Marine Biology 178

Feb. 3, 2009              REVIEW OUTLINE--EXAM I

           

INTRODUCTION

HISTORY of OCEANOGRAPHY —know these; see also READINGS at end of outline:

            3. #arly 1800s: E. ForbesÕ azoic hypothesis

4. Challenger  expedition 1872--> 3 years around globe. Why important?

            7. 1940s-70s:  why rapid growth in marine exploration ? What major advances?

            9. mid90s-2000:  why a new burst of marine exploration ? What major advances?

            10. 2001-08: What major advances are underway or planned?

I. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

 A. TECTONIC/GEOLOGICAL FACTORS: -->Generalize topographies of oceans

  PLATE TECTONICS as unifying theory--know basic features, major examples of these, especially Washington state coastal!!!:

       1. Spreading Centers/Rift Valleys& MidOcean Ridges                 2. Collisions: Subduction Zones/Trenches; --land-to-seafloor and seafloor-seafloor

       4. Hot  Spots --island/seamount chains: how form   

       * BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS Distinguish long vs short-term: habitat creation/destruction (e.g., earthquakes, collisions, tsunamis, new islands).

          --alter climate and currents; .--energy/nutrients for life;

 B. SURFACE FACTORS (geological and biological)

       1.Rock:  a) Geologically produced (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic);

            b) Biologically produced--limestone and other CaCO3 forms

----------- 2004: asphalt flow in the deep

       2. Sediments *SIZE Categories: Cobbles > Sand > Silt > Clay (Clay + Silt = MUD; OOZE= mud with 30+% organic origin)

       3. Hydrogenous formations: know how each forms, composition, where found -- some may be BIOGENOUS

                   a) Metal sulfide precipitate chimneys from hydrothermal vents

                   b) Manganese nodules;    

                  c) Methane hydrates/--see READING

SUMMARY DIAGRAM showing distributions of sediments, formations in ocean and WHY

          * Biological implications  Chimneys & hydrates: minerals/energy; Surface types = major benthic habitats! Espec. mud vs sand vs rock

 

C. MOVEMENT FACTORS

       1. WAVES, Wind-Driven or earth-movement-driven (tsunami):  *Energy packetÕs depth ÒconeÓ; how leads to cresting/crashing on shoreline

          * Biological implications:   i) wave shock damage;   ii) help determine surface type: mud, sand, rock; iii) mixed layer--later

       2. CURENTS: VERTICAL CURRENTS

          a. Wind-Driven SURFACE Currents:  *WINDS and the CORIOLIS EFFECT: Know how sun, earth's rotation and Coriolis effect lead to wind "cells" and the TRADE, WESTERLY Wind Belts! Then: water pushed to right (or left in S.hemi.) of wind --how all this creates CURRENT BELT in the south, and the 5 major GYRES.

                 -->know MAJOR GYRE patterns of all oceans, including NAMES of N. Pacific currents, the Gulf Stream in the N. Atlantic, and the BELT = Antarctic Circumpolar

                 -->COMPLICATIONS: what are EDDIES and how do they form?

          b. Wind-driven Vertical Currents:

                ** UPWELLING: how caused by winds at shoreline; crucial!!                    

          c. THERMOHALINE Curents = Vertical density-driven currents

                --how polar downwelling creates deep waters of the oceans (Ôocean conveyorÕ); + upwelling near Antarctica, equator!

          d. Abyssal Currents/Storms--?? Mysterious deep storms; vents causing convection currents in rift valleys

 

    *BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS of CURRENTS:

-- winds create major land Climate zones

i) Surface gyres--major distribution patterns of plankton; moderation of climate            

ii) Upwelling: nutrient restoration! Be able to relate high upwelling areas to wind belts

iii) Downwelling takes O2 deep--prevents stagnation in the deep sea

iv) Storms/; can also churn up nutrients from deep

 

3. TIDES (Gravity-rotation-driven wave)
 a) LUNAR Gravity, Earth-Moon Centrifugal effect --how these create 2 opposite bulges;

And how b) SOLAR Tides –how they add/subtract with lunar tides to create Neap and Spring tides

D. OTHER PHYSICAL FACTORS

    1. LIGHT:  a. Depth--exponential decrease with Wavelength variation--red vs. blue-green absorbance!!  Open Ocean (blue light to 200m) vs. Coastal (light only to a few meters; often green or murky brown)

          b. Latitude & seasonal variation; e.g., up to 24-hr light in polar summers

          c. UV--most absorbed by ozone layer, but some makes it to surface--double exposure at shore due to water reflection

        *BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS:  i) photosynthesis: why chlorophyll of limited use;

         ii) vision and bioluminescence : why most marine animals canÕt see red; iii) UV damage to DNA – cancer etc.

    2. Temperature: a. Depth variation: thermocline in tropical areas, and in temperate-zone summers; cold areas more uniform

       b. Latitude & seasonal variation; Few extremes compared to land (exceptions= vents). Basic latitudinal pattern of colder away from equator; altered by upwelling (cold). El Ni–o: what happens to Pacific currents
c. Long-term variation: changing sealevel with Ice Ages, warming: trends for last 400,000 years

    *BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS:

         i) Basic Temperature effects on biological reaction kinetics and complex biological molecules: optima! Know the basics of the plot!

         ii) less O2 dissolving; iii) sealevel rise; and iv) suppressed downwelling--less O2 to deep + climate effects

 

3. DENSITY:  combination of temperature & salinity; DENSER THINGS SINK
FW floats on SW; Warm water floats on colder; BUT Ice floats

    *BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS: i) buoyancy problems: protein, skeletons/shells are denser than seawater;  ii) Subsurface never freezes!

