. For example, Edward Forbes an
English naturalist who surveyed the shores of Europe, erroneously hypothesized in the mid-
1800s that there would be no life below a depth of 550m. His hypothesis disregarded the
fact that explorers Sir John Ross and his nephew Sir James Clark Ross had found organisms
in mud samples taken at 1.8 km and 7 km deep in polar waters, as early as 1818.
Much of the interest in ocean science in the 17th and 18th century was linked to exploration
or trading purposes. In the early 19th century, interest in ocean science grew but was still
limited. In the latter part of the 19th century, the laying of telegraph cables increased the
necessity of understanding the seafloor, its currents and organisms. Cables retrieved after
extended periods underwater led to the discovery of many deep-sea organisms.
Modern oceanography
Modern oceanography started in 1872 with the Challenger expedition, organized by the
British government. This expedition involved four years of circumnavigating the earth,
covering 110,840 km (Figure 1.10). It conducted 492 deep-sea soundings and discovered
the deepest part of the oceans, the Mariana trench in the Pacific (the Challenger made its
deepest sounding at 8,185m; the Mariana trench is now known to be over 11 km deep).
The Challenger sampled waters around the globe and led to the identification of 4,717 new
species. The Challenger is still to date the most comprehensive oceanographic expedition
ever undertaken. The success of the Challenger spurred other nations to undertake
oceanographic research.
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Figure 1.10. Route of the Challenger expedition, 1872-1876.
The 20th century saw important technological development that could be used in marine
science, and the establishment of oceanographic institutes dedicated to research. Wars also
contributed greatly to technological improvements and during World War II the military
supported research on sound transmission and charting of the sea floor, in partnership with
Scripps and Woods Hole Oceanography Institutes. Nowadays there are many more
oceanographic institutes, and a lot of research is conducted in universities. Governments
fund a lot of research concerning fisheries, and species that cross borders lead to
international collaborations. Large-scale international collaborations have been developed
in recent years, including the Deep-sea Drilling Project and the Ocean Drilling Project.
Technology such as GPS, satellites, submersibles, hydrophones, CTD, sonar, digital
photography and scuba is used in modern research.
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1.3. The earth’s structure
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The core is the innermost layer; it is composed primarily of iron, but also contains nickel,
sulfur and oxygen. The mantle is composed of magnesium-iron silicates. It is 2,866 km
thick and makes up 70% of the earth’s volume. The outermost layer is the crust. There
are two types of crusts, oceanic and continental crust. Oceanic crust is thinner (8 km thick
on average), solid, and relatively dense (~3.0 g/cm3). It is composed of basalt-type rock,
which is high is iron, magnesium, and calcium. Continental crust is on average 35 km
thick, solid and less dense (~2.67 g/cm3). It is granite-type rock which has a high content
of sodium, potassium, aluminum and silica.
When looking at the earth’s stratification by physical properties, the breakdown of layers
is slightly different (Figure 1.11). Although the crust is chemically different from the
mantle underneath, it is actually fused with the outermost part of the mantle in a strong and
rigid surface shell called the lithosphere, which extends to 100-150 km thick. Under the
lithosphere is the asthenosphere, where the rock is partially molten and is weak and
deformable. The asthenosphere ranges from the base of the lithosphere to approximately
350 km deep. Under the asthenosphere, the increased pressure creates a rock of greater
strength and rigidity in the zone known as the mesosphere from the base of the
asthenosphere to the mantle-core boundary.
The outer core is found between the mesosphere and the inner core. The outer core is partly
molten because of the very high temperatures in this region. The innermost layer is called
the inner core. It is solid and very dense (~13 g/cm3) because it is under great pressure.
The inner core is also very hot (4,000-5,500oC) because of pressure and radioactive decay.
Isostatic adjustments
The asthenosphere offers buoyant support to each section of the lithosphere. Elevated
continents, which are thicker and less dense than oceanic crust, extend higher because they
“float” on the mantle in a similar way that icebergs float on water, with a good portion of
their mass below the water line (Figure 1.12). Each section of the lithosphere sinks into
the asthenosphere until its mass is balanced by its buoyant force in a process called isostasy.
Added mass on the lithosphere, such as a mountain chain or glaciers, makes it sink deeper
in the asthenosphere. If this mass is removed (i.e. glaciers melting), the lithosphere would
slowly rise in response, until its new mass in is balance with its buoyant force. This process
is known as isostatic crustal rebound (Figure 1.13).
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Figure 1.12. The internal structure of the earth with details of the lithosphere, showing
continental and oceanic crusts, all buoyed by the asthenosphere.
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Figure 1.13. Isostatic crustal rebound in response to the formation and melting of glaciers.
Figure 1.7. The formation of the earth’s oceans, from volcanic outgassing to condensation
in clouds and precipitation to the earth’s surface.
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1.5. Review Questions
1. What percentage of the Earth’s surface is covered with oceans?
2. Where is the Mariana Trench?
3. Which ocean is the deepest?
4. Which ocean is the oldest?
5. Who was the first person to circumnavigate the world?
6. Where did Polynesians come from?
7. Which part of North America did Leif Eriksson reach?
8. Who was the first explorer to reach mainland North America?
9. Who charted the Gulf Stream, and for what purpose?
10. What are two theories developed by Charles Darwin?
11. Which expedition is referred to as the most comprehensive oceanographic expedition
ever, identifying over 4,000 new species?
12. Who froze his ship the Fram into the Arctic ice? And why did he do this?
13. What is density?
14. What are the 3 layers of the earth, based on chemical composition?
15. What are the 5 layers of the earth, based on physical properties?
16. What is the lithosphere?
17. Explain isostatic crustal rebound
18. Which type of crust is densest? Which is thickest? Which extends further in the
asthenosphere?
19. Where did the ocean’s water originally come from?
20. What processes add salt to the oceans? What processes remove salt from the oceans?
21. Which part of the core of the earth is solid?
22. What is the mineral composition of the inner core?
23. What is the mineral composition of the mantle?
24. What type of rocks generally form oceanic crust
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2. Plate Tectonics & the Ocean Floor (Trujillo, chap. 2)
2.1. Continental Drift
In 1912, a German meteorologist called Alfred Wegener proposed that approximately 200
million years ago, all continents existed together in a single supercontinent that he called
Pangaea. He suggested that Pangaea was then broken into two continents, Laurasia
(today’s North America and Eurasia) and Gondwanaland (the southern continents), by the
rotation of the Earth and tidal forces.
Figure 2.1. Current position of continents and position of continents when they formed the
supercontinent Pangaea, 200 to 300 million years before present.
1. The geographic fit of continents (Figure 2.2). This fit is even more striking if one looks
at a map of the world with sea level lower than at present day.
2. Similar rock types in older mountain ranges and rock formations between continents, for
example between North America and Europe (Figure 2.3).
3. Fossils older than 150 million years old are very similar between continents, whereas
younger fossils are not. This suggests that species roamed freely between the continents
until 150 million years ago, at which point populations on each continent no longer
interbred and evolved into different species. For example, 250 million year old fossils
of the reptile mesosaurus are found only in South America and Africa, with a limited
distribution in both continents (Figure 2.4). This suggests that the continents were once
joined.
4. The southern continents contain tillites, a type of glacial deposits, which were formed
250-300 million years ago. This suggests that the continents were at some point closer
to the South Pole than they are today and were covered by ice sheets.
5. Some northern continents have tropical deposits of coal (e.g. in the US and China),
suggesting they were closer to the equator in the past.
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Figure 2.2. The continents fit together remarkably well, especially when using the edge of
the ocean basin (2000m) as the boundary.
Figure 2.3. Matching mountain ranges between North American and Europe
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Figure 2.4. The limited range of Mesosaurus fossils in South America and Africa suggests
that the continents were once joined.
Figure 2.5. Glacial deposits found in all southern continents had to have been produced
when those continents were much further south.
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Though all this supported Wegener’s theory, the mechanism he suggested (rotation of the
Earth and tidal forces) did not provide a reasonable explanation for the movement of
continents and for that reason the theory was not accepted by the scientific community at
that time.
In the 1960s, Harry H. Hess proposed the theory of seafloor spreading to explain these
features of the seafloor. Accordingly to this theory, material inside the earth is heated by
the earth’s natural radioactivity. Heated magma, as it becomes less dense, moves upward
towards the lithosphere, setting up large convection cells within the molten asthenosphere
(Figure 2.6). As this magma moves horizontally beneath the lithosphere, it cools down and
sinks down towards the core. This theory suggests that the currents created by the
convection cells carry along large sections of the overlying lithosphere. Where currents
diverge, molten magma breaks through the lithosphere at the mid-ocean ridge, solidifying
into new crust material. These are spreading centers. Since the diameter of the Earth has
remained constant for about a billion years, if there is new crust being formed at spreading
centers, old crust must be destroyed elsewhere. Seafloor spreading suggests that crust is
destroyed at ocean trenches, or subduction zones, where older, cooler, denser crust sinks
back into the earth’s interior.
Figure 2.6. Spreading centers (mid-ocean ridges) and subduction zones (trenches) and
island arcs associated with the theory of seafloor spreading.
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There are many lines of evidence that support seafloor spreading. First, an examination of
the distribution of earthquake epicenters shows that they are mainly distributed along
ridges and trenches (Figure 2.7); shallow earthquakes (< 100km deep) occur primarily
along ridges, while deep earthquakes occur along trenches. Moreover, the oldest oceanic
crust is approximately 200 million years old whereas continental rocks are much older (up
to 5 billion years old), supporting the idea that oceanic crust is constantly recycled back in
the mantle. The age and thickness of sediments were also found to increase with increased
distance from mid-ocean ridge systems (Figure 2.8). Finally, there is a mirror pattern of
recorded magnetic polar reversals in oceanic crust on either side of ridges (Figure 2.9),
supporting the theory that this crust was formed along the ridge and then spread apart.
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Figure 2.8. Age of the oceanic crust increases with distance from mid-ocean ridges
Figure 2.9. Patterns of magnetic reversals are recorded along mid-ocean ridge since basalt
magnetizes according to the current magnetic field when it solidifies.
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2.3. Plate Tectonics
In 1965, John Tuzo Wilson, a professor at the University of Toronto, combined the ideas
of continental drift with those of seafloor spreading to produce the currently accepted
theory of Plate Tectonics. Movements of the lithosphere produce both drifting continents
and seafloor spreading.
We now know that the lithosphere comprises several lithospheric plates, each 80-100 km
thick, capped by continental crust, oceanic crust, or both. Major plates include the Pacific,
Eurasian, African, Australian, North American, South American and Antarctic plates,
whereas minor plates include the Cocos, Caribbean, Nazca, Philippine, Arabian and Indian
plates. These plates move mostly independently of each other, and may diverge, converge
or move side by side. Earthquakes are concentrated along plate boundaries along trenches,
ridges or faults (Figure 2.10; compare plate boundaries with location of earthquakes in
figure 2.7).
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Figure 2.11. Three types of plate boundaries
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Figure 2.12. Formation of an ocean basin through divergent plates. Note that the rift valley
is clearly seen when the plates start moving apart, and a rift can be identified on the axis of
the mid-ocean ridge.
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Figure 2.13. The East Africa Rift Valley and associated features.
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Convergent boundary features
Convergent plate boundaries occur where plates move toward each other, mainly along
subduction zones. The result of convergent plates depends on the type of crust involved.
Between two oceanic plates or an oceanic plate and a continental plate, the denser plate
sinks below the less dense plate. In the case of an interaction between and oceanic plate
and a continental plate, the oceanic plate is denser and therefore sinks beneath the
continental plate. The friction of the plates as one is subducted creates a series of deep
earthquake along the Wadati-Benioff zone, which marks the location of the subducted
plate. As this plate sinks further down in the asthenosphere, temperature increases and
melts the plate and its associated sediments. This molten material of lesser density mixes
with mantle magma and rises to the surface, where it forms belt of volcanoes (e.g.
Caribbean or Andes; Figure 2.14, 2.15). When two continental plates converge, their
thickness and low density prevents them from being subducted, and instead they collide to
form tall uplifted mountain ranges (e.g. Himalayas; Figure 2.16).
Figure 2.14. A convergent plate boundary at a subduction zone between a continental and
an oceanic crust, resulting in a series of volcanic peaks (e.g. Andes).
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Figure 2.15. A convergent plate boundary at a subduction zone between two oceanic
crusts, resulting in the formation of an island arc (e.g. Caribbean).
Figure 2.16. A convergent plate boundary between two continental plates, which resist
subduction, forming a mountain range (e.g. the Himalayas).
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mid-ocean-ridge called fracture zones occur perpendicular to the ridge. Transform faults
are the active area of a fracture zone, where the adjacent plates move in opposite direction.
This results in a high occurrence of earthquakes. Transform faults are found regularly
along mid-ocean ridges (see green lines in Figure 2.13a), but can also occur on land as in
the San Andreas Fault (Figure 2.17).
Figure 2.17. A transform fault, where two plates move sideways relative to each other,
occurs along fracture zones of spreading centers where plates move in opposite direction.
Transform faults are colored in green in the map on the right.
Though most volcanic activity around the world is associated with divergent and
convergent plate boundaries, there are isolated areas of volcanic activity scattered
throughout the oceans known as hot spots. Hot spots are found under continents and
oceans, in the center of plates and along ridges. They periodically channel hot material to
the surface, which may break through the lithosphere to form a volcano (Figure 2.18). Hot
spots are relatively stationary, but as the overlying lithosphere moves, successive eruptions
create chains of volcanoes such as the Hawaiian Islands and the Galapagos. The orientation
of these island chains indicates the direction of the plate movement, with age of islands
increasing with distance from the hot spot (Figure 2.19).
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Figure 2.18. Formation of hotspots: a) hot buoyant material detaches from the deep mantle,
b) rises to the surface and c) forms a hot spot volcano. d) as the lithosphere move on top
of a stationary hot spot, a chain of volcanoes is created.
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Seamounts and table mounts
As volcanoes move away from a hot spot or spreading center, they subside and erode,
creating seamounts (volcano that does not reach the surface of the water) or guyots
(seamount with a flat top from erosion when it was near sea level; Figure 2.20).
Figure 2.20. As volcanoes formed by hot spots move away from the heat source, they
subside due to the increased weight on the lithosphere. Volcanoes that don’t reach the
surface of the water are called seamounts when they are conical, and table mounts or guyots
when they are flat at the top. Seamounts and table mounts can also be associated with
spreading centers.
Coral reefs slowly grow vertically at a rate of 3-15 mm/yr. They grow only in shallow
water, where sunlight is abundant, and therefore young reefs grow close to shore around
and are called fringing reefs. As an island subsides (sinks) or the surrounding sea level
rises, the reef grows vertically to remain in the shallow zone, and develops into a barrier
reef, separated from shore by a lagoon. With time, as the island sinks below sea level, the
barrier reef keeps growing vertically to form a ring of coral reef surrounding a lagoon; this
is called an atoll (Figure 2.21; Figure 2.22).
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Figure 2.21. Formation of fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls.
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Figure 2.22. Islands in French Polynesia show various stages of atoll development. Bora
Bora, Raiatea and Tahaa have a barrier reef around a central island while Motu Iti is a true
atoll.
Ocean cycles
Plate tectonics teaches us that oceans are dynamic, and over the course of several hundred
million years they can form, grow, and decline. John Tuzo Wilson classified oceans
according to their stages of formation (Figure 2.23). An embryonic ocean occurs with
uplifting and faulting in a land mass and the formation of a linear rift valley, as in East
Africa. A juvenile ocean occurs when the fissuring between the two land masses is
complete, as with the Red Sea. A mature ocean (e.g. the Atlantic Ocean) displays a broad
ocean basin, with divergence still occurring but with little subduction. A declining ocean,
such as the Pacific Ocean, occurs when the basin is getting smaller because of considerable
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subduction around the edges, which are accompanied by trenches and island arcs. The
Mediterranean is a terminal ocean, which is small in size and declining, where the
surrounding continents and island arcs collide and form young mountain ranges. A sutured
ocean occurs when an ocean basin has been uplifted into a mountain range, such as the
Himalayas, between Indian and Asia.
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2.4. Review Questions
2. What is the name of the super continent of the continental drift theory?
3. When Pangea split in two, what were the names of the two new continents?
6. What is the name of the underwater mountain range found at spreading centers in the
middle of the oceans?
11. What is the name of the theory that unites continental drift and seafloor spreading
14. What features are typical of a convergent plate boundary with 2 continental crusts?
15. What type of plate boundary is responsible for forming the Caribbean island arc?
16. What is the name of a pile of sediment scraped off by a plate overriding another plate
at subduction zones?
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3. Marine Provinces (Trujillo Chapter 3)
Figure 3.1. Satellite measurements abnormalities on the ocean’s surface is used to infer
submerged bathymetric features.
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Figure 3.2. Bathymetric charts derived from satellite data (right) are much more detailed
than those derived from ship data (left).
Figure 3.3. Global bathymetric chart derived from sea surface abnormalities, which reveals
continental shelves and other shallow areas in pink, mid-ocean ridges in yellow-green and
the deepest parts of the ocean in blue.
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plate. They are typically wide. Active continental margins, on the other hand, are
associated with convergent plate boundaries and subduction of oceanic crust beneath
continental crust (e.g. Pacific Ocean). Active continental margins are associated with
earthquakes and volcanoes, and are typically narrow (Figure 3.5).
Figure 3.4. A cross-section of the North Atlantic reveals the three major ocean provinces.
Figure 3.5. Passive and active continental margins, shown on each side of South America.
The active margin (left/west) has a narrow shelf and an offshore trench where the oceanic
plate is being subducted. The passive margin (right/east) faces the diverging plate boundary
of the mid-ocean ridge; it is much wider.
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Continental margins are made up of several sections (Figure 3.6). The continental shelf
lies right at the edge of the continent and is nearly flat, with an average depth of 130m.
The width of the continental shelf varies greatly, and is much greater in passive continental
margins. Continental shelves have been alternately submerged and exposed through
fluctuations in sea level during glacial ages, and when inundated, they may accumulate
sediment derived from land and carried by rivers. The shelf break marks the abrupt change
in slope from the nearly flat continental shelf to the continental slope. The angle of the
slope varies greatly. Continental slopes have submarine canyons that were formed during
periods of low sea level (Figure 3.7). These canyons are V-shaped with steep walls and
transport sediments from the shelves to the deep sea floor. Turbidity currents are fast
moving flows of sediments on the continental slope that may travel to speeds of 90 km/hr
and carry enormous quantities of sediments. They are caused by earthquakes or
overloading of sediments on the shelf. At the base of the continental slope, the
accumulation of sediment creates a gentle slope. This portion of the continental margin is
known as the continental rise, and is most prominent on passive continental margins. The
continental rise marks the beginning of true deep ocean basins.
Figure 3.16. Continental margin, with continental shelf, slope and rise.
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Figure 3.7. Submarine canyons are a common feature of continental shelves and slopes,
and turbidity currents commonly flow down them bringing sediment at the base of the
canyon.
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Figure 3.8. Seismic cross-section and drawing of an abyssal plain, where fine sediment
cover most bathymetric features.
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Figure 3.10. Deep sea trenches are especially common around the perimeter of the Pacific
Ocean, but are also found in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
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Figure 3.11. Bathymetric features of the North Atlantic, including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
clearly showing the central rift valley.
Figure 3.12. Structure and photo of a black smoker, a type of hydrothermal vent.
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Figure 3.13. A volcanic seamount associated with the spreading of the East Pacific Rise.
Mid-ocean ridges are cut by a number of fracture zones, parallel series of linear valleys
perpendicular to the ridge (Figure 3.11). Transform faults are the region of the fracture
zone where plates move in opposite direction (Figure 3.14). Earthquakes are frequent
along transform faults.
Figure 3.14. Fracture zones intersect mid-ocean ridges perpendicularly. In the transform
fault area, the plates are moving in opposite direction.
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The proportion of bathymetric and topographic features of the earth are shown in Figure
3.15. Note that abyssal plains (described as basins in Figure 3.15) comprise about 40% of
the total area in the oceans.
Figure 3.15. Topographic and bathymetric features of the earth, as a percent of total area
of land or of oceans.
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3.5. Review Questions
1. Which type of continental margin (passive or active) typically has a wide continental
shelf?
4. Which ocean has a lot of volcanoes and earthquakes along its margins?
6. What is the name of the boundary between the continental shelf and the continental
slope?
10. What is the difference between a transform fault and a fracture zone?
11. What size of sediments are typically found on the deep sea floor (fine or coarse)?
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4. Marine Sediments
Table 5.1 shows the names of sediment of various sizes. Sediment can be well sorted and
homogeneous, or poorly sorted and heterogeneous. Typically, a rapid supply of sediment
results in heterogeneous mixture, for example when a glacier melts and leaves sediment
behind. Conversely, sediment deposited at the mouth of a continuously flowing river is
more homogeneous. Water velocity in a given area is largely responsible for determining
the size of sediment that is transported and deposited (Figure 4.1). Large particles require
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a fast current to be transported, and are deposited quickly as current is reduced. Smaller
particles (e.g. sand) are easily eroded and transported by slower currents, and take longer
to be deposited. However, greater current velocities are required to erode clay than sand
because it is more cohesive and stickier. Because water velocity determines the grain size
that is deposited, the mean grain size of sediment in an area can serve as a rough measure
of energy at the time of deposition.
Figure 4.1. A Hjulstrom curve, showing velocity required to erode and deposit particles of
various sizes.
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4.2. Lithogenous sediment
Figure 4.2. The highest concentration of lithogenous sediment in the deep sea follow
dominant wind patterns. Wind can transport small sediment across large distances. Small
sediments can also be carried a long way in current, since their settling rate is slow. Inset
shows a dust storm blowing sediment from Africa into the Atlantic.
49
4.3 Biogenous sediments
Biogenous sediments are those derived from hard parts of organisms that do not degrade
after the organism dies. They originate from single-celled organisms and from shell
fragments of larger organisms. Deep-sea sediments that are composed by over 30%
biogenic sediment are called oozes, and typically fall in two categories: calcareous ooze
which comes primarily from foraminiferans, pteropods and coccolithophores (Figure 4.4),
and siliceous ooze, which comes from diatoms and radiolarians (Figure 4.5). More details
on these planktonic organisms are provided in chapter 15 of this booklet.
