Exam 3 Topics (Theme 3: Marine Resources and Management)
This section of the class deals with how we interact with the ocean in an economic sense
and how the ocean influences us in this regard.
Real Estate: Waves, Currents, Beaches
1. How can changes in sea level influence the location of a coast? What might cause a large change in sea level?
2. What is the difference between a depositional coast and an erosional coast?
3. List a few processes that operate at depositional coasts.
4. List a few processes that shape erosional coasts.
5. How do the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S. differ in terms of their coastlines (i.e., beaches vs rocky shores), wave energy,and the amount of sand available to build beaches?
8. What is long shore drift? How is it accomplished?
6. What is wave "refraction"? Why do waves refract as they approach shore?
7. How does wave refraction straighten secondary coasts over long periods of time?9. Why do waves break at the shore?
10. What is the difference between a spilling and a plunging breaker (and how is this related to the rate at which the wave losesenergy and the shape of the beach)?
11. How can changes in the energy of waves with the seasons change the shape of a beach?
12. What is a barrier island? Why are these islands extremely susceptible to erosion?
13. List some methods of shoreline stabilization. Describe why each is successful in the short run, but requires maintenance in the long run.14. When do waves transmit energy, when do they move mass? How does this differ from currents?
Mechanical Energy From the Ocean
Describe the types of mechanical energy that we can extract from the ocean.
Which of these potential energy sources has the most immediate promise for implementation?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of these energy sources relative to each other and relative to terrestrial alternatives?
Compare and contrast the relative amounts of energy available for communities off the U.S. West, East, and Gulf coast regions.
How does the development of offshore wind compare in the U.S., European Union (E.U.), and the rest of the world?
What is the relationship that determines how much power can be extracted from the wind? Which of the terms in this formula can we manipulate? Which of the terms has the biggest impact on wind power? Sketch the relationship between wind speed and wind power.
How does the capacity and output of a wind power farm differ from that of a gas-fired power plant?
To what depths offshore can we currently build wind power plants? Which depth range may soon be feasible, and which range requires significant research and development?
Where and when is wave energy most prevalent in the ocean?
What factors control the size of a wave ?
What variables determine the amount of power in a wave?
What types of devices have been proposed to extract energy from waves?
What is a hybrid system for extracting marine energy? What are the advantages of a system like this?
What forms of bio-energy are available from the ocean? Are all of these forms renewable?
What biological process is the ultimate source of this bio-energy?
How do fossil fuels like oil and gas form?
What geologic conditions are required to yield an commercially viable oil or gas field?
How does the offshore extraction of oil and gas differ from terrestrial application?
What factors drive a need for new ways to obtain TAG, a critical component of bio-diesel?
What advantages do algae provide in terms of bio-diesel production?
How might these algae be grown?
What environmental needs do algae have for growth?
What environmental problems might the production of biodiesel from algae help to solve?
How do these compare with traditional terrestrial crops?
Compared with the extraction of mechanical energy from the ocean, is algal bio-diesel a more mature technology or less mature?
What are some of the research and development hurdles that must be solved to make this a viable option?
What economic or political changes or conditions or decisions are needed to make this a viable option?
Sustainable Seas - Marine Fisheries
1. Where are most fish caught? Why?
2. What are some challenges currently facing the fishing industry? (both from economic and environmental perspectives)
3. How does purse seining, trawling and longlining work?
4. In addition to catching the targeted species, what other effects are associated with the use of each of these three fishing techniques? (i.e., purse seining, trawling, longlining)
5. Why is abandoned or lost fishing equipment an environmental concern?
6. What is maximum sustainable yield (MSY)?
7. From a management perspective, what factors need to be considered when calculating MSY?
8. What are the consequences of exceeding MSY? (in the short-run and in the long-run)
9. What is the status of the world's fishing industry today - are catches increasing, level or declining in most regions? How does this compare with the status of the industry 30-40 years ago?
10. How does a fishery collapse? Describe the two scenarios of collapsed fisheries discussed in class. Which scenario has a brighter long-term outlook and why?
11. What are the properties of species that can be profitably maricultured?
12. Why is mariculture expected to be important to the future of the fishing industry?
13. What are the challenges facing the mariculture industry in the U.S. today?
14. Are any species profitably maricultured in the U.S. today? If so, name a few.
Marine Pollution
1. What is pollution? What three characteristics of a pollutant determine its effect on an organism?
2. How are most pollutants delivered to the ocean?
3. What's the difference between a water-soluble, fat soluble and insoluble pollutant?
4. Where does most of the oil in the ocean come from?
5. Why are crude oil spills less harmful, in the long run, than spills of refined oil? What other type of oil is particularly harmful when spilled?
6. What determines the ecological impact of an oil spill?
7. What is "nutrient pollution" (eutrophication)?
8. How can high levels of nutrients (which are sometimes considered good) be detrimental to animals in an ecosystem?
9. What's the difference between "point source" and "non-point source" pollution.
10. In the experience of our society recently, which has been more straightforward to handle, point-source or non-point source? Why?
11. What is a "dead zone"? How do they form? How do "dead zones" affect humans and other animals?
12. How are synthetic organic chemicals used in society?
13. What is "biological amplification"? Why is this a problem for humans?
Tsunami
1. What generates tsunami?
2. What happens to the energy of a tsunami after it is generated?
3. Why is the term "tidal wave" an inaccurate description of a tsunami?
4. If you are at sea and a tsunami passes under your ship, what would you experience as the tsunami passed?
5. Why does the height of a tsunami increase as the tsunami approaches shore?
6. What determines how destructive a tsunami will be once it reaches shore?
7. Are tsunami more common in the Pacific or the Atlantic? Why?
8. A tsunami warning system has been established in the Pacific. What scientific information does this system use to issue tsunami warnings?
9. Is more advance warning of a tsunami generally available in Hawaii or Alaska? Explain why.