Mollusk Analysis

   The adaption and variation in mollusks all have different and looks and feels but they all have things in common. The morphological feature of the mollusks which means soft body is the feature that they heave more than two cell layers, tissues and organs. Because of the mollusks soft body they have to be very careful because they are so fragile and can get hurt or even killed very easily. They do not have the protection like crabs and animals with shells do, they have to learn to survive on there own without a lot of protection. The mollusks are split into classes called class Gastropoda, Class Bivalvia, and class Cephalopoda. Class Gastropoda includes the species snails and slugs, class Bivalvia is for clams and oysters and the Cephalopoda class is for bigger organisms like squid and octopus. The body semen try for the worm and the squid we dissected was symmetry but the clam was not it was more like a big blob of goo. The worm and squid were both equal if you cut them in half but the clam was not at all. All the dissections we did have very different textures and shapes and even smells. The worm was long and not slimy it was hard and thick skinned. The squid was slimy and squishy more like a sponge. The squid had a few hard parts to it where the worn did not. The clam had a hard shell and a squishy, slimy inside like the squid did, but the squid had eyes and was could swim and is mush bigger. The clams mantle is what keeps it protected from other creatures that may harm it. The mantle also helps from the clam being damaged from tides and currents. The Locomotion of a squid and clam compare is that they both have the same vascular system. Water goes in and out of the there bodies and help them move. A squid and octopus have camouflage because it helps protect them from predictors. Bivalves and Cephalopods do not have camouflage because they have shells that help protect the, and they can hide away were the squids and octopus can not. Bivalves eat by using there gills and they filter feed. Cephalopods eat other organisms like fish, worms and plants. Mollusks and humans are alike they have nervous systems and reproductive systems we share in common. Mussels have a special adaption to stay on shore they use there foot and they hold onto the rock or land. They have very strong leg that holds on and keeps them steady for a while. Octopus have very large brains and are considered by many that they are stupid but in fact they can be smart. They have a very good memory they can tell the difference between colors and toys. They use left and right like we do but they use there eyes to tell the difference. Mollusks help keep our oceans clean they help with the bacteria and mess. They are a big source of food for other organisms and helps keep other organisms reproducing. And there shells are used multiple times when one dies another moves in. 

Starfish Dissect

The Sea star also known as a starfish are beautiful creatures that life on our oceans floors. The Starfish is from the phylum Echoinodermata and it means that it is radially symmetrical coelenterate meaning every side of its body is the same looking. The phylum also consists of Sea Urchins, Sea cucumbers and even sand dollars because they all have the same type of systems. 

1. Sea Fish are in fact not fish at all because they don't swim they move around on the bottom with tube feet that are helpful for sticking to the ground 
2. The Coscinasterias Calamaria also known as the eleven-armed sea star has an arm spread that can go up to 30 cm and it can grow up to 14 arms and a sun star can grow up to 40 arms 
3. Sea stars do not have blood instead they have a water vascular system that helps them to move 
4. A Sea stars eyes are on the ends of each leg but they are only used to tell if its light of dark
5. A Sea star is born when egg and sperm collide together when they are released into the water a Sea star larvae are not much bigger than pinheads and 
the larvae float in the water until they grow a bit and they sink to the bottom. 

6. Some species of sea starts do care for there young until they grow but most let there young go and grow up on there own 

7. The Sun Sea star  are the head of the sea start family as they grow older more arms grow 
8. There is a sea star called the  leather sea star it isn’t prickly to the touch, but it sure is slippery. This sea star releases mucus over much of its body
9. The crown-of-thorns sea star can harm even humans who touch its long spines. A sting from one of these sea stars can be very painful a person will lose feeling if stung
10. Sea stars always grow back arms if they are cut off or broken and at some point if all the arms fall off they will all grow back if the core is not damaged 

Interactions of the sun, atmosphere and the water to the ocean

How so the interactions between the sun,atmosphere, and water create environmental conditions in the ocean?