Figure 4.4. Coccolithophores and foraminiferans are some of the most important
organisms that contribute calcium carbonate shells to calcareous oozes.
50
Figure 4.5. Radiolarians and diatoms both produce silica shells that accumulate in siliceous
oozes
51
Figure 4.6. Accumulation of siliceous ooze below zone of high productivity, where
siliceous material accumulates faster than it dissolves.
While siliceous oozes can be found at all depths, calcareous oozes are not found in the
deepest waters, since calcium carbonate dissolves in the conditions found in the deep sea
(Figure 4.7). The depth at which calcium carbonate dissolves is called the calcite
compensation depth. It varies slightly depending on local conditions, but is generally
around 4500m. Calcareous oozes are not found below this depth, except if they are rapidly
covered by other sediments.
Figure 4.7. The calcite compensation depth is the point at which calcite dissolves in
seawater.
52
Since mid-ocean ridges often rise about the calcite compensation depth, calcareous oozes
are commonly found near them (Figure 4.8)
Figure 4.8. Since calcareous oozes are only found in shallower waters, their distribution
of calcareous oozes follows mid-ocean ridges.
Sediment deposits found in the ocean are a mixture of particles from various origins, but
one type of sediment often dominates in a given area and generalizations on sediment
type can be made based on latitude and bathymetric features (Figure 4.9 & 4.10). For
example, coarse-grained lithogenous sediments dominant near continents, while fine-
grained lithogenous material (abyssal clay) and biogenic sediments are important in the
middle of the oceans. Hydrogenous and cosmogenous sediment are much less abundant,
except for isolated fields of manganese nodules in some regions of the abyssal plains
(Figure 4.9).
53
Figure 4.9. Typical distribution of sediments from a passive continental margin to a mid-
ocean ridge
A quick glance at sinking rates of various particle sizes (table 5.1 above) shows that the
smallest sediment particles can remain in suspension for months or years before reaching
54
the seafloor. However it has become clear that particles tend to attract one another,
producing larger particles that sink faster. Additionally, nearly all biogenic sediment
particles are aggregated into fecal pellets as the organisms producing the tests are eaten
by small animals. The resulting pellets, while still small, sink much faster and can reach
the ocean floor within a few days. The type of ooze found in a given area therefore
reflects the types of microorganisms that live above.
Marine sediments are thickest along passive continental shelves where large amounts of
sediment is carried by rivers. Less sediment is found on active margins, where trenches
and subduction zones are located close to shore. Thin sediment layers are found on mid-
ocean ridges, with sediment thickness gradually increasing away from the ridge, as age of
the ocean floor increases (Figure 4.11).
55
4.6. Review Questions
1. What is the name for sediments that originated from rocks on land?
3. What is an ooze?
4. What are the two main types of oozes, and which organisms contribute to each?
8. How do clay-sized biogenic sediment reach the seafloor roughly in the same area
where they were formed near the surface, if clay-sized sediment should take 50 years
to settle in 4km?
12. Why are calcareous oozes commonly found along mid-ocean ridges and not on
abyssal plains?
13. What kind of sediment is African dust that blows to the Atlantic during storms?
56
5. Water (Trujillo, Chapter 5)
Water is a very common substance on earth; 71% of our planet is covered by water.
Though it is very abundant, few people understand the special characteristics of water
which make it so important to life on earth. This section examines various properties of
water which are important to understand before one can understand the dynamics of the
oceans and organisms living in it.
57
Covalent bonds are the strong bonds within the water molecule, linking the oxygen atom
with the hydrogen atom. Water molecules also bond with one another through hydrogen
bonds (Figure 5.2). Hydrogen bonds are formed between water molecules because of the
polarity of the molecule. The negatively-charged oxygen from one molecule is attracted
to the positively-charged hydrogen from another molecule. Each molecule can form
hydrogen bonds with up to four other molecules. Hydrogen bonds are weak compared to
covalent bonds, and are constantly forming and breaking as molecules move around in
water. However, these bonds are relatively strong compared to similar bonds in other
molecules. This relatively strong bond between water molecules is responsible for many
characteristics of water, such as surface tension and high heat capacity.
The polarity of water molecule not only means that molecules are attracted to one another;
they are also attracted to other polar compounds. In binding with these compounds, water
can greatly reduce the attraction between ions of opposite charge. For example, the sodium
and chloride ions in table salt are 80 times less attracted to one another when placed in
water, as water molecules surround the ions in a process called hydration (Figure 5.3).
Given enough time, water is able to dissolve nearly every substance in this fashion, and for
this reason it is often called the university solvent.
58
Figure 5.3. Water is a great solvent because of it polar nature. The negative side of the
water molecule is attraction to positive ions (here, Na+) while the positive side is attracted
to negative ions (here, Cl-).
Thermal properties
As energy (heat) is added to water, the movement of molecules increases and molecules
move further apart. It also takes heat to change the state of water from solid to liquid and
gas (Figure 5.4). Conversely, changing states in the other direction (from gas to liquid to
solid) releases energy to the environment. In the solid state, molecules remain firmly
attached in a rigid structure. In the liquid state, water molecules have more kinetic energy
(movement) and hydrogen bonds are broken and reformed at a much greater rate. In a gas
state, molecules are much further apart with few hydrogen bonds at any given time.
Figure 5.4. Water in each of the three states, showing the change in molecule arrangement
and transfer of heat between water and the environment.
59
Within a state, the heat added to water directly increases the temperature of the water, e.g.
it takes 1 calorie to raise 1 gram of water by 1oC. This is called the heat capacity and it is
high compared to other substances (Figure 5.5). The reason for this high heat capacity
again resides in the geometry and polarity of water molecules, and the resulting hydrogen
bonds which take more energy to break than the forces between molecules in other
compounds (typically dominated by weaker interactions called van der Waals).
Pure freshwater melts (or freezes) at 0oC and boils (or condenses) at 100oC. These
temperatures are very high; based on similar compounds one would expect water to melt
at -90oC and boil at -68oC (Figure 5.6). The reason for this discrepancy lies in the geometry
of the water and its polarity, which lead to strong hydrogen bonds that require a lot of
energy to break.
Figure 5.5. Specific heat capacity of water compared to other common substances. It takes
more energy to increase the temperature of water than these other substances.
60
Figure 5.6. Comparison of melting and boiling point of water compared to other similar
compounds.
As water changes state, a lot heat is absorbed or released from it. Going from solid to
liquid and gaseous states takes a lot of energy to break hydrogen bonds and this energy
does not increase the temperature of the water. Changing from ice to liquid water at 0oC
requires 80 calories that do not lead to a change in temperature. This is called the latent
heat of melting. Similarly, changing from liquid water to gas (water vapor) requires 540
calories that do not change the temperature. This is called the latent heat of vaporization
(Figure 5.7). The reason for a greater latent heat of vaporization compared to melting is
that many more hydrogen bonds need to be broken to change water from liquid to gas
(Figure 5.8).
While it is clear that water evaporates when it reaches 100oC, we also know that water
evaporates at the surface of the ocean at much lower temperature (e.g. 20oC). In this case,
the water molecules that evaporate obtain the energy from surrounding water molecules in
the process of evaporation, and therefore this has a cooling effect on the remaining liquid
water. One gram of water at 20oC requires 585 calories to be evaporate, more energy than
would be needed at 100oC.
61
When water changes states from gas to liquid to solid, heat is instead released to the
environment. This has important consequences for climate and air-sea interactions, for
example in fueling tropical storms (more on this in chapter 6).
62
Global thermostatic effects
Water’s high heat capacity and latent heats both contribute to water’s thermostatic effect:
its ability to moderate temperature fluctuations. This is evident in two main ways. First,
the evaporation/condensation cycle of water removes large amounts of heat from the
tropics to redistribute it at higher latitude, thus moderating the Earth’s climate (Figure 5.9).
Second, the higher heat capacity of water than land helps reduce the temperature difference
between day and night (Figure 5.10) and between summer and winter. Thus, areas on the
coast have much milder climates than dry zones within continents.
Figure 5.9. The cycle of evaporation and precipitation helps move surplus heat from the
equator to higher latitudes. More detail on atmospheric circulation patterns are provided
in chapter 9 of this booklet.
63
Figure 5.10. Temperature differences between day and night are much greater in dry areas
than they are in the water and in coastal areas.
64
Surface tension
Surface tension refers to how difficult it is to break the surface of a liquid. Water has the
highest surface tension of naturally occurring substances after mercury, because of the
hydrogen bonds that bond molecules at the surface with those laterally and below.
Increasing the temperature of water decreases surface tension, and increasing the salinity
increases surface tension. This high surface tension is important in the formation of wind-
driven capillary waves as well as in the capillary effect.
Viscosity
Viscosity is the property of a fluid to resist flow. Water has a relatively low viscosity.
Increased temperature decreases viscosity, but this is noticeable only to the smallest
organisms, which must develop adaptations to prevent sinking in the less viscous, warm
tropical waters. More on this in chapter 15.
Pressure
Water is much denser than air and for that reason pressure increases quickly with depth.
For each 10 m (33 ft) of depth, the pressure increases by 1 atmosphere. Marine animals
therefore have adaptations to deal with the pressure of the environment they live in. Water
is nearly incompressible and therefore even the greatest pressures have only a very small
effect on volume.
Increased salinity and increased pressure also lead to higher water density. However,
temperature has a greater influence on density than salinity and pressure. Adding salt to
water also decreases its freezing point. For that reason, seawater typically freezes around
-2oC, rather than 0oC for freshwater.
65
Figure 5.11. Density of pure water with temperature.
66
5.4. Review Questions
1. What type of bond links the oxygen to the hydrogen in the water molecule?
3. What characteristic of the water molecule makes hydrogen bonds relatively strong?
4. How many water molecules can one molecule form hydrogen bonds with?
6. How many calories are required to evaporate one gram of water at 75oC?
8. What happens to the angle of covalent bonds within water molecules in ice?
9. What is heat capacity and why does water have high heat capacity compared to other
substances?
10. What are the two main ways in which water reduces temperature fluctuations on
Earth?
11. Give an example of the role of surface tension in the marine environment
67
6. Seawater (Trujillo Chapter 5)
6.1. Properties of Seawater
Salinity
Salinity refers to the amount of inorganic material dissolved in water. This excludes
sediments held in suspension since those particles are not dissolved. The polar nature of
the water molecule allows it to readily dissolve salts. As salts (e.g. NaCl) are added to
water, they dissociate into ions (e.g. Na+ and Cl-), and bond with water molecules (Figure
5.3). Water can hold a certain quantity of salt in solution; this is called the saturation value.
An increase in temperature increases the saturation value of salts.
On average the ocean has a salinity of 35 ‰ (or ppt, parts per thousand), which means that
1000 g of seawater is composed of 965g of water and 35 g of dissolved solids (Figure 6.1).
The most abundant salts in water are referred to as major ions. Note that the six most
abundant ions make up 99% of all salts in seawater (Figure 5.12). Minor constituents
include more ions, as well as some gases and nutrients. Trace elements are present in
concentrations lower than 1 ppm, and include aluminum, copper, cobalt, iron, mercury and
silver, among others (Table 5.1). Though trace elements are present only in very small
quantities, they may still play an important role biologically (e.g. iron). Nutrients are
inorganic substances necessary for plant growth; nutrients and gases are discussed in
chapter 7 of this textbook.
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Figure 6.1. Major ions in seawater.
69
Determining salinity
The principle of constant proportions states that the ratio of one major ion to another
remains the same, regardless of variations in salinity. This applies to major conservative
ions in open-ocean, not where rivers bring dissolved substances or reduce salinities. The
ratios of minor non-conservative constituents (e.g. nutrients and gases) do not follow the
principle of constant composition as they vary because they are connected to life cycles of
organisms.
The salinity of water can be measured in a variety of ways. It can be measured with a
salinometer, which measures the conductivity of water (the saltier the water, the more it
conducts electricity). CTDs (Conductivity-Temperature Devices) are modern instruments
that also measure salinity through conductivity. It is also possible to titrate the chlorine in
the water, which is directly proportional to the total salinity because of the principle of
constant proportions. A refractometer measures the bending of light as it passes from air
to water; the saltier the water, the more dense it is, and the more it refracts light.
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6.2. Processes affecting salinity
In the open ocean, salinity varies slightly, from about 33 to 38‰. Salinity variations are
much more extreme in coastal areas, where freshwater input and evaporation can create
brackish water (between seawater and freshwater) or hypersaline water (e.g. up to about
42‰ in the Red Sea). Salinity often varies seasonally based several factors that affect
water input or removal (and to a much lesser degree, salt input or removal; Table 5.3).
71
Salts present in the oceans originally came from the crust and interior of the earth and were
released through volcanism and hydrothermal vents. Physical and chemical weathering of
rocks on land also adds salt to the oceans through river runoff. It is estimated that the
oceans have been present for about 3.5 billion years, and salinity has remained stable for
the last ~1.5 billion years. If salts are continuously added through the processes explained
above, then they must also be removed by other processes for salinity to be stable (Figure
6.2). Removal of salts occurs in various ways. Sea spray leaves some salt on land. Shallow
seas that evaporate over a long period of time leave salt deposits (evaporites). Biological
organisms concentrate ions in their feces and shells, which may then be transferred to
sediments. Salts in sediments may be returned to the interior of the earth as tectonic plates
collide and one plate is subducted (pulled) under the other, along with some of the sediment
overlying it. Finally, ions can adhere on the surface of small particles, e.g. clay, in a process
called adsorption. Salts are then incorporated in sediments and do not return to seawater
readily.
The residence time is the average time a substance remains in solution in the ocean.
Conservative constituents have long residence times (e.g. millions of years), because they
tend to be non-reactive with water and are not added or removed by biological processes.
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Conservative constituents include major ions as well as some trace elements and some
gases. Non-conservative constituents, on the other hand, are typically tied to biological,
seasonal or geological cycles. They have a short residence time (< 1000 years) and include
some trace elements, nutrients (Si, N, P) and some gases (e.g. O2, CO2).
While average ocean salinity is 35‰, there is considerable variation with latitude and
depth. Salinity is highest around the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, where there is high
evaporation and little precipitation. Near the equator, evaporation rates are also high, but
high precipitation levels offset this loss of water. Salinity is lower at high latitudes because
of low evaporation rates, high precipitation and runoff, and the melting of icebergs (Figure
6.3).
Salinity is on average higher in the Atlantic than the Pacific, because this narrower ocean
experiences higher levels of evaporation due to the land effects of the nearby continents
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(Figure 6.4). Satellite-derived surface salinity maps show those patterns, as well as the
lower salinity in coastal zones with high freshwater runoff (e.g. near the Amazon and Saint
Lawrence rivers; notice also the low salinity of the Arctic ocean during the summer; Figure
6.4).
Figure 6.4. Surface salinity of the oceans derived from remote sensing.
Salinity also changes with depth, though the pattern depends on latitude. In the tropics,
surface salinity is high and rapidly decreases from ~200-1000 m where it stabilizes around
35‰. At high latitudes the pattern is inversed: surface salinity is lower at the surface than
at depth (Figure 6.5). Salinity at depth hardly changes since surface processes
(evaporation, precipitation, melting of ice) are those that affect salinity. The region of
sharp change in salinity with depth (either an increase or decrease, Figure 6.5) is called a
halocline.
74
Figure 6.5. Typical patterns of salinity with depth at low and high latitudes.
In warm regions, where surface water is continuously heated by the sun, a layer of
relatively well-mixed warm water extends to about 300m. Temperature then rapidly drops
until ~1000m and then remains constant all the way to the ocean’s bottom (Figure 6.6).
The region of sharp change in temperature is called a thermocline. Because temperature
has the greatest influence on density, the thermocline is accompanied by a pycnocline, a
region of rapid change in density. This creates three main water masses: the mixed surface
water above the permanent thermocline, which has the lowest density, the upper water
which is the zone encompassing the thermocline (and corresponding pycnocline), and the
75
deep water below, which has the highest density. At high latitudes, this thermocline is
absent because the entire water column is cold (water is isothermal). Similarly, there is
little change in density with depth (water is isopycnal). Therefore vertical water mixing
occurs readily. Note that in temperate zones, a temporary thermocline and pycnocline is
set up during the summer. More on this in chapter 16 of this booklet.
Figure 6.6. Temperature and density variations with depth, at low and high latitudes.
76
6.6. Review Questions
2. Where would you expect to find a higher average open ocean salinity; in the tropics
(5o N & S of equator) or in the desert belts (25o N & S)?
3. How does salinity compared between the Atlantic and the Pacific?
12. How does temperature affect the salt saturation value of seawater?
13. What is the name of the device used to determine salinity by measuring the bending of
light as it passes from air to the water sample?
14. What effect does adding salt have on the boiling point and freezing point of water?
77
7. Gases and nutrients in seawater (Duxbury, Chapter 6)
7.1. Gases in Seawater
Several gases are dissolved in seawater. Atmospheric gases enter the surface of the ocean
and distribute to depth by currents and mixing. Some (e.g. O2 and CO2) are also produced
by biological processes.
The amount of gases that can be held in solution is known at the saturation value (or
saturation concentration), and varies with temperature, salinity and pressure. A decrease
in temperature, a decrease in salinity, and an increase in pressure all lead to a higher
saturation value of gases.
Atmospheric gases enter the ocean at the surface through diffusion and wave action. They
can be moved to depths with dense bodies of water that sink from the surface (e.g. cold
surface water at the poles). Gases near the sea surface tend to be saturated with atmospheric
values. At depth, they reflect biological processes (photosynthesis, respiration and decay)
and geological processes (e.g. volcanoes; Table 7.1).
Atmospheric nitrogen cannot be used by most biological organisms, but can be fixed (i.e.
made into ammonium, which is usable by other organisms) by some bacteria. Oxygen is
produced by photosynthesis and used in respiration and decay. Carbon dioxide is produced
by respiration and decay and used in photosynthesis.
Table 7.1. Abundance of gases in air and seawater (From Sverdrup et al, 2004)
Photosynthetic organisms are confined to the sea surface, where sunlight is available (to
~100-150m deep). In this region, oxygen is produced and carbon dioxide is consumed
through photosynthesis in the following reaction:
CO2 + H2O ↔ C6H12O6 + O2
78
All organisms (animals and plants) also respire to meet their metabolic needs, using oxygen
and glucose and producing carbon dioxide in the following reaction. Respiration occurs at
all depths:
C6H12O6 + O2 ↔ CO2 + H2O
Plants have a lower rate of photosynthesis in lower light levels. Therefore, the rate of
photosynthesis decreases with increasing depth, until light levels are so low that plants can
only photosynthesize enough to meet their own metabolic needs. This depth, where the
rate of photosynthesis is equal to the rate of respiration for plants and plant-like organisms,
is known as the compensation depth (Figure 7.2). At this depth, the net oxygen production
is zero. There can be no growth of photosynthetic organisms below it. The compensation
depth varies with water clarity, and usually corresponds to approximately 1% of surface
light levels, and can be as deep as 150m. Decomposition (decay) of dead organisms, like
respiration, also occurs at all depths; it uses oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
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Figure 7.2. The compensation depth, where the rate of photosynthesis is equal to the rate
of respiration.
The typical pattern of concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide with depth can be seen
in Figure 7.3. Oxygen concentration is highest near the surface, where sunlight is abundant
and the rate of photosynthesis is high. It decreases slightly right at the surface because of
a process called photoinhibition, where photosynthesis is reduced at very high light levels.
Oxygen concentration decreases below the surface layer because it is used in respiration
and decomposition. It reaches a minimum around 800m deep, which often coincides with
a pycnocline (a rapid change in density with depth) and an accumulation of decaying
organic material. Below the oxygen minimum, the density of animals is reduced and the
rates of respiration and decomposition are reduced. Further, deep water typically originates
from cold, dense, oxygen-rich surface water from polar regions. Carbon dioxide, on the
other hand, is least abundant in surface waters, where it is used in photosynthesis, and
gradually increases in concentration with depth as it is produced by respiration and
decomposition.
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Figure 7.3. Vertical profile of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the Atlantic Ocean.
7.2. Seawater pH
The acidity or alkalinity of a substance is measured with the pH scale, a logarithmic scale
from 1 to 14, which measures the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+). A pH of 7 is neutral;
lower pH is acidic (higher concentration of H+) and higher pH is basic, or alkaline, with a
low concentration of H+ and high concentration of hydroxide ions OH- (Figure 7.5). Pure
water has a pH of 7; while there is constantly a small amount of free hydrogen ions and
hydroxide ions due to the dissociation and reformation of water molecules ( ↔
), their concentration is equal and therefore the pH remains neutral. When other
substances are dissolved in water, they can alter the balance of these ions and therefore
change the pH of the solution. Since the pH scale is logarithmic, a solution with a pH of 6
has 10 times more free hydrogen ions (is 10 times more acidic) than one with a pH of 7.
Therefore, seemingly small changes on the scale can mean large changes in water
chemistry. This is important because biological processes must happen within a narrow
range of pH. The average surface ocean pH is 8.1, and it varies between 8.0 and 8.3.
Carbon dioxide readily combines with water to form carbonic acid (H2CO3), which can
dissociate into bicarbonate (HCO3-) and a hydrogen ion (H+):
CO2 + H2O ↔ H2CO3 ↔ HCO3- + H+
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This reaction clearly shows that increasing the amount of CO2 in the oceans should increase
ocean acidity. The change in pH is however buffered by another reaction involving
calcium carbonate, which at lower pH dissociates in to Ca2+ and CO32- (Figure 7.5). The
carbonate ions (CO32-) then react with free hydrogen ions to form bicarbonate (HCO3-).
This process removes free H+ from the water, therefore buffers the acidifying effect of CO2
and prevents large changes in pH. This is called the carbonate buffering system of the
ocean. Recently however, large increases in CO2 from man-made causes have
overwhelmed this buffering system and oceans are becoming more acidic. More on this in
chapter 20.
