NaimExplain

What physical property of water can sound be used to measure? Answer: Temperature

What is the photic zone? How deep is it in coastal waters versus the open ocean? Answer: The photic zone is the upper layer of the ocean that is well-lit and where most primary production occurs. It is approximately 40 m deep in coastal waters and 100m deep in the open ocean

What wavelength (color) of light penetrates deepest in the ocean? Which is attenuated most rapidly in the surface? Answer: Blue light penetrates deepest, red light is absorbed at the shallowest depths

What is the speed of sound in the surface ocean? Why does the speed decrease with increasing depth to a certain point? Answer: 1500 meters per second. The speed decreases with depth as the temperature of the water decreases. (NOTE: at a certain point, increasing pressure causes the sound speed to increase again)

What are three things that can happen to light as it enters water? Answer: It can be refracted, absorbed, or scattered

Compare the speed and distance that sound travels in the ocean versus air Answer: Sound travels faster and farther in the ocean than in air

Why is light refracted when it enters water from air? Answer: There is a change in density, the water is more dense than the air and the light travels more slowly and is refracted