Ocean Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A sailor traveling from Iceland toward eastern Canada remains within which ocean?
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Arctic Ocean
Indian Ocean
2. A broad coastal inlet contains both river freshwater and seawater, with salinity changing as tides and river flow vary. What is this feature called?
Atoll
Abyssal plain
Estuary
Mid-ocean ridge
3. New oceanic crust forms along a mid-ocean ridge. What type of plate movement is occurring there?
Two plates slide horizontally past each other
Two continental plates collide
Two plates move apart
One plate remains fixed while the other folds
4. An enclosed subtropical sea experiences intense evaporation, little rainfall, and limited freshwater input. What will most likely happen to its surface salinity?
It will decrease
It will increase
It will become identical to river water
It will remain unaffected by the water balance
5. A tsunami travels from deep ocean into much shallower coastal water. How does the wave typically change?
It speeds up and becomes lower
It slows down, shortens, and can grow taller
It stops before reaching the coast
It speeds up while keeping the same wavelength
6. A ship leaves California and travels due west without crossing land. Which ocean does it enter?
Pacific Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Southern Ocean
7. Which is the smallest of the five named oceans by surface area?
Southern Ocean
Indian Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
8. Scientists map a deep-ocean trench beside a chain of volcanic islands. Which tectonic setting best explains both features?
A passive continental margin with no active plate boundary
A convergent boundary where one oceanic plate subducts beneath another
A divergent boundary creating new seafloor
A transform boundary where plates only slide sideways
9. Which ocean basin lies between Asia and Australia to the west and the Americas to the east?
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Indian Ocean
Arctic Ocean
10. A vessel departs Kenya’s coast and heads directly east toward open water. Which ocean is it crossing?
Indian Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean
11. Viewed from above, in which direction do major subtropical ocean gyres generally rotate in the Northern Hemisphere?
Straight toward the equator
Alternately clockwise and counterclockwise each day
Counterclockwise
Clockwise
12. Which passage separates southern South America from the Antarctic Peninsula region?
Drake Passage
Mozambique Channel
Strait of Gibraltar
Bering Strait
13. Warm surface water continuing northeastward from the Gulf Stream toward western Europe is carried mainly by which current?
Labrador Current
Canary Current
North Atlantic Current
Benguela Current
14. Persistent winds push surface water away from a coastline. What is the most likely immediate ocean response near that coast?
Surface water becomes isolated from deeper water
A new ocean trench forms along the shore
The local tide permanently stops
Deeper water rises to replace the displaced surface water
15. Which ocean separates the Americas from Europe and Africa?
Indian Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
16. A research vessel completes a voyage through the waters encircling Antarctica. Which ocean has it primarily crossed?
Arctic Ocean
South Atlantic Ocean
Southern Ocean
Indian Ocean