Figure 7.4. The pH scale, showing the pH of common substances. A pH 7 is neutral and
a change of 1 pH unit translates to a 10-fold increase in free hydrogen ions.
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Figure 7.5. The carbonate buffering system, showing how calcium carbonate can dissociate
to allow carbonate ions to take up free hydrogen ions, thereby reducing the change in pH
associated with increased CO2.
Because seawater pH is strongly tied to CO2 concentration, it varies with depth in relation
to CO2 levels, with highest pH at the surface and a pH minimum around 800m, which
coincides with high CO2 levels caused by animal respiration at a depth where
photosynthesis is not possible (Figure 6.6).
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Figure 7.6. Changes in pH with depth in seawater.
Permanent thermoclines occur in the tropics, where the surface of the ocean is warm year
round and this warm water, being less dense, always remains near the surface. In areas
with a permanent thermocline, nutrients are depleted in the photic zone and nutrient-rich
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deeper waters are not brought to the surface because the strong thermocline prevents
vertical mixing, and therefore photosynthesis and productivity are low (Figure 7.7),
resulting in clear waters.
Seasonal thermoclines, on the other hand, occur in temperate zones in the summer, when
surface water is heated and becomes less dense. In the fall, as the temperature of the surface
layer drops, this water becomes denser and sinks to the bottom (Figure 7.8). As surface
water sinks to the bottom, nutrient-rich bottom water is brought to the surface in the photic
zone, where it can be used by photosynthetic organisms. In temperate zones,
phytoplankton biomass is at its highest in the spring, when nutrients are plentiful and there
is enough sunlight to sustain photosynthesis; it decreases in the summer as the seasonal
thermocline appears and nutrients become depleted; there is a second small phytoplankton
bloom in the fall that corresponds to the start of the fall overturn and to the release of
nutrients from zooplankton decay, until sunlight becomes limiting and production drops
during the winter (Figure 7.7 & 7.8).
In polar regions, the water column is always well-mixed and nutrients are abundant, but
light is only abundant enough for photosynthesis for a short period in the summer.
Productivity in polar regions is limited by light, and there is a strong, yet short peak of
primary production in the summer when sunlight is sufficient (Figure 7.7).
Nutrients may also be brought to the surface by upwelling: where deep water is forced to
the surface. More on the factors controlling nutrient levels and primary productivity in
chapter 16 of this booklet.
Figure 7.7. Annual variation in phytoplankton biomass (or primary production in tropical,
temperate and polar regions.
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Figure 7.8. Seasonal variation in thermocline and mixing in temperate oceans. Nutrients
are abundant when deep, nutrient-rich water is brought to the surface (from fall to spring).
Primary production (phytoplankton growth) is high when nutrients are present and there is
enough sunlight (spring and fall).
86
7.4. Review Questions
2. Describe the type body of water in which you would expect to find the greatest amount
of gas held in solution
7. Which two biological processes remove oxygen and add carbon dioxide?
10. Which compound plays an important role in the buffering capacity of seawater?
12. How would the addition of hydrogen ions affect ocean pH? How would it affect the
buffering capacity reaction?
13. How many more free hydrogen ions are in a solution of pH 6 compared to a solution
of pH 7?
87
8. Transmission of Energy in the Water (Duxbury, Chap. 5)
8.1. Heat
Heat can be transmitted in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation (Figure 8.1).
Conduction is the increase in molecular movement from fast-moving nearby molecules,
e.g. when the handle of a metal spoon is heated after the other end of the spoon is placed
in a hot liquid. Water is a poor conductor. Convection is driven by changes in density;
warmer water is less dense and rises, carrying heat with it and spreading it to other areas.
Radiation is the direct transmission of heat from its energy source, such as the heating of
the earth from the sun. Heat can be radiated without a medium (e.g. in space).
Solar radiation hits the surface of the ocean, and warms the surface layer. This warm water
tends to remain at the surface because it is less dense than the underlying colder water, and
because water is a poor heat conductor. Cold warm from greater depths may return to the
surface by seasonal mixing or upwelling, but otherwise stays under the thermocline.
Figure 8.1. Conduction, convection and radiation are all shown as this pot of water is heated
over a fire.
8.2. Light
The sun radiates many forms of electromagnetic energy, which includes gamma rays, x-
rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwave and radio waves (Figure 8.2). However,
of all the electromagnetic spectrum, only visible light is transmitted in water. About 60%
of the light that reaches the sea surface is absorbed in the first meter; 80% in the first 10m,
and 99% in the top 150m. No light penetrates below 1,000m. This decrease in light
intensity with depth is called attenuation, and is affected by the amount of suspended
particles and organisms. Light attenuation can be measured with a simple device called a
Secchi disk. The visible light can be further divided into its various color components,
from red (longest wavelength) to violet (shortest wavelength). When visible light is
transmitted through seawater, the various colors are not all transmitted equally, and the
longest wavelengths (red) are absorbed first. Blue wavelengths reach the deepest, which
is why objects tend to look blue underwater (Figure 8.3).
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Figure 8.2. The electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light.
89
Figure 8.3. Light absorption in the open ocean.
In nearshore environments, the increased amount of particles reflecting light in the water
increases the light attenuation and therefore decreases the depth of light penetration.
Moreover, coastal waters often appear green rather than blue because abundant particles
and organisms reflect those wavelengths (Figure 8.4).
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The speed of light is faster in air than in water and this causes light to bend as it enters the
water (Figure 8.5). The degree of refraction (bending) is affected by temperature and
salinity (the denser the water, the greater the refraction). This allows us to easily measure
salinity in seawater by measuring the refraction of light with a device called a
refractometer.
Figure 8.5. Objects that are not directly in the individual's line of sight can be seen in
water because of the refraction of the light rays. The refraction is caused by the decreased
speed of light in water.
8.3. Sound
Sound travels 4.5 times faster in water than in air. Many animals use sound to navigate,
find their prey and communicate. Because the energy of high frequency sounds dissipates
faster than that of low frequency sounds, the low frequencies travel further.
When sound hits an object, it is reflected back to the source and can be used to measure
distance, direction and properties of the object. This is how marine mammals use sound to
navigate and find prey through echolocation. This is also how SONAR and depth finders
work aboard boats (Figure 8.6).
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Figure 8.6. Traveling at an average speed of 1500 m per second, a sound pulse leaves the
ship, travels downward, strikes the bottom, and returns. In 4500 m of water, the sound
requires three seconds to reach the bottom and three seconds to return.
The speed of sound increases with increasing temperature, pressure and salinity (Figure
8.7). There is no constant trend of salinity with depth and therefore salinity is not as
important as temperature and pressure when considering speed of sound with depth through
the water column. Because of changes in temperature and pressure with depth, the speed
of sound is not constant through the water column; it reaches a zone of minimum velocity
around 1,000m (Figure 8.4). This zone of minimum sound velocity is known at the SOFAR
channel (SOund Fixing and Ranging), and sound produced in this channel tends to be
refracted back in the channel, and therefore travels great distances (Figure 8.8). Speed of
sound increases above the SOFAR channel because of increased temperature, and increases
below the SOFAR channel because of increased pressure.
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Figure 8.7. The speed of sound in water increases with temperature, salinity and pressure.
Figure 8.8. The SOFAR channel, around 1000m, where temperature and pressure create a
zone of minimum sound velocity.
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8.5. Review Questions
6. What is refraction?
10. How does the speed of sound change with temperature, pressure and salinity?
12. How do sounds get transmitted greater distances when travelling in the SOFAR
channel?
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9. Air-Sea Interaction (Trujillo, chapter 6)
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Figure 9.1. Solar radiation is more concentrated and passes through less atmosphere at
low latitudes than high latitudes.
The atmosphere is a mixture of gases that extends up about 90 km from the Earth’s surface.
Yet because of increased pressure near the surface of the earth, 99% of the gases in the
atmosphere are below 30 km, and 90% of it is below 15km. The atmosphere is composed
of nitrogen (N2, 78.1%), oxygen (O2, 20.9%), argon (0.9%) and carbon dioxide (CO2,
0.039%) and some other inert gases (Figure 9.2).
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Figure 9.2. Composition of dry atmosphere.
Distinct layers can be identified in the atmosphere. The lowest layer is called the
troposphere, and extends from the surface of the earth to an altitude of about 12 km. In the
troposphere, temperature decreases with altitude because the troposphere is heated from
the earth below. This decreasing in temperature occurs at a rate of approximately –10oC
for each 1,000m of elevation, to a minimum of about – 60oC. In the stratosphere (from 12
to 50 km of altitude), temperature increases with altitude because of the ozone (O3) layer
located here, which absorbs UV from the sun. Temperature decreases again in the upper
atmosphere (Figure 9.3).
Temperature has an important effect on the density of air. At higher temperature, air is less
dense and it rises; cold air is denser and it sinks. These variations in density can create
convection cells much the same way as would be set up in a room heated from below
(Figure 9.4). Differential heating of the atmosphere at various latitudes sets the gases in
motion, and creates winds. Air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure
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Figure 9.3. Temperature profile and the various layers of the atmosphere.
Figure 9.4. A convection cell if a room, created by the heating of the air below (by the
radiator) and cooling of air higher up (by the window).
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Non-Rotating Earth
Most of the atmosphere is located within the troposphere and winds in this layer are the
most important when considering atmospheric circulation. Consider first a theoretical non-
rotating earth with no land masses. As explained earlier, the equator receives more heat
than higher latitudes, and warm, moist air (which is less dense) rises at the equator, creating
an area of low pressure (Figure 9.5). As this moist air rises, its moisture condensates,
creating precipitation at the equator. This air (which is now dry) then flows North or South
towards higher latitudes, and sinks back down near the poles. The air then flows back
towards the equator along the earth’s surface, creating a large convection cell (Figure 9.6).
The air flowing along the earth’s surface is wind. In this model, the wind would blow
steadily from the poles to the equator.
Figure 9.5. Zones of low atmospheric pressure are created in warm areas where the air
above the earth is less dense and rises. High pressure zones are created where cool air
sinks. Winds at the surface of the earth move from areas of high pressure to areas of low
pressure.
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Figure 9.6. Large convection cell created by differential heating of the earth in a non-
rotating earth with no land masses.
In reality, the earth turns on its axis in an easterly direction at a speed of 1,674 km/hr at the
equator, and lesser speeds at higher latitudes (Figure 9.7). The rotation of the earth affects
the movements of the atmosphere, the ocean, and any other object not directly attached to
the earth. Consider an object that is directly on the equator moving East at a speed of 1,674
km/hr. If this object is set in motion directly North, it carries an easterly momentum as
well as its northerly movement (Figure 9.7). As this object travels over land that has a
slower easterly movement than itself, it appears to turn to the right. Similarly, an object
set in motion from high latitude (slow rotational velocities) towards the south travels over
parts of the earth that have a faster easterly movement, and again appears to veer to the
right. In the same way, air or currents in movement in the atmosphere appears to turn to
the right in the Northern hemisphere and to the left in the Southern hemisphere. This
apparent deflection of objects in movement not directly attached to the earth is called the
Coriolis effect. Rotational velocities of the earth decrease in a non-linear fashion from the
equator to the poles; the rate of change becomes greater towards the poles. For this reason,
the Coriolis effect is increasingly important at higher latitudes. It has no effect directly on
the equator.
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Figure 9.7. The earth spins on its axis in an easterly direction. Velocity is greatest at the
equator and zero at the poles (left). The change in velocity with latitude leads to an
apparent deflection to the right (Northern hemisphere), called the Coriolis effect (right).
Taking into account the rotation of the earth and the Coriolis effect, the atmospheric
circulation model is substantially modified. As in the previous model, warm, moist air
rises at the equator and travels at high altitude towards the poles. But as this air moves to
higher latitudes, it tends to turn to the right (Northern hemisphere) or left (Southern
hemisphere). This shortens the large, hemisphere-wide convection cell, and instead creates
three smaller convection cells in each hemisphere (Figure 9.8). The air rising at the equator
sinks back down at 30o N and S, and moves along the surface of the earth, either back
towards the equator or towards higher latitude. At 60o there is another area of low pressure
where air rises, travels at altitude either towards the pole or towards 30o N or S.
In this model, at 0 and 60o North and South, warm, moist, low-density air rises, creating
areas of low pressure, clouds and rain. At 30 and 90o North and South, cool, dry, high-
density air sinks, creating areas of high pressure, clear skies and low precipitation. The
edges of convection cells where air movement is predominantly up or down results in areas
of low and inconsistent winds at the surface, i.e. the doldrums (0o) and the horse latitudes
(30o). The air moving across the surface of the earth is the resulting winds, which are also
affected by Coriolis (and therefore veer to the right in the Northern hemisphere, and to the
left in the Southern hemisphere). The resulting trade winds, westerlies and polar easterlies
are shown in Figure 6.8.
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Figure 9.8. Atmospheric circulation resulting in a six-band surface wind system.
The model of atmospheric circulation presented in Figure 9.8 is simplified. It does not
consider seasonal differences, how the presence of land masses affects atmospheric
circulation. Land, because it has a lower heat capacity than water, absorbs and loses heat
more rapidly, and large land masses therefore modify atmospheric circulation. Seventy
percent of land masses are in the Northern hemisphere; since there are few land masses in
the Southern hemisphere, it follows the model fairly closely. Land, with its low heat
capacity, changes temperature rapidly. During the summer, land is warmer than the ocean,
causing a low pressure area over land (hot air rises), so there is a continuous low pressure
area between 0 and 60o North with no high pressure area at 30o North. However, the high
pressure area still forms over the oceans. During the winter, land is cooler than the ocean,
causing a high pressure area over land (cold air sinks), there is a continuous zone of high
pressure between 30 and 90o North with no low at 60o N. However, the low pressure still
forms over the oceans (Figure 9.9).
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Figure 9.9. Typical atmospheric pressure in January shows the influence of land masses on
global circulation patterns.
In the Indian Ocean, dominant wind direction reverses twice a year, from the South West
monsoon in the summer to the North East monsoon in the winter. This wind pattern is
created because of differences in temperature between the Indian Ocean and the Asian
continent. In the summer, Asia warms up faster than the ocean, creating an area of low
pressure over land. Winds fill in from high pressure over the ocean to low pressure over
land. These summer winds come from the South West; this process is reversed in the
winter (Figure 9.10).
Figure 9.10. Dominant monsoon winds: South West during the summer (left) and North
East during the winter (right).
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9.5. Weather and Climate Patterns in the Oceans
The ocean has a large impact over the earth weather and climate, because of its size and
of the thermal properties of water. Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a given
time and place; climate is the long-term average weather.
Winds
The movement of air from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure along the
surface of the earth is what we call wind. Except at very low latitudes, wind direction is
modified as it moves because of the Coriolis effect. Therefore, in the northern
hemisphere, wind tends to move in a clockwise direction around high pressure cells and
in a counterclockwise (cyclonic) direction around low pressure cells (Figure 9.11).
Figure 9.11. Air flow around high and low pressure zones in the northern hemisphere.
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Land and sea breezes
The seasonally-shifting winds due seen as monsoons in the Indian Ocean can also happen
at a smaller scale, in a daily cycle in some coastal areas. As land warms up faster than
water during the day, overlying air rises and is replaced by air from over the ocean, creating
an on-shore breeze (or sea breeze, or anabatic wind). At night, the air cools faster over
land, sinks, and flows out towards the ocean, creating an off-shore breeze (or land breeze,
or katabatic wind; Figure 9.12).
Figure 9.12. Sea breeze and land breeze, caused by the lower heat capacity of land
compared to water.
As winds blow over elevated land, air near sea level is forced to rise, and the water vapor
condenses as temperature drops, and forms clouds. This typically creates rain on the
windward side of islands, which is called orographic rain. The leeward side of islands
typically experiences less rainfall, as the precipitation on the windward side depleted the
air mass of its moisture (Figure 9.13). Higher islands, which force moist air higher up,
therefore experience more rainfall.
Figure 9.13. Orographic rain falls on the windward side of islands as moist air is forced
towards higher altitude.
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Hurricanes
Low pressure centers that form over water warmer than 27oC, can form into tropical
revolving storms when several conditions are present. These are called hurricanes,
cyclones or typhoons depending on the area. Warm sea surface temperatures cause
pressure to decrease further and increase evaporation, causing an intense, isolated, low
pressure cell. If upper winds are weak and this low pressure cell forms at latitudes higher
than 5o, Coriolis affects winds moving towards the low pressure cell and set it in a circular
motion. In the northern hemisphere, the winds moving from high pressure areas towards
this low pressure center tend to veer to the right, setting the low pressure system in a
counterclockwise motion (clockwise in the Southern hemisphere; Figure 9.11). As winds
circle this low pressure system, they can grow in strength until the low pressure system
becomes a tropical storm (winds 39 to 73 mph) and a hurricane (74 mph). As this storm
grows, the winds evaporate more water (and heat), which fuels the storm. Tropical storms
and hurricanes dissipate when they travel over cold water or land, and there is no more
warm water. Once formed, a revolving storm system gets pushed by the dominant winds.
Because there is no Coriolis force at the equator, tropical storms do not occur there (Figure
9.14). In the North Atlantic, hurricanes originally form off the Western coast of Africa and
travel towards the Caribbean with the trade winds (Figure 9.15). Hurricane season here is
from June to November, when sea surface temperatures are high enough to sustain the
storms.
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Figure 9.15. Structure and typical path of a hurricane.
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Besides the clear danger to humans from extremely high sustained winds, hurricanes can
also significantly damage coastal developments because of flooding caused by the storm
surge. The storm surge is an area of elevated sea level created because of very low
atmospheric pressure in intense storms. This dome of water can be 50-100 miles wide.
Greatest damage occurs if the storm surge coincides with high tide (Figure 6.16).
Figure 9.16. Storm surge combined with high tide leads to greatest coastal flooding.
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9.6. Review Questions
1. Name and describe the major layers of the atmosphere
2. Which layer of the atmosphere is most important to consider for weather conditions
and atmospheric circulation?
4. What is the typical temperature change for each 1000m of altitude in the troposphere?
5. What gas present in the stratosphere is responsible for the increase in temperature in
the stratosphere?
6. Where is solar radiation most intense in the globe? Name 2 reasons why.
7. The formation of convection cells in the atmosphere result in areas of low pressure at
what latitudes? Areas of high pressure at what latitudes?
8. Why are the doldrums and the horse latitudes areas with little wind?
9. Name the dominant winds present between 0 and 30o; 30 and 60o; 60o and the poles.
10. What is the name of the apparent deflection of objects not directly attached to the earth,
which is caused by the rotation of the earth?
12. Which hemisphere follows the theoretical model of convection cells more closely?
Why?
14. What is anabatic wind? What is katabatic wind? When would you expect to see each?
15. Why do the dominant winds change twice a year in the Indian Ocean?
17. Why do hurricanes dissipate when they go over land or cold water?
18. Which direction to hurricanes spin in the northern hemisphere and why?
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10. Ocean Circulation (Trujillo, Chapter 7)
Major ocean currents are stable and predictable; they have been described as rivers without
banks. There are two main types of ocean circulation: thermohaline, or density driven
circulation, which affects circulation at depth, and wind-driven, which is most important
in setting surface currents. This constant flow of ocean currents is caused by average
weather conditions (e.g. trade winds, colder water at higher latitude). Because the density
of water is 1,000 times greater than air, it has more momentum and once in motion it easily
keeps flowing.
Figure 10.1. Flow of water in successive layers in the Ekman spiral. The overall transport
of the top 150m is 90o to the wind direction. This is the Ekman transport.
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The average atmospheric circulation patterns described in section 9.4 act to form gyres,
large ocean basin circular motion current systems (Figure 10.2). As winds blow over the
surface of the ocean, they set the surface water in motion at an angle of 45o to the wind.
For example in the North Atlantic, north east Trade Winds create the north equatorial
current that flows west, and the south west Westerlies create the North Atlantic current that
flows east. The Gulf Stream and Canary currents are created because of the continuity of
flow between the equatorial and North Atlantic currents. Gyres move clockwise in the
Northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern hemisphere.
Figure 10.2. Major surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean are set in motion by
dominant winds.
Once ocean gyres are in motion, the Coriolis deflection and Ekman transport drive water
to the center of the gyres, creating a mound of water in the middle of the gyre (Figure 10.3).
Gravity tends to push this water down and away from the center, and as this water is pushed
away from the center it is again affected by Coriolis. This water movement contributes to
the general flow around the gyre. When these forces (Ekman transport and gravity) are
balanced, water flows smoothly around the gyre, and this is called geostrophic flow. Ideal
geostrophic flow would continue perfectly around the gyre, but in reality, friction makes
the current run somewhat downslope. The mound of water caused by geostrophic flow can
be as high as 2m, and is a bit to the west of center because of the rotation of the Earth which
pushes water to the west side of ocean basins.
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Figure 10.3. Formation of a mound in the middle of the North Atlantic, which leads to
geostrophic flow.
Many major ocean currents are part of the subtropical and subpolar gyres formed by
dominant winds (Figure 10.4). Currents flowing along the Western side of ocean basins
(e.g. Gulf Stream) are typically stronger, deeper, and narrower due to the rotation of the
Earth, which piles water along the eastern edge of land masses; the increase in Coriolis
effect with latitude, and the changing strength and direction of East-West wind fields
(tradewinds/westerlies) with latitude. Currents flowing along the eastern side of ocean
basins are weaker, wider, and slower. This phenomenon is known as the western
intensification of currents. Near the equator, the equatorial currents that are part of the
North and South subtropical gyres flow west. The Ekman transport from these currents
causes divergence of water right the equator, which forces both upwelling (discussed in the
next section) and a narrow, easterly-flowing equatorial counter-current.
Figure 10.4. Major ocean currents of the world. Notice the clockwise flow in the Northern
hemisphere and the counterclockwise flow in the Southern hemisphere.
