Oceanography Lab Study Guide (CSULA only)

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DISCLAIMER: This is a study guide ONLY! Some of these concepts may appear on the test, some may not, and some concepts may be on the test that are not included here. Refer to your syllabus to know which chapters you will need to know for each exam! Please read the appropriate chapters in your lab manual and review your lab assignments and notes.

Bathymetry

Photic Zone

• Know what the photic zone is and the average depth
• Understand how light penetrates the ocean, including the maxium depth of light penetration
• Know the factors that influence light penetration

Sea Water Chemistry

• Understand the water molecule and it's properties, including heat capacity and latent heat.
• Know what salinity is, and which ions are found in sea water
• Know what is the average salinity of the world's oceans
• Understand the concept of residence time
• Understand the physical and biological factors that affect O₂ and CO₂ levels in the ocean
• Know what pH is, what the average pH of the ocean is, and the factors that affect pH levels in the ocean.
• Discuss processes affecting seawater salinity, including those in the hydrologic cycle.

Sediments

• Describe the four main ways an oceanography can classify marine sediment and recognize examples of each.
  
• Understand the relationship between grain size and the energy required to transport it
  
• Indicate the types of marine sediment that comprise coastal and deep-sea deposits.
  
• Compare the characteristics of siliceous and calcareous oozes.
• Understand how and why beach sediments form

Coastal Processes

• Understand longshore current and longshore drift
• Know what beach erosion is and the steps that have been taken to try to reduce it
• Know the parts of the beach
• Understand how wave energy affect the beach and coastline
• Understand the relationship between longshore drift/transport, submarine canyons, and the amount of sediment present (or not) on a beach.

Boat Trip

• Know what types of instruments we used on the boat trip, and what they were used for.
• Know the four stations we visit (location, features, water chemistry and water clarity)
• Understand the trends and variations seen in the water chemistry
• Know what the secchi disk is used for, what the extinction depth is and how to calculate the depth to the photic zone.

Beach Trip

• Know the locations of the three beaches we visited
• Understand how wave energy affects each of the beaches in terms of grain size and slope of the beach.
• Understand why we saw a different type of sediment at beach 2 as opposed to beaches 1 and 3.
• Understand why we saw more biogenous matterial at beach 2 as opposed to beaches 1 and 3.
• Know what a wave cut terrace is and where one was forming.
• Know that rocks of the Monterey formation (Altamira Shale member) form the cliffs exposed at beach 2 and that they are roughly 35 million years old (Miocene age)

LINKS

Bathymetry | Photic Zone | Sea Water Chemistry | Sediments | Coastal Processes | Boat Trip | Beach Trip | Links | top