Coastal and Marine Geology

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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Atolls may be described as:
1. coral reefs paralleling a nearby coastline
2. coral reefs surrounding a lagoon
3. a flat-topped submerged seamount
4. coral reefs separated from the mainland by a shallow lagoon
5. a small reef growth in a lagoon
Which of the following would you not associate with turbidity currents?
1. deposits of graded beds
2. density current
3. excavation of submarine canyons
4. formation of seamounts
5. sediment transport
The scientist who correctly proposed the theory of atoll formation was:
1. Kelvin
2. Wegener
3. Hutton
4. Darwin
5. none of these
Which of the following is associated with mid-ocean ridges?
1. rift zones
2. mountainous topography
3. greater heat flow than occurs in other parts of the ocean
4. volcanic structures
5. all of the above
When waves reach shallow water, they are often bent and tend to become parallel to the shore. This process is termed:
1. oscillation
2. reflection
3. refraction
4. abrasion
5. translation
The movement of water parallel to the shore within the surf zone is termed:
1. tidal current
2. longshore current
3. salinity current
4. rip current
5. beach drift
Which one of the following is a landform created by wave erosion (as opposed to deposition)?
1. spit
2. sea arch
3. estuary
4. breakwater
5. tombolo
The movement of sand parallel to the shore:
1. is created by waves approaching at an oblique angle
2. may create spits
3. is achieved by longshore currents
4. is an important reason for the construction of groins
5. all of the above
When a breakwater is built beyond the surf zone offshore from a sandy beach:
1. the area between the shore and the breakwater will probably be deepened by the intensified longshore current
2. the area between the shore and the breakwater will probably begin filling in with sand
3. the longshore current will not be affected
4. none of the above
The crests of mid-oceanic ridges:
1. are heavily mantled with sediment
2. lie at depths exceeding 6 kilometers
3. are geologically young features
4. have never been observed by man
One result of wave refraction is that:
1. wave energy is concentrated on headlands projecting into the water
2. wave energy is concentrated in the recessed areas between headlands
3. wave energy is largely dissipated before the waves reach the shore
4. headlands are enlarged because sediment is deposited on their seaward side
The zigzag movement of sand grains along a beach:
1. is caused by obliquely breaking waves
2. is called beach drift
3. is very unusual and seldom occurs
4. both a and b
5. both b and c
Within the continental margin, deep, steep-sided valleys known as ______ are found
1. continental shelves
2. submarine canyons
3. continental slopes
4. ocean basins
5. continental rises
The presence of which one of the following would indicate that the land had been uplifted or that sea level had fallen?
1. an estuary
2. a sea stack
3. an elevated marine terrace
4. a tombolo
Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay:
1. are associated with a submergent coast
2. are former river valleys that were followed by a rise in sea level
3. are excellent examples of large estuaries
4. all of the above
In the geologic past:
1. the number of 24-hour days per year was greater than at present
2. the earth rotated more rapidly than at present
3. the number of hours in a day was greater than at present
4. the earth was farther from the Sun
5. all the above
The gently sloping, shallowly-submerged surface extending from the shoreline toward the deep ocean is termed:
1. continental shelf
2. submarine canyon
3. continental slope
4. ocean basin
5. continental rise
Directly seaward of the continental shelf is a more steeply sloping region known as:
1. continental shelf
2. submarine canyon
3. continental slope
4. ocean basin
5. continental rise
Graded bedding is characterized by:
1. an increase in sediment size from bottom to top
2. a decrease in sediment size from bottom to top
3. an unsorted mixture of many different sediment sizes
4. sorting due to gentle wave action in shallow water
Which of the following is not true of deep ocean trenches?
1. they are long and narrow depressions
2. they are sites where plates plunge back into the mantle
3. they are geologically very stable
4. they may act as sediment traps
Which factors can make sea water more saline?
1. freezing of sea ice
2. evaporation
3. both of the above
4. none of the above
Almost half of the sediment reaching the oceans comes from this continent:
1. Asia
2. South America
3. Africa
4. North America
5. Australia
Freak high waves sometimes encountered by ships at sea seem to be due to:
1. Undersea volcanic eruptions
2. Undersea landslides
3. Tornado-like weather disturbances at sea
4. Superposition and addition of waves of different frequencies
5. Unusual tidal conditions
A flat-topped submarine mountain
1. guyot
2. mesa
3. cuesta
4. horst
A baymouth bar forms
1. when a glacier builds a moraine across a bay
2. when longshore drift causes a spit to be built across a bay
3. when a landslide dams a bay
4. all of the above
5. none of the above
When waves break exactly parallel to a beach:
1. the beach wears away
2. the water returns to the sea in evenly-spaced flows call rips
3. the waves move sand along the shore
4. deposition is greatest
The highest known waves have occurred:
1. as the result of earthquakes
2. during hurricanes
3. after volcanic eruptions
4. when landslides dumped large amounts of material into small bodies of water
An example of a secondary shoreline:
1. the shore of an estuary
2. the shore of a fiord
3. a fault scarp which is partly submerged
4. a barrier island
When a wave changes direction in shallow water, the change in path is called:
1. absorption
2. refraction
3. reflection
4. erosion
As an oceanic island sinks or is eroded, the fringing reef may be left behind as a circular ring called a(n):
1. crater
2. caldera
3. atoll
4. esker
An isolated rock left behind as an island as a coast erodes:
1. barrier reef
2. stack
3. dike
4. atoll
Beaches:
1. tend to remain constant year-round
2. tend to be eroded during stormy weather and deposited in calm weather
3. tend to be deposited in stormy weather and eroded in calm weather.
When are waves affected by the seafloor, that is, when do waves begin to "feel bottom"?
1. when water depth is equal to one-half the wave length
2. when water depth is equal to the wave length
3. when water depth is twice as great as the wave length
4. when water depth is three times a great as the wave length
5. none of the above
One of the following is not a requirement for coral reef growth:
1. warm water
2. shallow water
3. abundant sunlight
4. abundant amounts of suspended sediment
A sea cliff
1. retreats faster with time because the waves cut into softer rock
2. retreats uniformly with time
3. retreats more slowly because the waves cut into harder rock
4. retreats more slowly because the wave-cut platform dissipates wave energy
The salt in sea water plays little or no role in coastal erosion
1. True
2. False
An isolated remnant of wave erosion is a:
1. spit
2. groin
3. jetty
4. tombolo
5. sea stack
A sand ridge connecting an island to the mainland or to another island is a:
1. jetty
2. tombolo
3. sea stack
4. none of the above
5. breakwater
A circular reef enclosing a lagoon is a(n):
1. barrier reef
2. guyot
3. seamount
4. atoll
5. aseismic
A flat, benchlike surface cut in rock by wave action is a:
1. sea stack
2. spit
3. jetty
4. none of the above
5. tombolo
Chesapeake Bay is an excellent example of a(n):
1. coastal barrier
2. fiord
3. estuary
4. primary coastline
5. emergent coastline
Which of these can be considered a fiord (even though the topography isn't dramatic)?
1. San Francisco Bay
2. Chesapeake Bay
3. Galveston Bay
4. Puget Sound
5. Biscayne Bay

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Created August 4, 1999; Last Update 14 December 2009

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