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10.2. Upwelling and Downwelling
Upwelling and downwelling refer to vertical movements of water. Upwelling refers to the
movement of deep water towards the surface. This often occurs through divergence, when
Ekman transport caused by winds cause surface waters to move away from each other (e.g.
at the equator) or away from landmasses (e.g. on the West Coast of South America). This
forces cold, nutrient-rich water from depth moves up to replace the surface water (Figure
7.5). The high levels of nutrients brought to the photic zone results in areas of high primary
productivity. Downwelling occurs when wind-driven surface currents collide or are forced
against landmasses (convergence) and surface water is force to sink down, bringing
oxygen-rich water to depth. Upwelling and downwelling can also occur because of
thermohaline circulation, e.g. downwelling occurs as cold, salty and dense Antarctic
surface water sinks down (section 10.4), or because of geological features that force certain
water movements.
Antarctic Circulation
Antarctic surface circulation is dominated by the easterly-flowing Antarctic circumpolar
current (Figure 10.6), set in motion by the strong westerly winds found from 40-60o South
(Figures 9.8 & 9.9). Between the Antarctic circumpolar current and the continent, the east
wind drift is a surface current propelled by the polar easterlies, which flows from east to
west. Between those two opposite surface currents there is a zone of divergence and
upwelling, caused by the Ekman transport associated with each current. The edge of the
Southern Ocean is marked by the Antarctic Convergence, a zone of downwelling north of
the Antarctic Circumpolar Current where cold, dense Antarctic waters sink below warmer,
less-dense sub-Antarctic waters.
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Figure 10.6. Antarctic surface circulation, dominated by the easterly flowing Antarctic
circumpolar current.
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current meets the North equatorial current this forms the Antilles and Caribbean currents.
The Caribbean current flows through the Caribbean Sea and into the Gulf of Mexico,
forming the loop current before joining the Florida current and eventually the Gulf Stream
(Figures 10.8 & 10.10). The Gulf Stream is an especially narrow and fast current because
of western intensification (Figure 10.8)
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Figure 10.8. Circulation in the North Atlantic, showing average flow rates in Sverdrups (1
Sverdrup = 1 million cubic meters per second). Notice the difference in velocity and width
between the Gulf Stream and the Canary Current.
The Sargasso Sea is found on the west side of the North Atlantic and is an area of slow
moving water in the center of the North Atlantic Subtropical gyre, where floating algae
called Sargassum accumulate.
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Figure 10.9. Eddies pinching off the meandering Gulf Stream.
Figure 10.10. Eddies formed by the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Indian Ocean Circulation
The monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean change seasonally (see section 6.4), which causes
seasonal changes in surface current patterns (Figure 10.11). During the Northeast monsoon
of the winter, the Northeast winds monsoon winds create the North Equatorial current to
flow west and its extension the Somali current to flow south along the east coast of Africa.
An equatorial countercurrent is established. When monsoon winds are reversed during the
Southwest monsoon in the summer, the North Equatorial Current disappears and is
replaced by the easterly-flowing Southwest Monsoon Current. The Somali Current also
reverses. In the southern part of the Indian Ocean, a typical subtropical gyre is established.
Figure 10.11. Surface circulation patterns in the Indian Ocean during the Northeast and
the Southwest monsoons.
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Figure 10.12. Surface currents of the Pacific Ocean.
The cold waters off the west coast of South America are one of the most productive fishing
grounds in the world. The reason for this high productivity is the coastal upwelling that
occurs in this region because of divergence of surface water and the continent caused by
the dominant winds. This upwelling is strong during “normal” years (Figure 10.13a).
Under “normal” conditions, an area of low pressure is established in the South West
Pacific, and a zone of high pressure in the South East. This leads to the creation of a
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convection cell called the Walker Circulation Cell, which include strong southeast trade
winds (Figure 10.13a).
Figure 10.13. Atmospheric and oceanic circulation in the South Pacific during normal, El
Niño and La Niña years.
This pattern of atmospheric and oceanic circulation periodically changes, in what is now
called El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the ENSO warm phase (El Niño), the high
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pressure on the east side of the South Pacific weakens, which causes the trade winds to also
weaken. This stops the upwelling off the coast of Peru and brings much warmer water than
usual to this area (Figure 10.13b). The warm water is devastating to many coral reefs in
the Pacific which cannot tolerate the elevated temperatures, and it dramatically reduces the
productivity and fisheries yield off the coast of Peru. Further, because the Pacific is such
a large ocean, large-scale circulation here have repercussions throughout the world (Figure
10.14). During the ENSO cool phase (La Niña), conditions are similar to “normal” yet
intensified, with especially strong trade winds and upwelling (Figure 10.13c). The pattern
of reversal between ENSO phases is irregular (Figure 10.15), but long-term data show that
there is an increase in the frequency of warm phases caused by climate change.
Figure 10.15. ENSO index from 1950 to 2013, showing an irregular patterns of changes
between warm (positive) and cool (negative) phases.
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10.4. Deep ocean currents
Deep currents that occur in the zone below the pycnocline affect about 90% of the ocean’s
water. Differences in density create these deep currents, which flow much slower than
surface currents. Temperature and salinity are the most important factors affecting the
density of surface water, and deep circulation is often referred to as thermohaline
circulation. Salinity is affected by evaporation and precipitation, by the formation and
melting of sea ice, and by the inflow of river water. Temperature is affected by global
differences in solar radiation; it decreases with increasing latitude. Generally, the equator
is warm with a relatively low salinity because of high precipitation (Figure 10.16). At 30o
North and South, water is still warm and salinity increases due to areas of high pressure
and low precipitation. Around 50-60o North and South, water is colder and salinity is
lower, corresponding to areas of low pressure, high precipitation and large rivers. Polar
waters are cold. They experience low precipitation but their salinity varies with season and
the melting or formation of sea ice.
Salinity also changes with distance from land and freshwater river input; the center of
ocean basins tend to have a higher salinity than coastal areas. Minute changes in density
(caused by changes in temperature and salinity) can cause large changes in vertical
circulation; for this reason, oceanographers measure density to 5 decimal places. A body
of water of a given density will sink until it reaches water of higher density, then it spreads
horizontally. Water masses will not readily mix with water masses of a different density,
and can retain their properties for extended periods of time. However, two bodies of water
of the same density can readily mix. Because the density curve from various temperatures
and salinities is not linear, two bodies of water of the same density but of different
temperature and salinity can mix to produce a resulting body of water of increased density
(Figure 10.17). This process is known as the caballing effect.
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Figure 10.17. Density resulting from various temperature and salinity combinations.
Cold water from the poles is densest and sinks. This water then travels horizontally at
depth throughout the ocean basins. The South Pole is slightly colder than the North Pole,
and therefore surface water around Antarctica is denser than surface water in the Arctic.
Consequently in the Atlantic, the densest water is produced around Antarctica and forms
the Antarctic Bottom Water. The North Atlantic Deep Water, formed in the Arctic, sinks
down and travels south at depth. It is the deepest body of water at high northern northern
latitudes but it flows above the Antarctic Bottom Water once the two bodies of water meet
(Figure 10.18). The Antarctic Convergence zone leads to the sinking of the Antarctic
Intermediate Water, which is less dense than the North Atlantic Deep Water.
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Figure 10.18. Cross-section of the Atlantic showing thermohaline flow.
Thermohaline circulation has the greatest impact on water movement at depth. Because of
continuity of flow, water moving up or down in the water column also creates horizontal
water movement (10.19).
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This movement of water created by thermohaline circulation is quite slow, and it creates a
circulation pattern that exchanges water between the surface and depth and between ocean
basins over a period of about 1000 years. This is called the global conveyor belt (Figure
10.20), and it has a great impact on global climate because of the potential to distribute
heat throughout the oceans.
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10.5. Review Questions
1. Name the 2 major types of ocean circulation
3. True or False? Two bodies of the exact same density, when mixed, can create a
resulting water of higher density.
4. The water at the very bottom of the ocean originated from what geographical area?
5. Why is the surface water at the equator colder than water a few degrees N and S?
6. What direction is surface current, relative to the wind that created it?
7. What is the average direction of the top 150 m of water, relative to the wind, and what
term describes this?
8. What is a gyre?
10. What two opposing forces create geostrophic flow around oceanic gyres?
11. On which side of an ocean basin would you find the strongest currents? Why?
12. What vertical water movement is created when currents collide or when surface current
is forced against a landmass?
13. Explain why the fisheries on the western coast of Peru are so productive?
14. Explain why there are sometimes pockets of warm water and tropical marine life north
of the Gulf Stream in cold waters of the Atlantic? In which direction do these pockets
spin?
15. In El niño years, how to the areas of high and low atmospheric pressure differ from
normal years in the South Pacific? How does the thermocline differ?
16. How does surface circulation pattern change with monsoons in the Indian Ocean?
17. In which direction do warm eddies from the Gulf Stream spin?
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11. Waves (Trujillo, Chapter 8)
Figure 11.2. Types of waves and their causes. Most of the energy from waves in the
ocean comes from wind-generated waves.
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11.2. Wave characteristics
As a wave moves across the surface of the water, individual water particles are set in
motion in a circular pattern called an orbit (Figure 11.3). The energy is transmitted to depth
to other orbits, which decrease in diameter with increasing depth. The wave motion and
orbits extend to a depth of about half the wavelength. The various parts of a wave are
shown in Figure 11.3. The crest is the highest part of a wave; the trough is the lowest. The
wavelength is the horizontal distance between 2 successive crests or troughs. The height
is the vertical distance between a crest and a trough. The period is the time it takes for 2
troughs or 2 crests to pass a fixed point. The period is determined by the generating force
and remains unchanged once a wave is created. The frequency is the number of wave
crests or troughs that pass a fixed point each second. The celerity is the speed of the wave,
equal to the wavelength divided by the period.
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The depth of a wave is defined by the ratio of the wavelength to the water depth (Figure
11.4). Deep-water waves occur in water that is deeper than one-half of its wavelength,
where the orbits and water motion do not reach the sea floor. Under these conditions, the
speed is dependent only on the wavelength, with longer wavelengths producing faster
waves. Deep water waves are mostly wind-driven waves. Shallow-water waves occur
where depth is less than 1/20 of the wavelength. The ocean floor interferes with the orbits
and flattens them. The speed of shallow-water waves is influenced only by depth, as
friction with the seafloor slows down the wave. Therefore shallow water waves have
slower velocities at shallower depths. Shallow-water waves include wind-generated waves
that have moved into shallow water, but also waves that have such long wavelengths that
they are always a shallow-water wave, such as tsunamis and tides. Intermediate or
transitional waves occur in water that is between ½ and 1/20 of the wavelength. The orbits
start interacting with the sea floor and become elliptical because of friction.
Figure 11.4. Deep, intermediate and shallow water waves, defined by the depth in relation
to their wavelengths.
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11.3. Development of wind-generated waves
Wave development
Wind-generated waves are formed by the transfer of wind energy to water. As wind blows
across the surface of water, friction stretches the surface and creates ripples called capillary
waves. If the wind stops blowing, capillary waves are restored by surface tension. If the
wind keeps blowing, it grips the capillary waves and forms larger waves known as gravity
waves, as they are restored by gravity. The height of a wind-generated wave is affected by
three factors: the wind strength, the wind duration, and the fetch (the distance uninterrupted
by land over which the wind has blown). Most waves observed at sea are progressive wind
waves formed in local storm centers. Waves are known to be forced waves while they are
under the influence of their generating force, and as free waves once they move away from
the storm and are no longer under their generating force. Once away from the storm center,
waves travel at speeds determined by their wavelengths. Waves with long wavelengths
have a greater speed than those with short wavelengths, and will gradually move ahead of
the shorter waves in a process called wave sorting (Figure 11.5). Those waves with long,
regular wavelengths are called the swell, and they travel away from the storm center with
little loss of energy.
A group of waves leaving the area of the disturbing force becomes a wave train. Careful
observation of waves as they travel away from the disturbing forces shows that the leading
wave keeps disappearing. When a wave is lost from the leading edge, a new one is formed
in the back of the group (Figure 11.6). Because of this phenomenon, wave trains travel
along the surface of the ocean at half the velocity of individual waves in the group.
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Figure 11.6. Movement of a wave train.
Interference patterns
When two waves meet and their crests and troughs match, their energy is added and the
resulting wave is bigger than the original two (Figure 11.7); this is called constructive
interference. Destructive wave interference, on the other hand, occurs when the crest of
one wave meets the trough of another wave, and their energy is subtracted, resulting in a
reduced wave.
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Figure 11.7. Various types of wave interference.
More complex patterns occur when waves of different wavelengths meet. Constructive
interference occurs where their crests and troughs meet, and destructive interference where
their crests and troughs are offset (Figure 11.8). This leads to commonly observed
sequence of large waves coming in sets of 5 to 7, with a few minutes of smaller waves
between sets.
Often, waves meet that come from various angles, which produces mixed interference
patterns (Figure 11.9). For example, waves that meet at right angles produce a
checkerboard pattern.
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Figure 11.9. Mixed interference pattern resulting from waves meeting from various
directions.
Rogue waves
Rogue waves are very large, isolated ocean waves that often occur when other ocean waves
are not especially high. Their cause is usually an extreme case of constructive interference
where multiple waves overlap exactly in phase to produce an extremely high one. Rogue
waves may also be created when strong ocean currents amplify an opposing swell. This is
seen along the southeast coast of Africa, where the Agulhas current (flowing south) runs
against large waves formed near Antartica (Figure 11.10).
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Figure 11.10. Rogue waves along the southeast coast of Africa, formed by the meeting of
a strong current and large storm waves.
Figure 11.11. Profile of a shallow water wave. As the wave approaches shore, wave speed
(celerity) and wave length decrease, while wave height increases.
Waves break when they reach a height to length ratio of ~1:7. The type of breaker depends
on the slope of the shore and the speed at which the wave loses its energy (Figure 11.12).
Spilling breakers occur on wider, flatter beaches and lose their energy gradually. Because
of this slow release of energy, spilling breakers can provide surfer with a longer ride than
other breakers. Plunging breakers occur on narrow, moderately sloped beaches where the
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crest of the wave curls over an air pocket. Plunging breakers lose their energy fast and
provide an exciting ride for surfers. Surging breakers occur on very abrupt shores, where
there is no opportunity for a proper break. They cannot be surfed on.
Figure 11.12. Different types of breakers as a wave enters shallow waters of different
slopes.
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Figure 11.13. Refraction occurs as the area of the wave that enters shallow water first
slows down, while the area in deeper water continues at the original speed, resulting in
bending along the coast line.
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Figure 11.14. Wave reflection and interference in Newport Harbor, California
Figure 11.15. Diffraction occurs as the wave passes through an opening or around an
object.
Standing waves
Standing waves oscillate vertically with no forward movement, which creates an
alternation between a trough and a crest at a fixed position. The area of no or little vertical
movement is called the node; the alternation of high and low water occurs at the antinode
(Figure 11.16). Standing waves can be created by progressive waves reflected back on
themselves, or by tectonic movement, storm surges, and tidal waves.
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Figure 11.16. Sequence of water movement in a standing wave with 1 (a) or 2 (b) nodes,
showing the area of highest vertical movement at the antinodes, and no vertical changes at
the node.
11.5. Tsunamis
Tsunamis are sea waves cause by rapid displacement of water (Figure 11.17). They are
typically triggered by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, or iceberg calving.
Tsunamis have extremely long wavelengths (100-200km), long periods (10-20 minutes)
and are always shallow-water waves. As such, their speed is determined by ocean depth,
and is typically about 200 m/s (720 km/hr). Tsunamis typically have a small wave height
and are very difficult to detect in deep water, as the length is up to 600 times its height.
However, when the wave reaches shore it slows down and greatly increases in height
(Figure 11.18).
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Figure 11.17. The generation of a tsunami by movement of the sea floor.
Figure 11.18. Decrease in wavelength and increase in wave height as a tsunami approaches
shore.
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11.6. Review Questions
1. What is the period of a wave?
7. In a standing wave, what is the name of the point of least (or zero) vertical motion, and
what is the name of the point with maximum vertical motion?
18. What is the name of the point of little vertical movement in a rotary standing wave?
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12. Tides (Trujillo, Chapter 9, Duxbury chapter 10)
Tides are waves created by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun. Their
wavelength can equal half the circumference of the earth, and therefore they are always
shallow-water waves and their speed is controlled by the depth of the water. The crest of
the wave is high tide and the trough is low tide. Tides are forced waves as they are always
under the influence of their generating force. Although the earth moves at a speed of 463
m/s at the equator, tide waves only move at a speed of about 200 m/s because of friction
with the sea floor.
The tidal range is the vertical difference between high tide and low tide. Tidal datum is
the reference level from which ocean depths and tide heights are measured. Typically on
U.S. charts it is the mean lower low water. The current created as the tide comes in is
called a flood tide, and as it comes out, an ebb tide. The time of minimal tidal current at
high tide and at low tide is known as slack tide.
Let’s first consider a simplified earth with no land masses, and oceans of uniform depth.
This is known as equilibrium tidal theory and is useful to understand the basic behavior of
tide waves.
Tides are caused by three main factors: the gravitational pull of the moon, the gravitational
pull of the sun, and the rotation of the earth. Though the moon has a much smaller mass
than the sun, it is much closer and therefore has a greater effect on tides. The earth-moon
system rotates about a common axis at the system’s center of mass, which is about 4640
km from the earth’s center (the barycenter; Figure 12.1).
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Figure 12.1. The earth and the moon rotate about their center of mass.
The gravitational force of the moon pulls water particles on the side of the earth directly
under the moon to create a bulge. Additionally, as this system rotates, the centrifugal force
of the earth-moon system pulls water particles on the side of the earth opposite the moon
to create another bulge (Figure 12.2). These two bulges are the crests of the tidal wave,
and the two depressions are the troughs.
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Figure 12.2. Two bulges of water are created by the gravitational pull of the moon and the
centrifugal force of the rotation of the earth-moon system.
While these water bulges are created by the moon, the earth makes one full rotation in 24
hours. The bulges stay under the tide-producing body as the earth turns, and these bulges
appear to move towards the West as the earth turns towards the East, creating high and low
tides (Figure 12.3).
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Figure 12.3. Island experiencing high and low tides that appear to move West as the earth
rotates towards the East and the tidal bulges remain directly under and directly opposite to
the moon.
A tidal day is 24 hours and 50 minutes, however, not 24h. Because the moon has a greater
influence on tides than the sun, a tidal day is the time it takes for a point on the earth to be
directly under the moon again. The earth completes a full rotation in 24 hours, but during
that time the moon moves 12.2o around the earth on its revolution cycle of 29.53 days. It
takes the earth another 50 minutes of rotation for a point to be again directly under the
moon (Figure 12.4). It is for this reason that the moon rises 50 minutes later each night,
and that tides are 50 minutes later every day.
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Figure 12.4. A tidal day of 24 hours 50 minutes, as the earth requires 50 minutes to
complete the extra 12o of rotation to be directly under the moon again.
Because the sun is much farther away (Figure 12.5), its tide-raising force is approximately
46% that of the moon. The sun tidal day is 24 hours (as opposed to 24 hours 50 minutes
for the moon) and the sun tide is constantly moving West relative to the moon tide. The
changes in the position of the moon relative to the earth and the sun creates monthly
changes in tides.
Figure 12.5. Relative sizes and distances of the Moon, Earth and Sun.
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12.2. Monthly tidal cycle
When the moon, the earth and the sun are all in line, the bulges created by the moon and
the sun coincide to create larger bulges (constructive interference) and a maximum tidal
range. This is called a spring tide, and happens twice a month, during the new moon and
again during the full moon. A neap tide, on the other hand, occurs when the moon, the
earth and the sun are at right angle to each other, and the bulges created by the moon and
the sun are out of phase. This leads to destructive interference, smaller bulges and
minimum tidal range. Neap tides occur twice a month, during the first and third quarter
(Figure 12.6).
Figure 12.6. The relative position of the moon, earth and sun affects the tidal range.
Effect of declination
In the simple explanation of tides so far, it was assumed that the sun and the moon always
remain directly above the equator. However, this is not the case. The axis of rotation of
the earth is tilted 23.5o relative to its plane of revolution around the sun (this is why we
experience seasons). The plane of the moon’s orbit is tilted about 5o relative to the plane
of the earth’s revolution around the sun, so the angle of the moon relative to the equator,
called declination, varies from 28.5o north to 28.5o south.
The tidal bulges will therefore rarely be aligned with the equator. Since the moon is the
dominant force creating the tides, the bulges mainly follow the moon as it changes
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declination to a maximum of 28.5o North and South. In this case, one bulge is created in
each hemisphere, creating different tidal patterns at different latitudes. In this model, high
latitudes only experience one of the bulges every day, and therefore show a diurnal tide
pattern. Equatorial regions experience each bulge, though not the highest section of it.
Therefore they have semi-diurnal tides with a smaller range than high latitudes.
Intermediate latitudes experience mixed semi-diurnal tides (Figure 12.7).
Figure 12.7. The declination of the moon creates one bulge in each hemisphere and creates
different tidal patterns at different latitudes.
Because of their extremely long wavelengths (half the world’s circumference), tide waves
are always shallow water waves. Their speed is controlled by the depth of the ocean and
the tidal bulges cannot keep up with the speed of the rotation of the earth. Moreover,
continents prevent tide waves from travelling all the way around the world. Ocean tides
instead break up into large circulation units called cells.
Tide waves can move either as progressive waves or standing waves. Progressive tide
waves occur in large ocean basins or semi-enclosed basins where the tide wave moves
across the sea-surface as a shallow-water wave, where orbits reach the sea floor and are
elliptical. The crest of this wave lags behind the moon because friction with the seafloor
slows down the speed. Progressive tide waves occur in the Western North Pacific and the
South Atlantic (Figure 12.8). As the progressive tide wave moves across the ocean, the
Coriolis effect deflects water movement to the right in the Northern hemisphere (and to the
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left in the Southern hemisphere). Progressive tide waves also occur in some narrow semi-
enclosed basins (Figure 12.9).
Figure 12.8. Cotidal lines across the oceans showing progressive tide waves in the Western
North Pacific and the South Atlantic, and rotary standing waves in the North Atlantic.
