Oceans & Global Environment Module 18 Human Impacts Reflective Questions

Quiz Instructions

Your essay answer should be clear and succinct, amounting to perhaps 3-5 sentences totaling 50 to 80 words; longer essays are strongly discouraged. It is recommended that you prepare your answer in a separate document from which you copy it into Canvas.

Question 1 5 pts

Describe the processes that determine the fate of petroleum leaked or spilled into the ocean and how the characteristics of the petroleum spillage affects its persistence in the environment.

A strong answer will describe the processes that degrade, disperse, or deposit petroleum, citing specific examples, explain the controls on these processes in terms of environmental factors (e.g water temperature) and properties of the petroleum (e.g. volatility, solubility), and refer to the end products from such events.

Question 2 1 pts

Which of the following explanations best explains why plastic debris in the North Pacific accumulates in the region known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

Materials dumped or lost in the North Pacific are transported by currents and focused in this ocean gyre by geostrophic flow

The area of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch represents the site where most plastic debris is dumped

Plastic material from Asia only travels westward halfway across the North Pacific

Plastic material from North America only travels eastward halfway across the North Pacific

The idea of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch derives from the number of islands in this region of the North Pacific that accumulate plastic debris

Question 3 2 pts

Which two of the following phytoplankton are species of dinoflagellates that can produce red tides?

Karenia brevis

Tetraselmis

Ulva prolifera

Akashiwo sanguine

Aphanizomenon

Question 4 2 pts

Which two of the following types of ocean pollutant – here associated with their origins from anthropogenic sources – have no natural source?

Synthetic chemicals contained in pesticides

Hydrocarbons spilled during transport of petroleum

Heavy metals present in industrial effluents

Nutrients from agricultural fertilizers

Plastics manufactured as petroleum products