Critical Thinking

CHAPTER 2
1) If the pattern persists, Pacific Shrinking and Atlantic growing, then the most likely scenerio will be, amoung other things, Africa remerging with Arabia. The Red Sea will be something read about in books, lectures, or by the mad rantings of religious fanatics. The (now) HUGE Pacific plate will be rammed in from all sides by its neighboring plates thus forming a ring of mountain ranges that riseth out of the sea. The Pacific Ring Ranges that will grow through the millenia will bring up more land out of the watery depths. So, as the atlantic spreads out a valley will form where once the great Pacifc held sway. All that will remain will be a deep inland sea.
CHAPTER 3
2) The path of the wandering message bottle.
**Beaufort, South Carolina
--->Into the Gulf Stream swinging North East
--->Canary Current South East
--->Swing around the Equatorial Counter Current East
--->Floats & eddies near African Gulf of Guinea
--->Gets caught by South Equatorial Current going West
--->Swings hard around with the strong cold current East
--->Antartic Circumpolar Current
--->Slips out of strong current
--->Follows small cold current North to
**Perth, Australia

CHAPTER 4
2) The accumulation of certain marine organisms through diffusion is possible. Molecules have a tendancy to move around when imersed in water if not given any type of barrier to stop them. So if the cell in question do not have such a barrier errected then it can be deduced that said ions will have free movement in and out of the organism. However, since only a minute amount of the ion is free floating the the surrounding water as compared to the concentrated amount found within the organism itself, it can be concluded that there are indeed barriers keeping most of the ion in. The barriers of the organism must only allow a limited amount of the ions through, probably excess. If one could inject a dyed version of the ion into the organism till excess is reached then one might be able to see where such excess is eventually ejected to.
CHAPTER 5
2) When the organism moves from feeding on light to feeding on other organisms.
CHAPTER 7
2) The cephalopods followed a different path then thier sedentary cousins. Many eons ago an enterprising member of the molluscs familia felf deep within its squishy interior that there would be more food to be had out in the great blue younder. So it began the change. Its decendants also were of like mind and pushed for more development. The other molluscs thought them mad to leave thier safe shells, but the changing cephalopods developed traits that balanced out the need for a hard cover. In time this branch of the family became great and held sway in much of the world's ancient oceans. Alas, this time of glory did not last. The earth changed, lands and waters shifted, and greater beasts that brayed on the fleshy cephalopods came into being. With so much against them its a wonder so many varient species still exist today. The End.
CHAPTER 8
1) The most likely reason would be its high level of survival points ^_^ . Its found ways to adapt the other unfortunate cousins didn't. Thus it wins the survival contests.
2) To figure out its feeding habit I would study its teeth, jaw, and body structure. And the fact that this female shark still retains its eggs in its reproductive tracts makes the developement type an ovoviviparous.
3) To have more females than males means more eggs to be had, of course without enough males there will just more eggs that will not be fertilized. More males then females would result in more chances of eggs being fertilized. Unfortunately, not enough females means less eggs produced. In human beings, equal amounts male & female is a good thing. But, animals care more about survival and less about relationships (aren't they the lucky saps). One on one may decrease the chances of probable fertilization thus endangering the species.
CHAPTER 9
1) Because turtles always go back to the beach they hatched from and made thier first sea bound journdey. So only baby turtles that have never made the journy will retain such a memory and are ideal for planting at new sites.
CHAPTER 14
1) Motsly because atolls are formed from the ring of a volcano's mouth. the crater of the volcano that did not surface becomes the inner lagoon. The atlantic does not have many volcanic or other seismic activities that would produce such reefs.
2) Badly. Changes in water temperature could and will affect the smallest to largest members of the coral reef community. And since each memeber is interdependant with each other, recycling each others wastes and turning them into the nutrients that meets their needs, its not hard to see the whole coral reef crashing. Especially since reefs are located in normally barren waters.
3) Because they don't have enough reef-building corals.
CHAPTER 18
3) The tourists come to Saipan for two reasons: history of their people and the beautiful natural sights. History aside, Saipan is a lush and beautiful island with a variety of friendly people. To keep the tourists coming back certain precautions must take place. Safety measures for our tourists and our marine life must be put into place to preserve both for generations to come.