Cotidal lines connect all points experiencing the same phase of the tide (e.g. maximum or
minimum) at a given time.
Figure 12.9. A progressive tide wave in a semi-enclosed basin such as the Bay of Fundy.
Standing tide waves occur in ocean basins where the wave is reflected by the edge of
continents. In this case, the Coriolis Effect produces a rotary standing wave with an
accompanying rotary tidal current. In the North Atlantic as the tide crest moves west it
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piles up on the coast of North America. As the tide comes out, the water is deflected to the
right, towards the equator. Water accumulates at low latitudes and when it is forced back
at higher latitudes by gravity, it is again affected by Coriolis and veers to the right, towards
Europe (Figure 12.10). This process continues until a counter-clockwise rotary standing
wave is created (clockwise in the Southern hemisphere).
Figure 12.10. Reflection of the tide crest on the edge of continents and the Coriolis Effect
result in a counter-clockwise rotary standing wave in the northern hemisphere.
In a rotary standing wave, the highest tidal range is found on the outside of the basins
(antinodes) and no or little tidal range is found in the middle of the basin (node, also called
amphidromic point; Figure 12.11). Rotary standing waves can be found in the open ocean
as well as in broad semi-enclosed basins (Figure 12.12).
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Figure 12.11. The formation of a rotary standing wave, showing the antinodes and
amphidromic point.
Figure 12.12. A rotary standing wave in a broad semi-enclosed basin such as the Gulf of
St. Lawrence.
The shape of the coastline and semi-enclosed basins greatly affect the tide patterns
observed in a particular location. Broad semi-enclosed basins tend to experience rotary
standing waves. Long and narrow basins tend to experience progressive waves where the
tide wave reverses direction between flood and ebb. Tidal range typically increases if a
bay tapers landward and water is funneled towards narrow end, as in the case of the Bay of
Fundy. Tidal resonance occurs if the period of the basin is similar to the tidal period, which
increases tidal range even further, producing extreme tidal ranges of over 56 ft in the Bay
of Fundy.
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The orientation of semi-enclosed basins also affects the tides. East-West basins allow for
a greater movement of the tide crest with the easterly rotation of the earth, and tend to
experience higher tides. The Baltic Sea is connected to the Atlantic through an opening
too small for the tide wave to move in. The Baltic itself has a north-south orientation and
for that reason generates essentially no tides. The Mediterranean has an east-west
orientation but has land masses in the middle that defeat the natural period of oscillation.
Like the Baltic, the opening at Gibraltar is too narrow for the tide wave from the Atlantic
to have much of an effect in the Mediterranean, and tidal range is extremely low (8cm in
Malta).
The various depths and shape of the ocean basins modify tidal patterns that are expected in
a simple model (e.g. Figure 12.7). The type of tidal pattern experienced in a given location
is a result of the gravitational forces acting on the tide (including the latitude and location
relative to position of the moon), and the shape of the basin. There are three types of tidal
patterns (Figure 12.13). Diurnal tides have one high tide and one low tide every day, with
a period of 24 hours 50 minutes. A semidiurnal tide has two high tides and two low tides
of approximately equal heights every day. A mixed semidiurnal tide has two high tides
and two low tides of different heights every day. Semidiurnal tides and mixed semidiurnal
tides both have a period of 12 hours 25 minutes.
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Figure 12.13. Tidal patterns around the world.
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12.5. Review Questions
6. What is the name of the tides of maximum tidal range, which occur during the new
moon and full moon? Is this constructive or destructive interference?
7. Over how many years is mean low water level averaged to calculate tidal datum?
10. Does the sun or the moon have a greater effect in controlling the timing of the tides?
11. Where would you experience the greatest tidal range, of 40-50ft? Why?
14. Which direction does a rotary standing wave rotate in the northern hemisphere?
16. What force or effect causes a rotary standing wave in some ocean basins?
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13. Coast: Beaches and Shoreline Processes (Trujillo, ch.10)
The shore is the zone between the lowest tide and the highest level affected by waves,
which reaches some distance above the high tide mark. It is further subdivided into the
foreshore and backshore. The backshore is above the high tide mark while the foreshore
is the true intertidal: the zone between low tide and high tide. Seaward from the foreshore
is the nearshore, from the low tide shoreline to the low tide breaker line. Beyond the
breakers is the offshore zone, where water is deep enough that waves don’t affect the
bottom.
Beaches are depositional areas of the shore. They are composed of the sediment locally
available from the erosion of local rocks, those brought by rivers, or from biogenous
sediment (e.g. shells or shell fragments). Beaches are dynamic, and waves that crash on
the beach are continuously moving material.
There is a continuous movement of sediment on beaches. The net result of this reworking
of sand depends on the direction and energy of waves hitting the beach. When waves break
perpendicular to shore, sand also moves perpendicularly as a result of the waves breaking:
sand moves up the beach in the swash, and drains away from the beach in the backwash.
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When the wave energy is low, the swash dominates this transport because much of the
water soaks into the beach, thereby reducing the transport associated with the backwash.
The result is an increase in sand deposition. When wave energy is high, the beach is
saturated with water from previous waves, therefore the backwash is important and sand is
transported away from the beach. In many regions of the world, the amount of wave energy
is light in the summer and heavy in the winter, resulting in seasonal changes to the beach
(Figure 13.2).
Figure 13.2. Seasonal changes to a beach in California is the result of higher wave energy
in the winter than in the summer.
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When waves break at an angle relative to shore, the swash moves up the beach at that angle,
but the backwash is pulled down by gravity perpendicular to the shore. This creates a
current of water parallel to shore called the longshore current. This current moves sand
along the shore in the direction the waves are moving, called the longshore drift (Figure
13.3).
Figure 13.3. Waves breaking on shore at an angle create the longshore current, which runs
parallel to shore.
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13.3. Erosional and Depositional Shores
All shores experience some degree of erosion and deposition, but many can be categorized
as being primarily erosional or primarily depositional. Energy is concentrated near
headlands that jut out to sea because of wave refraction. Headlands therefore tend to erode
and eventually the shoreline retreats (Figure 13.4).
Erosion of cliffs produces a large amount of sediment, and more sediment arrives at the
coast through rivers from the erosion of inland rocks. Those sediments are carried along
the coast by water movements and accumulate in low energy environments. Those
depositional areas include many types of sand deposits which can be connected to or
completely detached from shore (Figure 13.5). Spits are linear depositions of sand in the
direction of the longshore drift that extend beyond a headland or entrance to a river. River
outflow is often strong enough to keep the entrance open; when it’s not, a spit can close off
the bay turn in to a bay barrier (Figure 13.6). Tombolos are sand ridges that form in the
wave shadow of an island and connect the island to the mainland—usually in the direction
perpendicular to the average wave direction. Barrier islands are offshore sand deposits.
Many appeared during the rise in sea level associated with the melting of glaciers at the
end of the last ice age. Barrier islands are common off much of the US east coast and Gulf
of Mexico (Figure 13.7).
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Figure 13.5. Features of depositional coasts.
Figure 13.6. Spit, bay barrier and tombolos are important features of depositional coasts.
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Figure 13.7. Barrier islands are common along North Carolina and Texas.
Where rivers carry more sediment than is moved by longshore currents, deltas are formed
at the river mouth (e.g. Mississippi and Nile deltas, Figure 13.8). Deltas are fertile, low-
lying areas that often flood. The strength of the longshore current along with the amount
of sediment transported by a river largely determines the shape of a delta.
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Coastal areas can often be divided into distinct beach compartments, which consist of 3
components: 1) the rivers that supply the sediment, 2) the beach itself where sediment is
transported to due to the longshore current and 3) submarine canyons which transport sand
away from the coast. For example, the Southern California coast is comprised of 4 main
beach compartments (Figure 13.9). When human activities modify sediment supply to the
coast (e.g. through damming of rivers), the beaches that normally receive this sediment can
become smaller as their existing sediment is still being swept away by the longshore current
and submarine canyons. This process is called beach starvation.
Features on shorelines can also be caused by past changes in sea level. Sea level changes
through time either through local movements of the earth’s crust, or because of world-wide
changes in sea level. Tectonic movements responsible for relative sea level changes
include uplifting and subsidence of major continents and ocean basins, as well as localized
folding, tilting and faulting of continental crust. For example, much of the west coast of
North America is currently emerging from tectonic plate collisions. By contrast, the east
coast of North America is mostly submerging, as the tectonic plate cools and accumulates
more sediment with increased distance from the mid-Atlantic ridge. The Earth’s crust also
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experiences isostatic adjustment, whereby the lithosphere sinks into the asthenosphere
under increased weight (e.g. glaciers), and rises up when the weight is lifted (Figure 13.10).
Tectonic movements and isostatic adjustments are responsible for localized changes in sea
level. Worldwide (eustatic) changes is sea level also occur when there is a change in the
amount of water in the oceans, or to the ocean’s capacity. These changes can occur through
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the formation and destruction of large inland lakes, changes in seafloor spreading (which
affect the size of mid-ocean ridges) or ice ages.
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1. What is the difference between the terms shore and coast?
3. How does wave action influence the swash and backwash, and in turn the beach
profile?
5. Which kinds of features receive the most wave energy on an erosional coast?
10. Name 2 processes that can lead to localized changes in sea level.
11. Name 3 processes that can lead to eustatic sea level changes.
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14. The Coastal Ocean (Trujillo, Chapter 11)
The Law of the Sea treaty specifies how nations can protect their natural resources, settle
maritime boundary disputes and extend their rights to resources adjacent to its territory.
The four main elements are the following:
1. Coastal zone jurisdiction (Figure 14.1): The treaty establishes the territorial sea of a
coastal nation as extending 12nm from its shore. This is considered part of the
sovereign territory and countries set and enforce laws (e.g. customs, taxation,
immigration and pollution), regulate use, and use any resource. Vessels have a right
of innocent passage through the territorial sea. In the contiguous zone (12 nm beyond
the territorial sea), countries can continue to enforce laws if the infringement started
within the state's territory or territorial waters, or if this infringement is about to occur
within the state's territory or territorial waters. The Exclusive Economic Zone extends
200 nm from the coastline, and the country has all rights to the resources in its EEZ.
Where the continental shelf extends beyond 200nm, a country has exclusive rights to
resources over to 350nm (or 100nm from the 2500m depth mark) but must share 7%.
2. Ship passage: Vessels have right of free passage in the high seas, and within territorial
seas and straits used for navigation
3. Deep-ocean mineral resources: mineral resources in the high seas are under the
jurisdiction of the UN International Seabed Authority (ISA). Private exploration of
the seafloor may proceed under strict control of the ISA.
4. Arbitration of disputes: Should disputes arise on ownership and boundaries of the
oceans, they will be settled by a UN Law of Sea tribunal.
In the US, individual states have jurisdiction from the shoreline to a distance of 3 to 9 nm
in the territorial sea.
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Figure 14.1. Coastal zones as defined by the United Nation’s Law of the Sea treaty.
Salinity
Freshwater runoff from continents generally lowers the salinity of coastal oceans compared
to open oceans. Freshwater that comes from rivers is less dense than seawater. If river
runoff occurs in a coastal area with limited vertical mixing, the freshwater layer remains at
the surface and forms a halocline (Figure 14.2a). Runoff in a shallow area that has strong
wind or tidal mixing simply reduces the salinity of the entire water column (Figure 14.2c).
In some coastal regions, prevailing offshore winds can instead increasing evaporation and
therefore increase surface salinity, resulting in a reverse halocline (Figure 14.2b).
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Figure 14.2. Variation in the salinity profile of the water column in the coastal ocean.
Temperature
The vertical temperature profile in any given location depends on how much surface waters
are heated by the sun, and how much vertical mixing exists. High latitudes tend to have
uniformly near-freezing temperature throughout the water column, with no thermocline at
any point during the year (Figure 14.3b). Low latitudes receive a lot of solar heat, which
often creates a permanent thermocline around 300-1000m in the open ocean (chapter 6).
However, in shallow coastal areas where circulation with the open ocean is restricted, the
entire water column may become uniformly warm (Figure 14.3a). In coastal zones in mid-
latitudes, a thermocline is established in the summer when surface waters are heated by the
sun. This thermocline breaks down in the fall and may even be reversed for short periods
of time in the winter, when surface water might be colder than deeper water (Figure 14.3c).
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Figure 14.3. Temperature profile in coastal waters at various latitudes.
Estuaries
Estuaries are partially enclosed coastal bodies of water where fresh and salt water mix.
They are unique ecosystems that tend to be unstable because of the dynamic mixing of
fresh and salt water. They are often highly productive environments because of high
nutrient inputs from land. They however typically exhibit a low diversity because of the
variability in salinity which few species can withstand.
Estuaries can be classified based on their geologic origin (Figure 14.4). Coastal plain
estuaries (sometimes called drowned river valleys), formed when sea level rose and flooded
existing river valleys. Fjords are U-shaped valleys with steep walls that were formed by
glaciers and later flooded with sea level rise. Bar-built estuaries are formed by barrier
islands deposited parallel to the coast. They are typically shallow. Finally, tectonic
estuaries are created when tectonic movements drop a section of lithosphere which
subsequently floods.
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Figure 14.4. Types of estuaries based on geologic origin.
Estuaries can also be classified based on their salinity profile, which depends on the input
of fresh water, the depth, and the slope of the bottom (Figure 14.5). The type of estuarine
circulation and position of isohals (lines of equal salinity) may vary temporally with several
factors including tide, season, rainfall, and melting of snow. Vertically mixed estuaries are
shallow and have a strong outflow of water. Salinity increases from the head to the mouth
of the estuary, and at any point is uniform from surface to bottom. In slightly stratified
estuaries, the water column is slightly layered with saltier water moving towards the head
at depth and a less salty, less dense layer of water moving in the opposite direction at the
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surface. This is called an estuarine circulation pattern. There is considerable mixing
between layers and isohals are diagonal. In highly stratified estuaries, the estuarine
circulation pattern is stronger and there is less mixing between layers. Deep water can
reach full ocean salinity and the zone of mixing is narrow with a strong halocline. Salt
wedges tend to develop near high volume rivers, which limits the intrusion of seawater at
depth and results in a surface layer of freshwater reaching far from the head.
Lagoons
Lagoons are a special type of estuary that form behind barrier islands (Figure 14.6). They
are shallow and protected, and have limited exchange with the ocean, which results unique
physical characteristics. Three distinct zones can be identified in lagoons. The freshwater
zone is near the head of the lagoon where freshwater enters; the transitional zone in the
middle of the lagoon contains brackish water, and the saltwater zone near the mouth has
close to full ocean salinity. Tidal variation is highest near the mouth. In some dry areas,
lagoons can experience such a high level of evaporation that they become hypersaline. In
this case, ocean water flowing into the lagoon is less dense than the high salinity water in
the lagoon, and the layering and circulation pattern is inversed that usually found in
estuaries (Figure 14.7). Such lagoons (or other estuaries) that lose more water to
evaporation than gain it from runoff are called negative estuaries. Laguna Madre in Texas
is an example of a negative estuary.
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Figure 14.6. Typical characteristics of lagoons.
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Figure 14.7. Circulation in a negative estuary, such as Laguna Madre.
Marginal Seas
Marginal seas are large, semi-isolated bodies of water such as the Mediterranean and the
Caribbean. Waters of marginal seas are relatively shallow and have limited exchange with
the open ocean which leads to unique temperature and salinity characteristics. In the
Mediterranean, as in Laguna Madre, evaporation exceeds precipitation leading to the
formation of high-salinity, high-density water. This water is denser than Atlantic water at
the Straits of Gibraltar, and the result is a similar circulation pattern as what is found in
negative estuaries; seawater coming from open ocean flows on top of denser, saltier water
leaving the Mediterranean (Figure 14.8).
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Figure 14.8. Circulation in the Mediterranean, opposite that found in estuaries.
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14.6. Main types of marine pollution
Pollution in the marine environment includes a variety of substances that are discussed in
this section. Inputs of marine pollution mostly come from land-based activities in the
form of runoff, discharges and emissions (Figure 14.9).
Petroleum
Major oil spills contribute a large amount of petroleum to the marine environment, yet it
should be noted that substantial oil pollution comes from many sources river runoff of oil
washed off streets and parking lots (Figure 14.10). Oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons and
other substances. The most toxic compounds in crude oil include polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (e.g. napthlenes, benzene, toluene and xylenes), which can lead to disease in
plants and animals in very small doses. They can also act as carcinogens when inhaled or
ingested. Oil spills have been linked to mortality in fish eggs and many other small large
marine organisms. Refined oil is much more toxic than crude oil.
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Oil is less dense than water and when it is released in the ocean it floats at the surface.
Volatile compounds can evaporate and leave behind a denser substance that can sink. Some
oil can also mix with water. Photo-oxidation and bacteria break down the oil into water-
soluble compounds. Floating oil can be skimmed and collected, though this collected oil
still poses a disposal problem somewhere else. Several types of bacteria and fungi can
break down a large proportion of the hydrocarbons in crude oil, and are therefore used to
help clean up spills in a process called bioremediation. Other methods of cleaning up oil
spills (e.g. adding chemical dispersants) are often more damaging to the environment than
they are beneficial.
Because oil spill clean-up is difficult, the best strategy remains to prevent spills in the first
place. In the US, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 mandates that all oil tankers traveling in
US waters be constructed with double hulls (Figure 14.11) by 2015. This aims to prevent
a spill even in the case of ship grounding. The Oil Pollution Act also defined fiscal
responsibility for clean-up and created the national Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which is
available to provide up to one billion dollars per spill incident—to insure a rapid response.
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Figure 14.11. Cross-section of oil tankers with single hull and double hull construction.
Sewage sludge
The US Clean Water Act (1972), specifies that all sewage must have at a minimum a
secondary treatment before it is discharged in the environment. The primary treatment
removes half the suspended organic material and solids; the secondary treatment degrades
the remaining solids. What remains is called sludge. Sludge is a semisolid mixture of
human waste, oil, zinc, copper, lead, silver, mercury, pesticides and other chemicals.
Sludge has commonly been released in the marine environment, some distance from the
coastal zone (either transported by barge or pipes). Most municipalities now treat sludge
to be released on land, yet in many areas including the Florida Keys, sludge still reaches
coastal ecosystem with damaging consequences. For example, nutrients found in sludge
can lead to coastal eutrophication (see chapter 16), and some coral diseases have been
associated with exposure to human waste.
Mercury
Mercury is used in several industrial processes. When it enters the environment, it is
converted to methylmercury, which is highly toxic to many organisms including humans.
Mercury is known to affect the human nervous system and cause blindness, tremors, brain
damage, birth defects, paralysis and even death. Mercury, along with many other toxins,
can be concentrated in the tissue of organisms in a process called bioaccumulation. As
these organisms are consumed by animals higher and higher up the food chain, the toxins
magnify with each trophic level in a process called biomagnification (Figure 14.12). Top
predators therefore have high amounts of toxins such as mercury. This is why US Food
and Drug Administration advises that pregnant women, women of child-bearing age,
nursing mothers and young children should avoid eating predatory fish like tuna and
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swordfish which tend to contain high levels of methylmercury. Methylmercury is not only
found in areas close to sources of mercury; high methylmercury levels have also been
found in marine mammals in the Arctic Ocean. This is of high concern for indigenous Inuit
populations that rely on seals and other marine mammals as an important food source.
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was put in effect in 1983. MARPOL addresses the release of waste generated during
normal vessel operations, regulates oil discharge from ships, sets limits on how far offshore
sewage may be dumped, and addresses ship’s trash (Figure 14.13).
Much of the trash that arrives in the oceans sinks or biodegrades. One exception is plastic,
which makes up 80% of the marine debris that comes from land, and does not readily
biodegrade. As a result, plastic can remain in the ocean indefinitely. Plastic can impact
marine life through entanglement and ingestion. Entanglement can become life-
threatening in various ways, including through strangling. Marine birds have been
documented to ingest so much plastic that it fills their stomachs, and the birds later die
from starvation. Turtles have also died after eating plastic bags. Also important is the
problem of toxicity associated with plastic trash, since plastic has a high affinity for toxic
compounds that are not water-soluble. While much of the plastic trash in the ocean is
clearly visible, a large proportion is made up of very small pre-production plastic pellets
called nurdles. Nurdles are transported on vessels and commonly spill in the marine
environment. Many beaches around the world have a high concentration of plastic nurdles
along with mineral sediment.
Plastic is increasingly abundant in the oceans, and concentrates where currents converge.
Large floating patches of plastic debris have recently been documents in the middle of
subtropical ocean gyres. In these patches, plastic debris far outnumbers marine life. The
most well-known of these patches occurs in the eastern North Pacific, in an area roughly
twice the size of Texas (Figure 14.14). Plastic that remains at the surface of the ocean for
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extended periods of time eventually photodegrades in the sunlight, and breaks down in
increasingly smaller components. This facilitates ingestion by more organisms. In
response to the problem of plastic pollution, MARPOL bans all plastic dumping at sea
(Figure 14.13).
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established throughout the Caribbean, where lionfish have strong impacts on prey
populations and are not controlled by native predators.
2. What is the name of the treaty that was created at the end of these conferences?
3. Where would you expect to have strong haloclines in the coastal ocean?
4. What is an estuary?
10. Describe the circulation pattern in a negative estuary and in the Mediterranean
15. Why are top predators at greater risk of mercury poisoning than animals low on the
food chain?
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15. Marine Life and the Marine Environment (Trujillo, Ch 12)
Biological organisms can be classified by taxonomy, which reflects evolutionary links, or
they can be classified by habitat or functional similarities. This section explores the major
groups of organisms in the ocean and their adaptations to various habitats.
Figure 15.1. The three domains of life, and the 3 well-defined kingdoms of Eukarya.
Taxonomy further divides organisms into smaller and smaller groups of organisms, from
phylum, class, order, family, genus and species (Figure 15.2). The fundamental unit in this
classification is the species, a group of individuals that can mate to produce viable
offspring. Every species is known in the scientific literature by a two-word name
composed of the genus and species name. This is called binomial nomenclature, and
ensures that species are clearly identified, even across languages. In binomial
nomenclature, the genus name is capitalized, the species name is not capitalized, and both
the genus and species are italicized. For example, the common dolphin is called Delphinus
delphis in the scientific literature.
