ESSENTIALS OF OCEANOGRAPHY ACTUAL
TEST QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW PACKAGE
●● Texture
Answer: Grain size is measured using the Wentworth scale of grain size;
in order of largest to smallest are the following:
Boulders
Cobbles
Pebbles
Granules
Sand
Silt
Clay
●● Dredge
Answer: A bucket-like device used to scoop sediment from the deep-
ocean floor in early explorations.
●● Gravity corer
Answer: A hollow steel tube with a heavyweight on top used to collect
cores. Used in later explorations.
, ●● Cores
Answer: Cylinders of sediment and rock.
●● Rotary drilling
Answer: Method used today to collect cores from deep ocean.
●● Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP)
Answer: Initiative in 1968 set up by JOIDES (Joint Oceanographic
Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling) to collect cores of sediment from
around the ocean. Had a specially designed drill ship called the Glomar
Challenger. Confirmed existence of sea floor spreading by noticing the
following:
1. The age of the ocean floor increased with distance from mid-ocean
ridge
2. The sediment thickness increased with distance from mid-ocean ridge
3. Earth's magnetic field polarity reversals were seen in ocean floor
rocks
●● Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)
Answer: A program that replaced the Deep Sea Drilling Project in 1983,
focusing on drilling the continental margins using the drill ship JOIDES
Resolution.
TEST QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW PACKAGE
●● Texture
Answer: Grain size is measured using the Wentworth scale of grain size;
in order of largest to smallest are the following:
Boulders
Cobbles
Pebbles
Granules
Sand
Silt
Clay
●● Dredge
Answer: A bucket-like device used to scoop sediment from the deep-
ocean floor in early explorations.
●● Gravity corer
Answer: A hollow steel tube with a heavyweight on top used to collect
cores. Used in later explorations.
, ●● Cores
Answer: Cylinders of sediment and rock.
●● Rotary drilling
Answer: Method used today to collect cores from deep ocean.
●● Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP)
Answer: Initiative in 1968 set up by JOIDES (Joint Oceanographic
Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling) to collect cores of sediment from
around the ocean. Had a specially designed drill ship called the Glomar
Challenger. Confirmed existence of sea floor spreading by noticing the
following:
1. The age of the ocean floor increased with distance from mid-ocean
ridge
2. The sediment thickness increased with distance from mid-ocean ridge
3. Earth's magnetic field polarity reversals were seen in ocean floor
rocks
●● Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)
Answer: A program that replaced the Deep Sea Drilling Project in 1983,
focusing on drilling the continental margins using the drill ship JOIDES
Resolution.
