Using your knowledge of the age of lithospheric crusts and biogenous sediment accumulation, explain why it would be fruitless, not to mention expensive, to excavate for oil far off the coast, beyond the continental shelf

What will be an ideal response?


Because biogenous sediments have had less time to accumulate over the much younger oceanic crust found far offshore, it is not likely that the processes that convert deposited organic material to oil have had enough time to operate. Therefore, no oil is likely to be found in regions far away from continental shelves, where sedimentation rate and sediment thickness are both much greater.

Biology & Microbiology

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New ____ mutations can often be detected by examining the inheritance of the trait in males

a. mitochondrial b. imprinting c. autosomal dominant d. autosomal recessive e. X-linked

Biology & Microbiology

Human sweat has antimicrobial activity due to

A. production of an antimicrobial peptide called cathelicidins. B. production of low molecular weight compounds that chelate free iron. C. production of low molecular weight compounds that maintain an alkaline pH. D. competition with normal sweat gland flora.

Biology & Microbiology

The axial skeleton contains bones that form the ____

a. skull, rib cage, and vertebral column b. chest and arms c. vertebral column and legs d. rib cage and legs e. shoulder and arms

Biology & Microbiology

What is the primary reason that a hot spring will kill a fish placed in it but encourage the growth of certain bacteria?

A) The high temperatures destroy most of the fish's enzymes, but the specialized bacteria have enzymes adapted to these temperatures. B) Fish cannot feed directly on bacteria, but the bacteria can feed on dead fish. C) At hot spring temperatures, the metabolic activity of the fish's cells is so rapid that it runs out of food reserves and dies; the bacteria feed on the dead fish. D) Bacterial growth at high temperatures is so rapid that it deoxygenates the water and kills the fish.

Biology & Microbiology