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Figure 15.2. Hierarchical taxonomic groupings, using the example of the grey wolf, Canis
lupus.
Plankton
Planktonic organisms are free-floating organisms that cannot propel themselves against a
current, therefore their movement is largely determined by water currents. Planktonic
organisms span a large range of size from picoplankton that includes viruses
(virioplankton) and bacteria (bacterioplankton) to macroplankton such as jellies. While
jellies (like some other planktonic organisms) have some ability to swim, their swimming
abilities are limited and their movements are largely determined by the current, so they are
considered planktonic.
Phytoplankton are plant and plant-like members of the plankton community, capable of
photosynthesis. They are microscopic, single-celled organisms (except Sargassum), and
are limited to surface waters (down to a maximum of about 200m) by the availability of
light. Because they have no or limited swimming ability, they possess adaptations that
make them sink slowly and allow them to remain near the surface. They are small
organisms, and therefore have a high surface-area-to-volume ratio which slows down
sinking. Some also possess projections such as horns, spines or wings, which increase this
ratio. They may store low-density fats and oils or have internal gas-filled vesicles, or form
chains or aggregates. Distribution of phytoplankton is very heterogeneous, and varies with
levels of light and nutrients, and with mixing and seasons. This is discussed in detail in
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Chapter 16. Phytoplankton are most abundant in temperate zones and in areas of
upwelling.
Zooplankton are the animals of the plankton community, organisms that must consume
other organisms. The zooplankton is an extremely diverse group, and includes
holoplankton (organisms that spend their entire life as plankton) and meroplankton (larval
forms of benthic and nektonic adults that are temporary members of the plankton
community). Many species of zooplankton exhibit a daily vertical migration, where they
rise towards the surface at night to feed (where food is more concentrated) and descend to
depth (200-600m) during the day. Advantages of spending the daytime in deeper waters
include a decreased risk of predation from visual predators due to lower light levels, a
decreased metabolic rate due to lower water temperature, and slower sinking rates due to
increased density and viscosity. The zooplankton are an extremely diverse group that
represent most animal phyla.
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Figure 15.4. Common types of zooplankton: 1) Noctilucta, a predatory dinoflagellate that
exhibits bioluminescence; 2) squid larva 3) Copepod; 4) Jelly larva; 5) Snail larva; 6) Fish
larva; 7) Arrowworm; 8-9) Foraminiferas; 10) Radiolarians.
Nekton
Nekton are the pelagic organisms that are powerful enough swimmers to move at will
through the water column (Figure 15.5). They are mostly vertebrates (fish, sharks, rays,
marine mammals, reptiles, and birds) but also include invertebrates such as squid. The
distribution of nekton is influenced by light, temperature, density and currents. Nekton are
most abundant near the surface where food is most abundant, in the epipelagic zone which
extends to approximately 200m and corresponds to the photic zone. Most nekton in this
zone are large, carnivorous predators in high trophic levels. Some, like tuna, are migratory
and follow food sources. Most exhibit a pelagic camouflage called countershading, being
darker on the top and lighter on the bottom (e.g. shark and tuna, figure 15.5).
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Figure 15.5. Nektonic organisms, with shark and tuna showing countershading, a type of
camouflage common in the epipelagic zone.
Benthos
Benthic organisms are those that live on the ocean floor (Figure 15.6). Benthic plants and
seaweeds can grow in shallow coastal areas where light is abundant, whereas benthic
animals grow in all areas and depths of the oceans.
Benthic multicellular primary producers are restricted to the photic zone, and therefore do
not grow deeper than 200m (though most plants are found much shallower than this). They
are attached to the bottom, but float up to obtain sunlight. These large plants and seaweeds
provide food and shelter from many animals in shallow areas.
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Figure 15.6. Benthic animals: 1) sponge; 2) sand dollars; 3) crinoid; 4) sea anemones; 5)
barnacles; 6) mussels; 7) sea urchin; 8) sea cucumber; 9) sea hare; 10) shore crab; 11) sea
star; 12) abalone; 13) ghost crab; 14) lug worm; 15) annelid worm; 16) clam.
Benthic animals are adapted to exist at all depths and are found associated with all
substrates. Benthic habitats are varied and animals have evolved adaptations for all these
habitats, therefore the number of benthic species is quite high, approximately 50 times that
of pelagic species. Benthic organisms can be categorized as epifauna, organisms that live
on the substrate, or infauna, organisms that live in or burrow through the sediment. Some
benthic organisms are motile and can move around, others are sessile and are permanently
fixed.
The type of animal community that develops in a given area depends on environmental
conditions. Communities that develop on high energy rocky shores are very different than
those that exist on low energy sediment areas. Similarly, animal communities in shallow
water, amongst seaweeds and sea grasses are quite different from those that exist in the
deep sea and depend on food that falls from above. See Trujillo, Chapter 15, for a
description of some specialized communities that exist in specific benthic environments.
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environments. A higher diversity of environment leads to higher speciation. Within the
marine environment, the vast majority of species are found in the benthic zone. This again
can be explained by a much greater variation in environment on the benthos than in the
water column.
Water viscosity
Viscosity is the resistance of a liquid to flow. Viscosity of water increases with increased
salinity and decreased temperature, such that cold, salty water presents increased resistance
to flow. While these changes in viscosity have little effect on large nektonic organisms,
they do affect smaller organisms because frictional resistance increases with surface area
to volume (SA:V) ratio. Organisms with a small SA:V ratio have high frictional resistance
(Figure 15.9). This frictional drag is used by many phytoplankton and zooplankton to stay
in upper part of the water column, where sunlight is abundant. In cold water (high
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viscosity), plankton sink slowly and stay near the surface more easily. In tropical water,
sinking rates are more rapid, and some organisms have evolved morphological adaptations
to reduce their sinking rates such as more elaborate, feathery appendages (Figure 15.10),
needle-like extensions and rings (Figure 15.11). Other organisms have small droplets of
oil which decreases density and increases buoyancy. Despite adaptations to stay afloat,
most planktonic organisms are denser than water and tend to sink slowly. This slow
sinking is not a serious problem, however, because wind-induced turbulence causes enough
mixing to keep most planktonic organisms in surface water, where they can
photosynthesize or feed on abundant organisms.
Figure 15.9. The surface area to volume ratio of organisms decreases with organism size.
This has important implications for movement, sinking rate, gas exchange and nutrient
update.
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Figure 15.10. Variation in appendages between related species of copepods that live in
water water (a) and cold water (b). Warm water species experience faster sinking rates due
to lower water viscosity; ornate appendages help increase drag and slow down sinking
(length of copepods: 2 mm)
Figure 15.11. Warm-water diatom, showing a large marginal ring which increases surface
area and drag (diameter = 60 microns).
High SA:V ratio is also an advantage for small phytoplankton as it allows for greater
diffusion of gases and nutrients across the body wall (Figure 15.9). In this way, small
phytoplankton are much more successful than larger phytoplankton in low-nutrient tropical
waters. Conversely, high-nutrient areas (e.g. upwelling zones, polar seas) can support
relatively large phytoplankton at the base of the marine food chain.
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For large animals that swim freely in the ocean, water viscosity is an impediment to speed
(by comparison, air offers much less drag to animals moving on land). For this reason,
most fast-swimming marine animals are streamlined, with a shape that reduces resistance
to water (Figure 15.12).
Temperature
Organisms in the ocean experience a much narrower range of temperatures than those on
land (Figure 15.13), for four reasons: 1) water has a high heat capacity, 2) the warming of
the ocean is reduced substantially by evaporation, 3) solar energy that arrives at the surface
of the ocean is distributed over a large body of water (several tens of meters or more),
rather than a very thin layer and 4) water has good mixing mechanisms such as currents,
waves and tides which redistribute heat. The small daily and seasonal variations in
temperature are confined to the surface and their importance decreases with depth. Below
1500, water temperatures are around 3oC year-round.
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Figure 15.13. Differences in temperature range between land, the coastal ocean and the
open ocean.
While temperature variations are less extreme in the ocean than on land, temperature still
has important effects on marine organisms. Because of the lower density and viscosity of
warm water, planktonic organisms in the tropics tend to have higher SA:V ratio, either by
being small in size or by having extensions on their bodies. Because warm temperature
increases metabolic rate, tropical species tend to grow faster and have shorter generation
times than their cold-water relatives. Consistent with terrestrial patterns of diversity,
tropical waters tend to have a higher diversity of planktonic species than cold waters. On
the other hand, there is a higher biomass of plankton at high-latitudes because of higher
availability of nutrients. Some organisms can survive over a wide range of temperatures
(eurythermal), while others have very specific temperature requirements (stenothermal).
Salinity
Organisms also vary widely in their tolerance to fluctuations in salinity. Those that inhabit
estuaries, where salinity is dynamic, typically can tolerate a wide range in salinity and are
called euryhaline. On the other hand, those in regions that have very stable salinity, like
the open ocean, typically have a much narrower tolerance and are called stenohaline. In
euryhaline organisms, two main strategies can are found (Figure 15.14). Some organisms
deal with changing salinity by having adaptations to maintain metabolic function through
some range of internal salinities and are called osmoconformers. Others, called
osmoregulators, are adapted to maintain a constant internal salinity across a range of
environmental salinities. Osmoregulators include fishes, birds, mammals and several
invertebrates (e.g. crustaceans).
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Figure 15.14. Relationship between internal and external salinity (presented here as
osmotic pressure) for osmoconformers and osmoregulators.
When waters of unequal salinities are found on either side of a semi-permeable membrane
(such as skin or a cell membrane), water moves from the side of low salinity (hypotonic)
to the side of high salinity (hypertonic) in a process called osmosis (Figure 15.15). This
affects organisms in both freshwater and saltwater, which have different adaptations to live
in water of different salinity. This is seen clearly in bony fishes, which have freshwater
and saltwater representatives (Figure 15.16). Freshwater fishes are hyperosmotic to their
environment, and constantly gain water through osmosis. For this reason, they don’t drink,
and they produce a large amount of dilute urine. To compensate for the loss of salt, their
gills have special cells that reuptake the very dilute salts found in freshwater. Marine
fishes, on the other hand, are hypoosmotic to their environment and constantly lose water
through osmosis. They therefore must drink large amounts of seawater and produce small
amounts of very concentrated urine. Their gills also excrete excess salts that they intake
through drinking water.
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Figure 15.15. The process of osmosis.
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Figure 15.16. Osmotic adaptations of freshwater and marine bony fishes.
Dissolved gases
The amount of gases that are dissolved in seawater is important to the organisms that live
in it, in particular for carbon dioxide (which phytoplankton need for photosynthesis) and
oxygen (which all organisms need for their metabolism). Cold water holds more gases in
solution than warm water, and this allows for high productivity in polar waters in the
summer when sunlight and nutrients are available. Further, the cold, oxygen-rich water
from the poles sinks to the bottom of the ocean and supplies deep-sea animals with
dissolved oxygen. Except for marine birds and mammals, all marine animals must obtain
dissolved oxygen from seawater. In very simple animals (e.g. zooplankton or sea jellies),
this is achieved through simple diffusion. Most larger animals, on the other hand, require
gills to efficiency extract oxygen from the water. Gills increase the surface area of
capillaries over which gas exchange occurs (Figure 15.17).
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Figure 15.17. Fish gills function to extract oxygen from the water and release carbon
dioxide.
Water’s transparency
The depth of light penetration in the ocean depends on many factors including the amount
of sediment & plankton in the water, latitude, time of day, and season. In the clearest ocean
near the equator, maximum light penetration is about 1000m. In this clear, 3-dimensional
environment, animals have evolved several strategies to avoid being seen by their predators
or prey. Many organisms are nearly transparent or have silvery sides which reflect light.
Others display countershading camouflage, with a dark dorsal side and a light ventral side
(e.g. penguin and tuna in figure 15.12). With countershading, animals blend against a dark
ocean when viewed from above, and against lit surface waters when viewed from below.
Many small animals avoid lit surface waters altogether during the day to avoid falling prey
to visual predators and return to the epipelagic zone (where food is more abundant) only at
night. This group of organisms forms the deep scattering layer, which is found around
1000m during day time and near the surface at night. The deep scattering layer (DSL) is
often referred to as a “false bottom” because the density of organism can be so great that it
presents a similar signal on sonars to the ocean floor. Many organisms make up the DSL,
including copepods, krill and lantern fish (Figure 15.18).
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Figure 15.18. Daily movements and organisms of the deep scattering layer.
In shallow coastal waters, where animals have structures in which or against which to hide,
different coloration patterns help camouflage. Some species blend exceptionally well with
their background, while others use disruptive coloration, with bold patterns and colors
which can help camouflage against colorful backgrounds such as a coral reef. Bright colors
can also be important for mate recognition and to advertise readiness to mate, or to
advertise defenses such as poison or spines.
Pressure
Water pressure increases by 1 atmosphere for every 10 meters of seawater depth. In the
deepest parts of the ocean, pressure is several hundred times that of the surface. Water is
nearly incompressible, so organisms that lack air-filled compartments (such as lungs) are
much less affected by increased pressure than those who do. Deep sea fishes have equal
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pressure inside their bodies than there is outside, and are well-adapted to life at depth. Still,
most organisms can only survive within a certain depth range. Many marine fishes have
swim bladders that allow them to regulate their position in the water column (Figure 15.19).
For this reason, deep-sea fishes that are brought to the surface rapidly with fishing gear
often suffer barotrauma, with their swim bladders expanding more rapidly than they can
compensate for (Figure 15.20).
Figure 15.20. Bocaccio rockfish showing injuries from barotrauma, with the swim bladder
push out of the mouth. Photo credit: NOAA/SWFSC.
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15.5. Main divisions of the marine environment
The ocean is far from being a homogeneous environment, and it can be subdivided in many
sections (Figure 15.21). There are two main ocean habitats: the pelagic zone, in the water
column, and the benthic zone, on the ocean floor. The benthic zone can be divided further
based on depth, from the intertidal zone (between high tide and low tide) to the hadal zone
in deep trenches. Similarly, the pelagic zone can be divided horizontally between the
neritic zone (close to shore, above the continental shelf) and the oceanic zone (offshore,
away from the continental shelf), or vertically between the epipelagic, mesopelagic,
bathypelagic and abyssopelagic.
The most important factor in determining the distribution of life in the pelagic zone is the
availability of light. Therefore the pelagic zone is often divided vertically based on light
levels. The photic (or euphotic) zone has enough light sustain photosynthesis (to ~100m
deep) is where the vast majority of pelagic life exists. Most nekton in this zone are large,
carnivorous predators in high trophic levels. The dysphotic zone has low levels of light,
so countershading and other camouflage patterns are still useful. It extends from the
bottom of the euphotic zone to the disappearance of all sunlight, between 600-1000m.
Animals in the dysphotic mesopelagic zone are typically small and have low metabolism
due to the low temperature and scarce food. They typically have large eyes adapted to the
low light levels. Proteins and biological membranes are adapted to the increased pressure.
Mesopelagic nekton are often scavengers and eat the scarce food they come across. Some
have photophores, light-producing organs used in species identification, reproduction,
camouflage, and attraction of prey. The aphotic zone (the dark zone, below 1000m) has
not sunlight at all and in it, many animals are completely blind. Food is severely limited
here; the deeper it is, the higher the chance of food falling from above having been eaten
as it sinks. Animals have interesting adaptations to increase their predation and mating
success.
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The upper part of the epipelagic zone is the only place in the ocean that has high enough
light levels to support photosynthesis. This leads to high levels of oxygen and low carbon
dioxide. Below the epipelagic zone oxygen levels drop rapidly because of the lack of
photosynthesis, but continued decomposition and respiration. Oxygen levels reach a
minimum in the mesopelagic zone around 700-1000m (called the oxygen minimum zone).
Below this depth, oxygen levels increase, in large part because this deep water originated
as cold, oxygen-rich water at the poles. Nutrient levels are typically low in the epipelagic
zone because available nutrients are continuously used up by photosynthetic organisms.
Nutrient concentration reaches a maximum near the oxygen minimum zone, because
decomposition breaks down organic molecules into their inorganic components (the
nutrients).
Figure 15.22. Dissolved oxygen and nutrient concentration with depth (vertical axis on the
left, in meters (feet in brackets)).
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15.6. Review Questions
1. What are the three domains of life?
4. What are the two words that are included in the scientific name of an organism?
5. What is phytoplankton?
7. What is infauna?
environment?
9. What are two elements of an organism’s biology that are influenced by its SA:V
ratio?
11. What adaptations do planktonic organisms have to lower their sinking rate?
12. What is the term used to describe an organism that can live in a wide range of
salinity?
14. How does the depth of the deep scattering layer change with time of day?
16. Which zone has some light but not enough to sustain photosynthesis?
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16. Biological Productivity & Energy Transfer (Trujillo, Ch. 13)
Phytoplankton, though extremely small, are very abundant and have a high biomass, and
therefore are responsible for 90-98% of the global marine organic carbon production.
Seaweeds and other macroalgae, because they are mostly benthic, are limited to shallow
near-shore areas. They have a smaller biomass and are responsible for about 2-10% of the
marine organic production. Chemosynthetic organisms (mostly at hydrothermal vents)
are responsible for less than 1%.
Most autotrophs use the sun’s energy to convert inorganic nutrients into organic molecules
through photosynthesis (Figure 16.1). The total amount of organic material produced in a
given area over a given period of time is referred to as gross primary production. However,
plants also respire (like all organisms), and use some of this organic material for their own
metabolic needs (Figure 16.1). Net primary production is the amount of organic material
available to higher trophic levels after respiration losses.
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Figure 16.1. Photosynthesis and respiration reactions.
Because all photosynthetic organisms require sunlight, they must remain in the photic zone,
which may reach as deep as 200m. The amount of light available for photosynthesis and
the depth of the photic zone depend on many factors, including the amount of light
absorption by the atmosphere, dust and clouds (e.g. less light reaches the surface of the
ocean on a cloudy day); the angle between the sun and the sea surface, which varies with
latitude and season; the transparency of the water (turbidity); the reflection of light at the
surface, which increases with sea state (agitated seas reflect more light than flat seas).
Because the amount of light decreases with depth, deeper regions of the ocean are light-
limited and photosynthesis is low. The very surface of the ocean on the other hand, is often
photo-inhibited; the light levels are so high that they reduce photosynthetic rate. The rate
of photosynthesis is highest at intermediate light levels, and is typically at its highest
between 5 and 20 m deep, though this is highly dependent on location and time. The depth
at which photosynthetic organisms receive only enough light to produce the amount of
oxygen they need for their own metabolic needs (i.e. rate of photosynthesis equals rate of
respiration) is known as the compensation depth (Figure 16.2). The compensation depth
usually occurs at about 1% of the light levels that reach the surface, and the net production
at this depth is zero.
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Figure 16.2. Compensation depth in relation to photosynthesis and respiration rates.
The compensation depth varies depending on factors that affect water clarity. For example,
as the amount of phytoplankton increases during a bloom, the compensation depth becomes
shallower as the bloom reduces the depth to which light can penetrate.
Photosynthetic organisms can adapt to changing light levels in four main ways. Various
accessory pigments allow for light absorption over a wide range of wavelengths;
chlorophyll, abundant in green algae, absorbs red wavelengths, which are quickly absorbed
with depth, therefore green algae photosynthesize well near the surface. Red algae, on the
other hand, have pigments that allow them to photosynthesize in lower light levels, and
therefore grow deeper. Phytoplankton also have varying shapes of chloroplasts (the
photosynthetic organelles within the cell): those in high light levels tend to have circular
shaped chloroplasts, whereas those at depth in lower light levels may have oblong
chloroplasts that increase the surface area-to-volume ratio to catch as much light as
possible. Phytoplankton at depth can also increase the number of their chloroplasts and
move chloroplast closer to the outside of the cell, to maximize photosynthesis in low light
levels.
Inorganic nutrients are also necessary for the growth of phytoplankton. All photosynthetic
organisms require nitrogen and phosphorus. Most organisms can only take up nitrogen in
the form of nitrate (NO32-), nitrite (NO2-), and ammonium (NH4+). Few organisms are able
to use atmospheric nitrogen (N2), though cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are amongst the
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organisms that can. Similarly, phosphorus must be present in the form of phosphate (PO43-
). Besides nitrogen and phosphorus, some phytoplankton also require silicon in the form
of silicate (SiO2), for example, diatoms require silica to build their frustule (shell). Some
trace elements (e.g. iron, manganese, cobalt, zinc copper) are also required, though in
minute quantities, for the growth of phytoplankton.
Nutrients tend to be present in limited quantities in the photic zone because they are
continually used up by primary producers. Below the photic zone, nutrients are abundant.
Nutrients can be returned to surface waters (in the photic zone, where they can be used in
photosynthesis), in four main ways. Upwelling is a process where deeper water is brought
to the surface, because of the movement of surface currents or because of a lower density,
and brings nutrients from deeper waters (Figure 16.3). Turbulence and mixing also bring
deeper waters and nutrients back to the surface. Seasonal mixing occurs in temperate
latitudes, where during the fall and winter, the lowered surface temperature creates dense
surface water, which then sinks to depth and is replaced by nutrient-rich deep water that
rises to the surface. Bacterial decomposition of phytoplankton, zooplankton and other
organisms in the photic zone release nutrients in that zone. Similarly, the excretion of
waste material by organisms near the surface releases nutrients in the photic zone.
Photosynthetic organisms must have sunlight and nutrients in order to convert the sun’s
energy into organic molecules. When both sunlight and nutrients are present, there is a
rapid expansion of the phytoplankton population, called a phytoplankton bloom.
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Figure 16.3. Wind-driven upwelling, which brings nutrient-rich deep water near the
surface, enhances primary productivity.
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Seed-bearing plants
Seed-bearing plants have evolved on land from aquatic ancestors, and have roots, stems
and leaves. They use their roots to anchor in sediments. They possess structures to conduct
water and nutrients (xylem and phloem). Only a few species then evolved new adaptations
for life at sea. All are confined to shallow coastal areas. Coastal seed-bearing plants
include seagrasses, salt marsh grasses and mangroves (Figure 16.4).