   

4. Hydrostatic PRESSURE

        DEPTH--1 atm per 10m:   e.g. MARIANA Trench/Challenger Deep ~ 11,000m so Pressure =_____??

E. CHEMICAL FACTORS

       1. Water: key properties for life, from textbook
2. IONS, MAJOR
--Know  major ions, but donÕt memorize order except for Cl, Na; and

          * BIOLOGICAL ROLES  from TABLE for Na+, Cl-, SO4=, Ca++, K+, HCO3- 

       3. MINOR/TRACE SOLUTES: nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon, iron forms in water;

          * BIOLOGICAL ROLES from TABLE for all of these! Can be limiting factors; e.g., nitrate in N. central oceans, IRON in S. central oceans. Plans to fertilize the oceans with iron: what is proposed, what problems might arise! READING

       4. SALINITY:  a. How measured (%o, mM); general seawater contents, average 35%o. Also MOLARITY (M or mM))--NaCl example

          b. Altered by: freshwater (rivers, icemelt, rain) or evaporation --examples

          *BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS: i) Osmotic Balance  and   ii) Freezing point: OSMOCONFORMERS vs OSMOREGULATORS –know the differences!

       5. GASES: 

          a. Oxygen--(i) solubility : 0-10 ml O2 / liter of water vs. 210 ml in liter air

                 (ii) Depth--oxygen mimimum or dead zones: more later   (iii) Temperature--warming DECREASES solubility

          b. CO2: Air: 0.00001 moles/liter;  Water: 0.002 moles/liter as HCO3-

                *Solubility and the H20 reaction! know equation and its implications in forming ACID!

          *BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS: 

              Oxygen: i) needed for respiration; ii) Minimum or DEAD zones: limiting factor

             CO2: i) for photosynthesis; ii) buffering; iii) carbonate in shells; ACID can dissolve

    CLIMATE CHANGE concerns: 1) TEMPERATURE: heats the Earth! Know how greenhouse effect works and new concerns; 2) ACIDIFICATION!

 

F. BIOTIC FACTORS--how organisms in the environment interact

       1. Predation & other foodweb interactions -- define broadly, e.g., herbivores prey on producers

       2. Competition--rivals for space, mates, other resources                                         ;+/- or -/-

       3. Mutualism; +/+

       4. Parasitism/disease : +/-

       5. Commensalism/Amensalism: +/0  and 0/0

II. MARINE ECOLOGY: HIGHER LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
A. POPULATION--know definition; B. COMMUNITY level--know definition
C. ECOSYSTEM level: regional/habitat communities with all abiotic & biotic components
1. ABIOTIC Components: many, but the essential are:
--a. ENERGY: must be renewed because energy is lost as unusable heat: Energy lost at each food-chain step is 80-90%. *2 forms:
---- i) Solar Light--photosynthesi;s ii) Geochemical--chemosynthesis & reduced mineral energy
-- b. NUTRIENTS & water--not lost but must be recycled through "biogeochemical cycles"!
2. BIOTIC Components: TROPHIC Interactions = Foodwebs ; Terms = Producers, Consumers, Decomposers
-- Know Marine vs Land; why complex due to microscopic producers and filter feeders; with 4 or more levels in the oceans often

TEXT: key figures (and associated text, lecture) to understand were given in lecture!

 

READING on LECTURE HANDOUTS--be able to answer these questions:

Lecture #1:      *GREEN BUSH: what did Pres. Bush do?

                        *TROUBLED WATERS—what are some of the key ocean crises?

                         *STARS IN THE SEA: what is the Census of Marine Life, and some key discoveries?

                        *STATIONS IN THE SEA.. what are some of the ocean monitoring systems under development?

                        *ROBOT GLIDERS are being designed to do what?

Lecture #2:      *DEEP-SEA BIOLOGY--What is the extent of our ignorance about the oceans? How did Forbes and Thomson alter the course of marine science?

                        *US SHIP HEADS.. and CANADA BEGINS MAPPING..why the sudden interest in the Arctic seafloor?

Lecture #3:      *DEEP SEA, ARCTIC MAY...what are gas hydrates and why of interest?

                        *DEEP SEA-CRETS : why were these researchers both exhilarated and disheartened?

                        *THE NEXT LAND RUSH: why is the Arctic seafloor suddenly of international interest?

Lecture #4:      *FEARS SURFACE..why this concern about methane hydrates?

                        *CONDITIONS BOOST..what is the importance of upwelling here?

Lecture #5:      *IS ÔTHE DAY AFTERÕ ..how does salinity of the Arctic affect European climate?

                        *FLOATING TEXAS-SIZED GARBAGE..what is this patch and why is it there?

Lecture #6:      *AS OCEANS WARM -- what is the impact on food chains?!

                        *OZONE HOLE and UV are doing what to Antarctic sea life?            

                        *HOT WATERS MAKE IT..what for fish and why?

                        *ARCTIC ICE MELTING..what is happening?

Lecture #7:      *SEVERAL ARTICLES: what are some effects of warming on sea life?

                        *SEVERAL ARTICLES..what are the issues regarding oceanic iron and the plans to fertilize the oceans?

                        *SOUTHERN OCEAN.. what is the concern here?

Lecture #8:      *CONCLUSIVE PROOF: what is this evidence that global warming is human-caused?

                        *WHY do JELLIES love warming?

                        *SCIENTISTS ALARMED..what is causing Dead Zones?