Oceanography Flashcards, test questions and answers

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What is Oceanography?

Oceanography is the scientific study of the Earth’s oceans and their interaction with the environment. It involves the study of physical, biological, chemical, geological, and other components of ocean life. Oceanographers use a variety of tools to study different aspects of ocean life such as biology, chemistry, oceanography acoustics, geology and climate change.Physical oceanography deals with the physical properties of the ocean such as temperature, salinity, density and pressure. This includes studying the movement and circulation patterns in oceans such as currents and tides. It also includes understanding how heat energy is transferred between different parts of an ocean system or between different parts of a planet’s atmosphere. Biological oceanography focuses on marine organismsfrom viruses to whalesand their interaction with their environment. This includes studying marine ecosystems such as coral reefs or kelp forests and understanding how they are affected by human activities like overfishing or pollution.Chemical oceanography looks at how chemicals interact with each other in an aquatic environment including in terms of nutrients being exchanged between organisms or reactions that occur when pollutants enter an ecosystem. Geologic oceanography studies how land masses form undersea along mid-ocean ridges or around volcanic islands like Hawaii for example; it also examines sedimentation rates on continental shelves which can help us understand past climate conditions on Earth. Climate change research focuses on understanding long-term trends in global sea levels due to melting ice caps or changing atmospheric conditions resulting from greenhouse gases released into our atmosphere from human activities like burning fossil fuels for energy production; this type of research helps us prepare for future changes to our planet’s climate system which will have profound implications for society as well as our own daily lives. Oceanographers play an important role in helping us better understand our planet’s oceans so that we can better protect them from environmental degradation caused by human activities while also benefiting from them through industries like tourism and fisheries management which rely heavily on healthy marine ecosystems worldwide.