Macroscopic algae
Also known as seaweeds, these are the largest group of benthic multicellular primary
producers. They have no roots, and instead attach to hard substrates with their holdfast.
They also do not have stems or leaves, and instead have a stipe and blade (Figure 16.5).
Photosynthesis is most important in the blade. They have no system to conduct water or
nutrients; molecules are transported by diffusion. Some seaweeds have pneumatocysts,
gas-filled vesicles that provide flotation to keep the blades near the surface. There are three
main groups of seaweeds, separated by their main pigments. The Chlorophyta, or green
algae, possess large amounts of chlorophyll and are the shallowest group, for example
Halimeda. The Phaeophyta, or brown algae, have accessory pigments that give them an
olive-green or brown color. This group includes kelps and Sargasssum. The Rhodophyta,
or red algae, have red accessory pigments that allow them to photosynthesize in low light
levels, and therefore they are usually the deepest of all three groups. These include
coralline algae and the seaweed used for sushi (nori).
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Figure 16.5. A few species of macroalgae.
Microscopic algae
The three main groups of phytoplankton are the golden algae, dinoflagellates, and blue-
green algae (cyanobacteria).
The Chrysophyta are also called golden algae because they possess yellow-brown pigments
that mask the chlorophyll. They include diatoms and coccolithophores. Diatoms (Figure
16.6) have a frustule (shell) impregnated with silicate, and therefore require silica as a
nutrient. They are a very important part of temperate phytoplankton blooms, and are the
major component of diatomaceous earth, siliceous sediments used as industrial filters and
abrasives. Coccolithophores, on the other hand, are covered in carbonate plates called
coccoliths and after they die contribute to calcareous deposits.
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Figure 16.7. Coccolithophore
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Figure 16.8. Dinoflagellates
Photosynthetic bacteria
Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, are the only photosynthetic prokaryotes.
Prochlorococcus, a type of cyanobacteria, is the most abundant marine phytoplankton in
the world. Cyanobacteria are especially important because they can use atmospheric
nitrogen, N2 as a source of nitrogen and therefore not limited by nitrate levels as most other
photosynthesizers are. This process is called nitrogen fixation, and it allows cyanobacteria
to thrive in areas that otherwise would have low primary production due to limiting
nutrients.
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Figure 16.9. Formation of anoxic waters of dead zones.
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There are 3 main exceptions to the low-productivity standard of tropical waters: zones
equatorial upwelling, coastal upwelling, and coral reef ecosystems. Equatorial upwelling
occurs where trade winds drive surface transport in diverging directions at the equator,
forcing deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water back to the surface and thereby enhancing
primary productivity. Coastal upwelling occurs where winds drive surface water away
from a land mass, thereby forcing deep, nutrient-rich water to the surface. This typically
occurs on the west side of continents. Coral reef ecosystems exist in low-nutrient waters
and have few sources of new nutrients the way upwelling zones do. But here, there is a
tight recycling of nutrients in large part because of the symbiosis between coral animals
and their symbiotic algae. The algae use the coral’s metabolic wastes as a source of
nutrients and therefore can sustain much higher rates of primary production than would
microalgae in the water column away from the reef.
Polar regions are characterized by low light levels for much of the year, but the water
column is well-mixed and nutrients are abundant (Figure 16.11). Phytoplankton blooms
occur for a short period in the summer, when light levels are sufficient to sustain
photosynthesis. In the Southern Ocean, productivity is even higher than in the Arctic,
because upwelling near Antarctica continually resupplies new nutrients and there are no
rivers to create a pycnocline and water stratification at any point of the year. The main
group of phytoplankton in polar seas are relatively large diatoms, which can grow well in
the high nutrient levels. As soon as the phytoplankton bloom starts, zooplankton start
feeding on phytoplankton and their populations rapidly increase.
Temperate regions are characterized by the highest annual primary productivity. Primary
productivity varies with season according to temperature (which determines the
stratification of the water column), light and nutrient availability (Figure 16.12). In the
winter the standing crop is low because light is limited, even though the water column is
well-mixed, and nutrients are abundant in the photic zone. The spring is characterized by
a large bloom of phytoplankton as light levels increase while nutrients are still abundant.
The phytoplankton declines in the summer, as surface temperature increases, which creates
a thermocline that prevent nutrients from returning to the surface after they have been used
up by the spring bloom. Grazers (herbivorous zooplankton) also contribute to the decline
of phytoplankton. There is a second, smaller phytoplankton bloom in the fall, when surface
temperatures become low enough to allow mixing and the return of nutrients to the photic
zone while light is still abundant enough to sustain photosynthesis. Nutrients released in
the photic zone by the decomposition of organisms (chiefly the summer zooplankton
bloom) also contribute to the nutrients that trigger the fall phytoplankton bloom.
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Figure 16.11. Productivity in polar oceans.
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Figure 16.12. Productivity in temperate oceans.
The summer productivity of polar oceans is unmatched at other latitudes, but temperate
oceans have the highest overall primary productivity, when averaged over a year (Figure
16.13). Tropical oceans typically have consistently low primary production throughout the
year.
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Figure 16.13. Annual patterns of primary productivity at three latitudes.
Those organisms that can create organic molecules from inorganic components (either
through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis) are called producers, or autotrophic organisms.
Heterotrophic organisms, on the other hand, depend on organic molecules made by other
organisms. These can be consumers, or decomposers. Consumers eat other organisms and
can be categorized as herbivores (feed only on plant or algae), carnivores (feed only on
animals), omnivores (feed on both plants and animals) or bacteriovores (feed on bacteria).
Decomposers break down dead and decaying organic material without ingesting it. In this
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process, decomposers release the inorganic components of organic molecules, which are
again available to producers at nutrients.
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Figure 16.15. Biogeochemical cycling of matter.
The trophic level is the position of an organism within the trophic dynamics:
Autotrophs form the first trophic level.
Herbivores are the second trophic level.
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Carnivores occupy the third and higher trophic levels.
Decomposers form the terminal level.
A food chain is the simple succession of organisms within an ecosystem based upon trophic
dynamics. A food web is a more realistic representation of trophic interactions, where an
organism may feed at several different trophic levels (Figure 16.16). The transfer of
energy with each successive trophic level is highly inefficient and only about 10% of the
energy contained in a trophic level is transferred to the next higher level (Figure 16.17).
Some of the energy ingested is not assimilated and is lost in feces; of the energy
assimilated, some is lost as heat in the process of respiration. Of the energy that contributes
to increased biomass (increased size of the organism and increased population size through
reproduction), some dies without being consumed by the next trophic level. Overall, only
about 2% of the sun’s energy is incorporated into producer biomass, and 10% of the energy
contained in one trophic level is passed to the next level (Figure 16.18).
Figure 16.16. A simple marine food chain and more realistic marine food web.
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Figure 16.17. Energy losses with passage through a trophic level.
The loss of energy between trophic levels limits the number of trophic levels that can be
sustained. With each trophic level, the size of individual organisms increases, but the
overall biomass necessarily decreases. This is commonly represented in the form of an
energy or biomass pyramid, showing the decrease in biomass and energy with each trophic
level (Figure 16.19).
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Figure 16.18. Ecosystem energy flow and efficiency.
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Figure 16.19. An biomass pyramid, showing the biomass and energy levels at each trophic
level.
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16.5. Review Questions
1. What is primary production? What unit is it typically measured in?
3. Which deep-sea ecosystem does not rely on energy from the sun?
4. Which areas of the ocean exhibit the highest levels of primary production?
5. Why is photosynthetic rate a little lower at the surface compared to a few meters
below?
8. What are 4 ways in which photosynthetic organisms can adjust to varying light
levels?
14. Which group of seaweed typically can photosynthesize in the lowest light levels?
19. What happens to the energy not transmitted to the next tropic level?
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17. Marine Fisheries (Trujillo, Chap. 13 and other sources)
17.1. Fisheries and Fishing Techniques
Humans have always used the sea as a source of food. Although the sea provides a
relatively small proportion of the overall food supply, this proportion has been increasing
in recent years, and fisheries provide a significant portion of protein consumed in many
regions of the world. Fisheries are the commercial extraction of fish or other organism
from their natural environment for human purposes.
Fish have traditionally been extremely abundant in zones of high biological productivity.
When the first explorers came to North America, cod was described as so abundant that it
would virtually block ships. For this reason, as late as the 1880s, it was thought that
fisheries could not be exhausted. As fishing fleets increased in size and technology allowed
fishermen to catch more, the world catch steadily increased in the early part of 20th century,
however the catch increased only from 60 million metric tons in 1970 to 86 million metric
tons in 1989, despite a significantly increased fishing effort, indicating that stocks are
depleted. World catch has now leveled off at approximately 90 million metric tons despite
further increases in fishing efforts.
A variety of organisms are harvested from the sea. Fish provide by far the greatest tonnage,
with small pelagic fish like herring, sardines and anchovies providing the largest catch,
followed by demersal (closely associated with the bottom) fish like cod, hake and haddock.
Invertebrates are also harvested, with mollusks (e.g. bivalves, squids), crustaceans (e.g.
lobster) and echinoderms (e.g. urchins and sea cucumbers) among the most important.
Seaweeds are harvested for direct consumption or for their compounds. Whales, though
protected from exploitation by most countries, are still harvested to various levels by a few
countries such as Japan, Norway, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Most fisheries are located in zones of high biological productivity that are found near the
coast on continental shelves (e.g. on the Grand Banks and Georges Banks), especially in
upwelling areas, where high levels of nutrient input can sustain high primary production
and large populations at higher trophic levels. Upwelling areas represent about 0.1% of
the ocean surface area, yet account for about 58% of the world fishing catch. Some species,
like tuna, swordfish and whales, are harvested in the pelagic zone offshore.
Different fishing techniques are employed to harvest organisms that live in different
habitats. Trawling of nets on the bottom (Figure 17.1) is used extensively to harvest
demersal fish, but tends reduce relief and destroy habitat. Gill nets are stretched in the
water column and catch fish as they swim through the openings and get caught in it (Figure
17.2). Gill nets have been banned from many areas because of the high mortality they
cause, of both targeted and non-targeted species (by-catch). Long-lining is used
extensively to catch large fishes such as tuna and swordfish and involves setting out several
miles of line (17.3 & 17.4). A purse seine net is a large net set around a school of fish and
closed when a line passed through its bottom is drawn tight (Figure 17.5). Harpooning is
used for large fish that demand a high price such as Bluefin tuna, as well as marine
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mammals. Traps are used to catch crustaceans and many coral reef fish. Many coral reef
fish, especially in the South Pacific, are still harvested by cyanide poisoning and dynamite,
with obvious impacts on human health and reef health.
Figure 17.1. A mid-water trawl net dragged along the bottom, shown here with the statue
of liberty for scale.
Figure 17.2. Gill nets, or drift nets, are large suspended nets that catch fish and other
organisms that swim through it.
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Figure 17.3. Pelagic longlines catch fishes in the water column.
Figure 17.4. Demersal longlines catch fish in close associated with the bottom.
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Figure 17.5. Purse seine net drawn around a school of tuna.
17.2. Overfishing
Fish (or other harvested organisms) must be allowed to reproduce if a fishery is to be
maintained. If a population is harvested at a rate that exceeds its reproductive capacity, its
size will diminish and fishing cannot be sustained. This is called overfishing; at present,
70-80% of the world’s marine stocks are overfished and therefore are harvested in a way
that is not sustainable. Also important to consider is that a fish population driven to low
levels by overfishing is less resilient to stochastic mortality, ecosystem changes, and may
have a lower reproductive success.
Many factors have contributed to the severe overfishing that has occurred in the last several
decades. First, the world population has been steadily increasing, and there has been a shift
in human food towards consuming more fish, both of which have led to a higher demand
for fish and seafood. This higher demand could not be met with traditional means of fishing
of hook and line, small nets and traps. Instead, the increased technology of the last century
has allowed much more efficient fishing methods, which allow for the extraction of
increasing biomass from the sea, meeting this higher demand. However, this increased
fishing efficiency has also resulted in a rapid depletion of many fish stocks. Modern fishing
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vessels are more powerful than they were in the past, and can fish further offshore.
Freezing holds also allow vessels to stay out at sea for weeks at a time, catching large
amounts of fish offshore. Most fishing boats have electronics such as GPS as well as “fish
finders” that use reflected sound to locate schools of fish. Nets are now much more
effective than they were in the past with new technology like monofilament. In the North
Pacific, 1500 fishing vessels set out 37 000 km of gill nets every day; at least 20% of their
catch is thrown away because it consists of organisms that are badly damaged or cannot be
sold. Some species like the Bluefin tuna command such a high price (up to $260/kg) that
it justifies great expenses to catch them, including spotter planes that fly over vast areas of
blue ocean to locate schools and then transmit the position to the fishing fleet. All this new
technology has allowed fishermen to exploit most fish stocks at rates much higher than has
ever been possible in the past, and beyond their reproductive capacity. Moreover,
fishermen can now easily find a market for all this excess fish because of modern means
of shipping (e.g. air transport) opens up the international market. Whereas fishermen
would have traditionally stopped fishing once they had flooded the local market, modern
fishermen can ship across the world in a matter of hours and therefore there is virtually
always a market for their catch. However, shipping internationally increases costs, and
fishermen must fish even more to make more profit, contributing even more to overfishing.
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an independent review of the state of the Northern Cod stock concluded that the population,
biomass, spawning population and spawning biomass were all in decline. By 1992, the
stocks were so low that the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) declared
an unprecedented complete ban on cod fishing in Newfoundland. It is estimated that the
total population was 400 000 tons in 1990, and plummeted to 1700 tons by 1994. Though
the fishery has been closed since 1992, the population has not yet increased to harvestable
levels, and may never come back to those levels. The case of the North Atlantic Cod, as
well as many other overexploited species, demonstrates the importance of better managing
our fish stocks, or using alternative methods of producing fish biomass (e.g. aquaculture)
in a sustainable way.
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lower rates of exploitation than fast-growing species in nutrient-rich environments. Many
coral reef fish, such as groupers, are overexploited.
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Figure 17.7. The concept of shifting baselines, showing that each generation tends to
evaluate what’s normal based on their own experience. In this example, people in
generation n+2 see a small decline in fish stocks (or some other “good thing) over their
lifetime, but they would likely be much more alarmed if they realized the severe declines
that have occurred since their grandparents were the same age.
Figure 17.8. Fishing down the food web in the Florida Keys, reconstructed from historical
photos.
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17.3. Bycatch
Bycatch, or incidental catch, is the capture of organisms that are not targeted by a fishery.
Because fishermen do not have permits to keep those organisms, they must return them to
the ocean, but most have died by the time they are thrown back overboard. On average,
about a quarter of the world’s marine fisheries catch is made up of bycatch. Bycatch
includes many marine fishes, as well as birds, turtles, sharks and dolphins. Because of this,
a lot of research has been done to find harvest methods that reduce bycatch (e.g. Turtle
Exclusion Devices or Bycatch Reduction Devices, the designs of which vary with fishing
gear type). Some fishing methods have higher incidence of bycatch than others. Purse
seine nets (Figure 17.5), which are commonly used to harvest tuna, often catch dolphins
that swim with the school. Driftnets (or gillnets; Figure 17.2) indiscriminately catch most
organisms that fit in the mesh size and have a high rate of bycatch, and have been banned
by international law. Longlines, while they target species such as tuna and swordfish, also
catch a lot of seabirds and turtles, which often have drowned by the time they are recovered
(Figure 17.9)
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sustainable levels of harvesting, and to local government to set quotas and enforce
regulations.
Fisheries biologists must understand many aspects of a given species’ physiology and
ecology in order to establish sustainable harvest levels. One must know what environment
the species lives in, including its habitat and food source. It is important to know the
growth rate (we can determine the age of fish from rings on their vertebrae, scales, or
otoliths) and the size at sexual maturity, to establish minimum landing sizes which allow
individuals to reproduce at least once. It is also important to know the spawning season,
the fecundity (number of eggs per spawn), survival rates, and life span of the species.
Estimates of population size must be made periodically. The easiest data to obtain is catch
data from fishermen, on the assumption that catch is proportional to the population size.
However, such data can be biased by misreporting of actual catch, and by the fact that
bycatch is not reported even though most organisms caught as bycatch are dead and
removed from the population. Scientists can also estimate stocks by tag and release
programs, which also provides data on growth rate and movement, as long as the tagging
process does not induce increased mortality or change in behavior. Stocks can be estimated
by measuring the levels of eggs and larvae in the water, with the assumption that they
directly correlate with the adult population. Finally, acoustics can be used to survey large
areas and estimate biomass.
Once basic data on population dynamics of a given species has been gathered, biologists
can calculate the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), the theoretical quantity of fish that
can be harvested each year without significantly interfering with the regeneration of fish
stocks (Figure 17.10.). Fishing above the MSY leads to decreased catches as the population
size decreases. Traditional fisheries management has aimed to regulate fishing effort right
around the MSY, but this leads to two major problems. First, random fluctuations in stock
recruitment leads to changes in the actual MSY, so fisheries that harvest at the MSY rates
calculated based on years of overabundance might be overexploiting the stock a few years
later. Second, maximum economic gain is usually achieved at fishing rates below the
MSY, because costs of fishing tend to increase linearly while fishing revenues tend to
follow a curve (Figure 17.11). Setting quotas lower than the MSY should therefore be
more profitable; this level of fishing has been called the Optimal Yield.
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Figure 17.10. Maximum sustainable yield and range of optimal effort.
Figure 17.11. Fishing costs and revenues at various levels of fishing effort. Maximum
profit is achieved at the Optimal Yield, which is below the Maximum Sustainable Yield.
Once the Maximum Sustainable Yield and/or the Optimal Yield has been calculated, the
government can set limits such as quotas, total allowable catch (for individuals per season)
and minimum landing size. Governments can also decide to close the fishery during the
reproductive season, or establish regulations on fishing gear to minimize by-catch, or can
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establish refuges (e.g. marine protected areas). The specific regulations depend on
biological factors of the species, as well as social and political factors. While traditional
fisheries management has focused on single-species regulations, in recent decades more
efforts have been made towards ecosystem-based fisheries management which aim to be a
more comprehensive approach to managing fisheries by looking at entire ecosystems.
Another big change is the recent increase in the establishment of marine protected areas in
which harvesting is prohibited. Fish stocks in MPAs can grow and eventually fish migrate
out of MPAs (a process called the spillover effect) where they can be caught. Scientists
estimate that about 30% of the world’s oceans should be protected in such a way to
maintain sustainable fisheries. A much lower proportion of the world’s oceans are
currently protected from harvesting, but many large MPAs have been created in the past
decade.
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Figure 17.13. The logo of the Marine Stewardship Council, which indicates seafood that is
harvested sustainably.
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18. Aquaculture
It is clear that the world’s fisheries are in crisis, and global catch has leveled off despite
increased fishing effort (Figure 18.1). Increasingly, many are making the case that farming
fish and other marine organisms offers a solution to meeting the demand for seafood of the
world’s growing population. Aquaculture now accounts for roughly one-third of the
world’s total supply of fish protein (Figure 18.1) and undoubtedly its contribution to
seafood supplies will increase in the future.
Figure 18.1.World marine fish catch, aquaculture production and human population.
While aquaculture has the potential to become a sustainable practice that can supplement
capture fisheries, unsustainable aquaculture development could exacerbate the problems
and create new ones, damaging our important and already-stressed coastal areas.
This section explores current practices aquaculture, environmental issues associated with
these practices, and sustainable alternatives. It is mostly based on a report by the non-profit
organization SeaWeb, as well as other sources.
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18.1. Aquaculture history and current world trends
All of the early forms of aquaculture differed greatly from much of the aquaculture
practiced today, with the major difference being that ancient aquaculture simply involved
harvesting immature organisms and transferring them to an artificially created
environment that is favorable to their growth. Fish farming in its modern form (i.e.
involving successful reproduction in captivity) was first introduced in 1733 in Germany.
Initially this "fish farming" was limited to freshwater fish. In the 20th century new
techniques were developed to successfully breed saltwater species.
Today, the vast majority of aquaculture takes place in Asia. Most farmed fish and
shellfish are grown in traditional small-scale systems that benefit local communities and
minimize the environmental impact. Utilizing simple culture technologies and minimal
inputs, these systems have been used for centuries. The net contribution of these
traditional aquaculture systems can be great as they offer many benefits, including food
security in developing nations.
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In order to successfully raise organisms in aquaculture, one must know a range of
parameters on that species. We must know the ideal water chemistry, i.e. temperature and
salinity for optimal growth; the optimal stocking density, i.e. the number of organisms per
area that can be grown successfully; the habitat and behavior; the hardiness and growth
rate; diet; the reproductive and life cycles.
Specific aquaculture techniques depend on the species raised, but there are generally three
main steps in raising organisms. First, adult animals must spawn. This can be done
naturally or artificially in a laboratory, or if mature animals cannot reproduce in captivity,
larvae must be caught in the wild. Second, larvae are reared in a laboratory, under optimal
conditions and without predators. This greatly increases the survival of larvae compared
to the wild. Finally, the organisms must be raised to market size. Animals may be raised
in laboratories, or in ponds or cages. Some of these steps may be skipped depending on
the species and the intent of the culture. For example, shrimp larvae may be raised and
then released in the natural environment to supplement natural populations, skipping the
third step of raising them to market size.
Juvenile stock is sourced either from hatcheries or wild populations, and grown out in
pens until a marketable size has been reached. Finfish grown in open systems are
primarily carnivorous species which are fed on a diet of fishmeal (pellets comprising
small schooling fish species).
There are numerous concerns associated with the expansion of open sea-cage
aquaculture. One of the primary objections relates to the requirement of fishmeal to feed
carnivorous species. In some cases the conversion ratio may be in the order of more than
5kg of fishmeal to produce just 1kg of marketable fish. Other significant issues include
increased disease and parasite transmission due to high fish densities, the risk of escape
and interbreeding with wild populations, and reduced water quality resulting from the
accumulation of fecal waste.
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Figure 18.2. Open sea cage aquaculture
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Figure 18.3. Semi-closed aquaculture
Closed aquaculture systems are primarily used for freshwater species but some marine
fish and mollusks are also produced in closed systems. Closed system aquaculture is
considered one of the more environmentally benign methods of rearing aquatic species.
Fishmeal (pellets comprising small schooling fish species) may be added to feed
carnivorous aquaculture species, and is a concern as it places continued demand on wild
fish stocks. However, there is negligible interference with waterways as a result of tight
control over waste water and the prevention of fish escape.
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Figure 18.4. Closed system aquaculture.
Unless significant changes are made, the increasing production of high-value carnivorous
fish is unsustainable.
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Figure 18.5. Problems associated with open-sea cage aquaculture.
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Figure 18.6. Sea lice are increasingly abundant on wild salmon in British Columbia since
the growth in salmon aquaculture in the region. They have been shown to negatively
impact survival of wild stocks.
Organic aquaculture
Organic fish producers must comply with all of the same regulations that other organic
certified producers do. Some substances or practices are prohibited from organic
operations. For example, the addition of antibiotics to the fish feed is tightly regulated
and the inclusion of genetically modified organisms is strictly forbidden in organic
production. Rather than rely on the use of chemicals and drugs to improve the production
of their fish, farmers instead optimize the living conditions, through lower stocking
densities and cleaner, healthier water.
Polyculture
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Polyculture or integrated aquaculture is a method of raising diverse organisms within the
same farming system, where the wastes from one organism are used as inputs to another,
resulting in the optimal use of resources and less pollution overall (Figure 18.7).
Polyculture systems are not a new concept; on the contrary, they have been used for
centuries. For over one thousand years fish farmers in China have produced four of the
most widely cultivated fish species together in the same pond: silver carp (a
phytoplankton filter feeder), grass carp (a herbivorous plant feeder), common carp (an
omnivorous feeder), and bighead carp (a zooplankton filter feeder). Similar systems are
currently being tested in the marine environment. It should also be noted that although
polyculture systems based on netpens may prove beneficial for waste reduction, they fail
to eliminate other problems associated with netpen aquaculture, specifically escape of
fish, disease transfer, and discharge of chemicals.
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mussels and oysters. As these species are filter-feeders, they are capable of extracting
nutritional requirements from the water column, with no fishmeal being added.
The farming of mussels, oysters and other filter feeders in this system is typically
considered a sustainable method of aquaculture. With proper siting and planning, they
have minimal impact upon coastal ecosystems and communities. In some cases the
presence of bivalve farms can actually improve the water quality of the existing
environment.
Figure 18.8. An example of open aquaculture, often used for filter feeders like oysters or
mussels.
Closed systems
Closed recirculating systems have a low impact upon the environment because of their
closed nature – wastes and uneaten feed are not simply released into the ambient
environment in the manner that they are with netpens and exotic species and diseases are
not introduced into the environment. In recirculating systems, wastes are filtered out of
the culture system and disposed of in a responsible manner. Recirculating systems can be
built just about anywhere, including in urban settings where they can use existing
structures and be placed close to markets, thereby reducing transportation costs.
Recirculating systems can be used to grow a wide variety of fish species year-round in
controlled environments. Species commonly grown in recirculating systems include
hybrid striped bass and tilapia. Additionally, much research has been dedicated
to developing recirculating systems for marine species of fish and this technology holds
much promise.
Recirculating systems, however, can be costly to operate, as they are highly dependent on
electricity or other power sources. Pumps must be used in order to maintain the constant
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flow of water and often water must be heated or cooled to the desired temperature.
Backup systems must be in place in case of a power failure. A less expensive and more
environmentally friendly option would be to take advantage of alternative energy and
heating sources. Solar, wind and geothermal power are being considered as is heated
water obtained from the waste products of manufacturing, electricity production, and
composting. For example, tilapia farms can use the cooling water from power plants as a
low cost warm water source. The warm water, which is necessary for growing tilapia,
would otherwise be wasted.
2. How does modern aquaculture differ from that practiced several hundred years ago?
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19. Climate Change: Assessment, Causes and Control (Trujillo,
Chapter 16)
Global warming and climate change is a hot topic in the news these days. While climate
change is often presented by mainstream media as a matter of vigorous scientific debate,
in fact over 97% of climate scientists agree about the degree of climate change and the role
of human activities in it. The current rate of temperature increase has not been seen for at
least 1000 years. The rate of temperature and pH changes that are projected for the next
100 years are much greater than most populations’ rate of evolution, therefore climate
change is expected to lead to dramatic changes in the world’s ecosystems. In this chapter,
we explore the causes and mechanisms of climate change. The following chapter examines
the impact on the oceans.
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Figure 19.1. Major components of the earth’s climate system.
Figure 19.2. Examples of positive (left) and negative (right) climate feedback loops.
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19.2. The Earth’s recent climate change: natural or anthropogenic?
The energy output of the sun varies over time, in large part based on patterns of magnetic
storms and the ejection of solar particles. Solar activity has been recorded to increase
sharply every 11 years or so in the past ~130 years, each time followed by a decrease in
irradiance (Figure 19.3). Overall the changes in solar irradiance do not explain the recorded
increase in temperature (Figure 19.3).
Figure 19.3. Earth temperature and solar irradiance from 1830 to 2010.
Several changes in the earth’s pattern of orbit around the sun can also contribute to climate
change. These include changes the shape of the earth’s orbit, changes in its axis in relation
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to the plane of the orbit, and a wobbling of the earth’s axis over time (Figure 19.4). These
changes have been implicated in the long-term climate fluctuations that lead to glacial and
interglacial periods, including the most recent ice age. However, changes due to the earth’s
orbit occur over very long cycles (~100,000 years, 41,000 years and 26,000 years,
respectively) and are unlikely to explain the rapid changes in climate measure in the past
~150 years.
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Movement of tectonic plates, which are important over geological time, can reshape ocean
basins and thereby change major ocean currents. This in turn can impact the atmosphere
and global climate. However, as with variations in the Earth’s orbit, tectonic changes
happen very slowly and cannot account for the current rate of change.
Volcanic eruptions can emit a large quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, in
particular carbon dioxide. However the emissions from volcanoes are very small compared
to human emissions (Figure 19.5).
Figure 19.5. Carbon dioxide emissions from volcanoes compared to those from human
activities.
While the Earth’s climate has clearly changed over time due to natural factors, none of
these natural occurrences can account for the current rate of change in temperature and
atmospheric composition. There is widespread consensus among climate scientists that the
climate change recorded in the past few decades is most directly linked to human activities,
in particular carbon dioxide emissions. Scientific organizations such as the US National
Academy of Science, the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical
Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science all publicly support the
scientific conclusion that current climate change is caused by humans. Further, the
Intergovermental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC), sponsored by the United Nations and
the World Meteorological Organization, has issued a series of reports since 1990 that link
climate change to human activity with increasing certainty. Drafts of latest report, released
in 2013, states “There is consistent evidence from observations of a net energy uptake of
the earth system due to an imbalance in the energy budget. It is virtually certain that this
is caused by human activities, primarily by the increase in CO2 concentrations. There
is very high confidence that natural forcing contributes only a small fraction to this
imbalance.” This consensus has been broadly accepted in the scientific community for
about 20 years, yet the US public is still largely reluctant to accept the idea (Figure 19.6).
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Figure 19.6. Consensus on humans being the main cause of climate change, in various
groups of scientists and in the general public, in the USA.
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wavelengths is readily absorbed by greenhouse gases, and therefore heat up the
atmosphere.
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Figure 19.9. Energy radiated by the Sun and the Earth, in relation to wavelength along the
electromagnetic spectrum.
Greenhouse gases
The greenhouse effect is caused by several atmospheric gases. Water vapor is single the
most important gas contributing to the greenhouse effect. It enters the atmosphere through
natural processes such as evaporation, though there is some evidence that human-induced
warming has also contributed to an increase in water vapor in the atmosphere. Several
other gases are clearly increasing in the atmosphere as a result of human activities (Table
16.1). Chief among them is carbon dioxide, which has increased dramatically in the
atmosphere since industrialization, with an accelerating rate of increase in recent decades
(Figure 19.10). Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels.
Methane is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. It is produced by
decomposing trash, cattle raising, and some agriculture. Additionally, some hydroelectric
project, can contribute significant inputs of methane through the decaying material that
accumulates in areas that are intermittently flooded and dry.
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Figure 19.10. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration since the industrial revolution.
Other anthropogenic greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide, ozone, and CFCs are
present in much lower concentrations than carbon dioxide and methane but they are still
important to consider because each molecule of those gases has a much stronger ability to
absorb heat than carbon dioxide or methane.
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Figure 19.11. Atmospheric composition for the last 800,000 based on ice core data.
Figure 19.12. Variations in the Earth’s temperature over the past 1000 years.
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Figure 19.13. Three scenarios of carbon dioxide and temperature increases, from the
IPCC.
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Figure 19.14. The ocean’s biological pump.
The idea of fertilization the oceans with iron came in the mid1980s, when oceanographer
John Martin found that many parts of the ocean that had abundant sunlight and major
nutrients (nitrates, phosphates, silicates) had low levels of productivity because they had
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extremely low concentration of iron. Martin suggested that productivity could be
increased by fertilizing those areas with iron, which would boost primary productivity
and help reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and global warming (Figure
19.15). This idea became widely known as the iron hypothesis. The iron hypothesis was
first tested in 1993 near the Galápagos Islands and similar experiments have been done in
many others parts of the oceans. These experiments consistently show that iron does
increase primary production and decrease carbon dioxide levels. However, all open-
ocean experiments have been done at a relatively small scale and it is still unclear what
full-ecosystem consequences should be expected when adding large amounts of iron to
the oceans. There are two main fears related to this idea. First, that large phytoplankton
blooms will lead to oxygen depletion when they die (e.g. see the discussion on
eutrophication and dead zones in section 16.2). Second, that large-scale iron input could
lead to changes in plankton ecology, including changes in plankton species composition,
and other effects further up the food web.
Figure 19.15. A diagram showing the idea of ocean iron fertilization, with the potential
pros (“the fantasy”) and cons (“the fear”). From The New Yorker magazine.
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There have been many experiments that have taken carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
and pumped it in the deep ocean or underground reservoirs. This is called carbon
sequestration. In the short-term, carbon sequestration would undoubtedly lead to a
reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide. However it is still unclear if carbon dioxide
would remain locked in the ocean for long periods of time, since oceanic current patterns
bring deep water to the surface in many regions. Additionally, there are concerns about
the impacts of added carbon dioxide to the ocean’s chemistry.
Figure 19.16. Carbon sequestration in underground reservoirs and in the deep sea.
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protocol by 2015, to be implemented by 2020. Several countries made specific
statements at this conference. One of the most poignant ones came from Philippine
envoy Naderev Sano who called for urgent action to halt climate change, emphasizing the
Philippines’ recent experience with a climate change-enhanced deadly typhoons and
noting that countries may face more extreme weather disturbances frequently if climate
change is left unchecked. In his words: "As we vacillate and procrastinate here, we are
suffering. There is massive and widespread devastation back home. Heartbreaking
tragedies like this are not unique to the Philippines."
climate?
5. Can these natural causes explain current climate change patterns? Why or why not?
9. How can the biological pump of the oceans reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide?
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20. Climate Change: Consequences to the Ocean Environment
(Trujillo, Chapter 16)
Global climate change is having a strong and increasing impact on ocean ecosystems.
Some of these impacts are related to warming of seawater and associated processes such
melting ice, rising sea level, increased storms and changes in ocean circulation. Another
group of impacts is related to changes in ocean chemistry, in particular a decrease in
ocean pH. Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is involved in both cases.
Figure 20.1. Sea surface temperature anomalies for 2008 when compared to 1950-1980
average temperatures.
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Figure 20.2. Many marine species are shifting their range poleward as water
temperatures increase. On average, Alaskan marine species have migrated 19 miles to the
north from 1982 to 2006.
Coral reefs are one of the marine ecosystems most directly affected by warming
temperatures. Several species of coral are now found at higher latitudes than previously,
another example of range shift. But while coral species might migrate poleward through
larval dispersal, an individual colony is sessile and does not move during it lifetime.
Therefore corals cannot simply move when temperature rise above their threshold of
tolerance. When temperatures are too high, corals loose the symbiotic algae that live in
their tissues in a process called coral bleaching (Figure 20.3). Corals can recover from
short-term bleaching events, but die if the warm episode is sustained over a long enough
period. Since 1998, several bleaching episodes worldwide have contributed to
widespread coral mortality (Figure 20.4). Coral bleaching is especially frequent in El
Niño years.
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Figure 20.4. Zones of coral bleaching in relation to thermal stress, 1998-2007.
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Figure 20.6. Tracks of simulated Atlantic Category 4 and 5 hurricanes for the present
climate and for a warmer climate condition projected for the late 21st century. The
hurricanes were simulated using higher resolution atmospheric models, with large-scale
conditions taken from an ensemble of 18 global climate models. Bender et al. 2010
Science 327 pp. 454-458.
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reduction in the downwelling of North Atlantic water could contribute to further global
climate change.
Figure 20.7. North-South section of the Atlantic Ocean showing major currents.
The decline of ice has very important implications for the ecology of the Arctic Ocean.
The loss of ice will have strong impact on the distribution & success of animals that
depend on ice. Most notably, polar bears hunt for seals, belugas and other animals on
Arctic ice. As the extent of Arctic ice declines, their hunting grounds shrink. Polar bears
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are also found in increasing numbers on land in the Canadian Arctic, where they find less
food and are often a nuisance for human communities. Seals need sea ice to give birth to
their pups and to mate, so a reduction in sea ice can also mean decreased reproductive
success for these animals. Finally, primary production in the Arctic is strongly tied to sea
ice. Here, much of the sea ice is thin and many species of diatoms flourish on the
underside of this ice. These are very important primary producers in the Arctic. Loss of
ice cover decreases primary productivity which leads to less food available for higher
trophic levels.
At the South Pole, warming is greatest around the Western part of Antarctica in the
region that includes the Antarctic peninsula. Warming has caused a decrease in the
thickness and extend of Antarctic ice sheets, and an increase in the amount of icebergs
that calves form the ice sheet. Changes in sea ice extent and Southern Ocean ecology is
shifts in the abundance of dominant species. For example, Adelie penguins seem to
benefit from the openings in sea ice near their nesting grounds, while Emperor penguins
are negatively affected by climate change and are expected to decline by up to 80% by
2100.
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20.5. Rising sea level
Sea level has been rising globally for the last century, due to the melting of polar ice and
the thermal expansion of water as it warms (Figure 20.10). In some locations, sea level
has increased by as much as 40cm in the past 150 years (Figure 20.11) and it is expected
to rise by 0.6-1.6m by the year 2100. Even small changes in sea level can have large
impacts on coastal processes, especially in low-lying coastal regions such as Florida.
Increased sea level is expected to lead to increased flooding, drowning of beaches,
accelerated coastal erosion, loss of coastal wetlands and more extensive damage from
storms. Future rises in sea level are difficult to predict as they depend largely on
potential sudden changes in the world’s major ice sheets. The collapse of the West
Antarctic ice sheet, for example, would raise global sea level by about 3.2m.
Figure 20.10. Individual contribution to global sea level rise of the four main
contributing factors.
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Figure 20.11. Sea level changes at three locations.
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Figure 20.12. Changes in coastlines associated with a 5m rise in sea level.
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Figure 20.13. As atmospheric CO2 concentration in the atmosphere (read) and ocean
surface increase, ocean pH (green and yellow) decreases. Data from Hawaii.
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Figure 20.15. Changes in ocean surface pH from 1700 to 1990.
Figure 20.16. Changes in pteropod shells exposed to seawater with the pH projected for
the year 2100.
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20.17). In summary, changes in the oceans caused by global climate changes are
important and far-reaching, altering physical and biological processes throughout ocean
basins. Many more potential consequences are likely to occur as our climate continues to
change.
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20.8. Review Questions
1. In which region of the world have temperatures risen most dramatically in the past
few decades?
3. What changes might be expected in the frequency and strength of tropical storms in
6. What are the 2 mechanisms by which global warming increases sea level?
8. Which regions of the oceans are seeing the greatest changes in pH?
10. How can warming change interactions between species in biological communities?
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Appendix 1. Guidelines for Papers & Presentations
This paper is designed to examine your ability to identify key parameters and issues rising
from a literature packet for a given topic. You are encouraged to use additional sources of
information, such as the internet, and textbooks, but most of your paper should be based
on the scientific papers provided by your instructor.
The paper should be 4 pages long (excluding references and figures), typed in Times New
Roman, 12 font, 1.5 spaced, fully justified with 1.2 inch margins.
You will be evaluated on three main components: 1) the overall organization and structure
of your paper, 2) the degree of understanding and clarity of explanations and 3) style and
grammar. Specifically:
1) Make sure that the paragraph structure is logical (one main idea per paragraph, and
each paragraph should start with a topic sentence), and that you have a good
introduction and a good conclusion. You should aim to synthesize information
from different references into your own logical argument. AVOID simply
summarize one reference in one paragraph, and then moving to a different one.
2) Make sure you understand the topic well, and choose what angle you want to
present. This is a short literature review paper and it’s OK to choose to focus on
one particular aspect (e.g. Pacific gyres and Pacific plastic garbage patch, rather
than plastic pollution in general). But even if you choose to focus on one topic,
make sure that you provide enough general background information for a non-
specialist reader to follow. Make sure that you understand the references that you
cite, and that you cite anything that is not common knowledge.
3) Proofread your paper to fix any typos and spelling errors. Try to write clear and
concise sentences.
b) Presentation
You are also required to present your findings in an 8 minute. You will be evaluated on 1)
the general organization of your talk, including a quality introduction and conclusion, 2)
how well you understand the topic both in the presentation and in questions that follow, 3)
your delivery including body language, speech, and use of visual aids and 4) your timing
(should be between 7 and 9 minutes).
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2. Group research projects
a) Research Paper
Abstract
Short (max. 250 words) summary of your research and its findings.
Introduction
Provide enough background information to explain your project.
State the relevance, i.e. why this research is important.
Clearly state the problem/purpose/hypothesis.
Justify your hypothesis, i.e. why you think that your hypothesis is true.
State the objectives of the project and what you intend to accomplish.
In order to do any of the above, you must refer to external sources such as textbooks,
articles and the internet (take caution).
Methods
Make sure you mention all the equipment you used in your research.
Materials should be mentioned in sentence form describing how they were used, i.e. a
refractometer was used to measure the salinity of the water.
Describe all the procedures well enough that someone could replicate your experiment.
Describe how the data was analyzed.
Include the time, date and location in this section.
You may find it necessary to refer to external sources and articles when writing your
protocol.
Results
Choose tables, graphs and/or statistics that best present your results ( eg. means and ranges)
Give a written description of the general trends of your results.
Do not interpret your results
In the written description refer to tables and graphs, i.e. As temperature increases the
concentration of dissolved oxygen decreases (Figure 2).
Give actual values to illustrate your point, i.e. The average dissolved oxygen concentration
was 6.7 ppm.
Label your graphs and tables. Figure 1 The Relationship between Dissolved Oxygen and
Salinity.
If you present your data in a graph you don’t need to include a table as well unless it helps
you illustrate a point.
Include all your relevant data.
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Discussion/Conclusion
Interpret your data and draw valid conclusions.
State problems with your data and how they affect your results.
Suggest ideas for further research.
Refer to your actual data, i.e. The dissolved oxygen concentration was higher in cold water
(7.0 ppm) than in warm water (6.5 ppm).
You may find it worthwhile to refer to external sources and articles when writing your
discussion.
Science does not prove anything. When interpreting your data, do not say things like” this
proves that cold water holds more oxygen than warm water.” Instead say “the data suggest
that cold water holds more oxygen than warm water”. Only if you conduct a test of
significance (statistical test) can you say “there is a significant difference between the
amount of dissolved oxygen cold water can hold and the amount of dissolved oxygen warm
water can hold.”
References
See below
Research papers will also be graded on several other factors: creativity, writing style and
presentation of ideas, use of complete sentences and grammar, depth of understanding,
amount of effort and organization.
b) Presentation
You are also required to present your findings to the group in a 10 minute talk. You will
be evaluated on 1) the general organization of your talk, including a quality introduction
and conclusion, 2) how well you understand the topic both in the presentation and in
questions that follow, 3) your delivery including body language, speech, and use of visual
aids and 4) your timing (should be between 9 and 11 minutes).
3. Citing References
When referring to external sources and articles, use both in-text citations and a literature
cited section. If there is an in-text citation, it should also appear in the literature cited
section and vice versa. External sources should only be included if you used their ideas in
your paper. If you read an external source but did not include those ideas in your paper,
do not refer to them in in-text citations or in the literature cited section.
In your essays, every time you refer to someone else’s work you need to cite the author.
For example: “In the 1990’s total fisheries leveled off at 90 million metric tons (Halloway,
1999).” You will need a new citation every time you refer to a different author even if that
occurs within the same sentence, i.e.: “Dissolved oxygen concentration increases as
temperature decreases (Pinet, 1999) and salinity decreases (Duxbury and Duxbury, 1996).”
Each new point should have at least one in-text citation unless common knowledge. You
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should reference the same author multiple times if you write several sentences that come
from the same source.
Most in-text citations will have one of the three following formats:
Reference Section
For journal articles: Authors. Year. Name of Article. Name of Journal Volume # (Edition
#): pages.
With one author: Gonzalez, F. I. 1999. Tsunami! Scientific American 280 (5) 56-65.
With two authors: Giese, G. and D. Chapman. 1993. Coastal Seiches. Oceanus 36 (1) 38-
46.
With more than two authors: Schlee, J.S., D. W. Folger, W.P. Wilson, K.D. Klitgord and
J.A. Grow. 1979. The Continental Margins of the Western North Atlantic. Oceanus 22 (3)
40-7.
For textbooks: Authors. Year. Title of Book. City, State: Name of Press.
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