  Interactions of the sun, atmosphere , and the water create environmental conditions in the water. The atmosphere consists of a stratosphere, thermosphere, trosphere and the mesosphere.The thermosphere is the top layer of the atmosphere, the metosphere and the stratosphere are the middle layers and the troposhere is the lowest layer and it extends from the bottom of the earth. Inside the layers there are many diffent gasses they is oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon, and other gasses that hold our planet together. The sun effects the oceans because. The suns rays reflect off of the ocean and the thermosphere. The thermosphere consumes 50% of the suns rays, while the rest is left in the atmosphere. The ocean also consumes the sun rays heating the water. The cycle is a circulation in the from the atmosphere to the clouds and the ocean. The heat that enters the ocean is brought through the by the Gulf Stream, this brings warm water to diffrent parts of the ocean. Pressure is then put on the salt and fresh water creating mixture and currents and waves these are called mouths where salt and fresh water mix. The ocean convayere belt is when salt is carried to parts of the ocean to places that are missing the salt that need it. The polar eastelies winds push downward in the ocean well the polor front winds push back at the eastelies winds. The other winds are called westline winds and they are found between 30 degrees and 60 degrees lattitude toward the poles. When the winds collide its called a gyre. Every ocean has a grye but they are diffrent because the winds directions are diffrent. Many of the currents in the oceans are created by the grye effect. Geostophic currents also create the ocean currents becasue of the earths rotation. Overall the ocean is effected by the sun the atmosphere and the water itself. The oceans are most effected by the earths roatation more than anything else the movement creates winds cretaing the currents and everything else. The suns rays and the atmosphere all work together to make our oceans the way they are.

Current events ( Isabel Could Cause Beach Erosion)

http://www.wtoc.com/story/1445350/isabel-could-cause-beach-erosion

Isabel Could Cause Beach Erosion

Hurricane Isabel may hit north of the island instead if south. The hurricane may not hit but we will still be affected. There will be big waves and high winds and beach erosion may happen. The chance of beach erosion is high. 

Dynamic Earth

• What forces do scientists think cause tectonic plates to move?

The continental drift, the divergent , convergent and transform boundaries. They believe that continents where once together. And they believe that the cause if tectonic plates is when an earthquake occurs when two plates past each other and create an earthquake shaking the plates and making them move. 

• According to the theory of plate tectonics, what changes will occur to the oceans and the continents over the next millions of years?

The continents will move even more. The Atlantic ocean and Indian ocean will expand as the Pacific shrinks. Southern California will pass San-Francisco as it moves to the northeast and a new ocean will form in the east Africa rift valley. And the Mediterranean sea will close as Africa moves Northward.   

History and Culture of Coastal Areas

How have the history and culture of coastal areas been affected by there geology?

Our seven continents where once believed to be just one big continent called Pagaea. The continents moved over time this is called the dance of the continents. Seafloor spreading theory consist of the movement of the Seafloor over the years. Under the sea beneath the seafloor is magma and as time passes the magma comes through rift valleys in the floor (deep valleys that run through the mid-Atlantic ridge, the ridge runs right down the Atlantic in the deep ocean). The continents , also considered tectonic plates, are very important to the movement of the continents. There are three different types of plates movement, the movement of the continents moving past each other causing earthquakes, another is when one goes under another, and the last crash into each other. The history of the coastal area is the fossils founded in some of the the continents and not in others. Some cultures will have volcano, earthquakes, or flooding it depends on where you live, For example If you live in Hawaii you will have volcano and earthquakes because you are on an island and the ocean floor is moving, if you live in the middle of a continent you will not get flooding, because you don't live on the coast , most people that live on the coast get a lot of flooding and earthquakes because they are closer to the sea floor movement. Difffrent rocks are also found on the seven continenets Metamorphic, Sedimentary and Ingneous rocks.Ingneous rocks are created by lava when it cools and hardens. Sedimentary is when particles by water flow this is where fossils are found, and Metamorphic is layers built, and the rock forms when pressure and heat become great enough to change.

Return to the Antikythera shipwreck

The Antikthera was a treasure ship which carried bronze and marble full, size statues, and gold jewelry, and coins. They also found a mechanism ancient analog computer. The first trip was in 1900 and they did not discover much because they scuba clothing they had was heavy and not made for that kind of diving. One person died and two were hurt badly on the trip. Then in 1976 another trip was made by Jacques Cousteu. He created new equipment to to help with keeping the divers alive and able to stay at the bottom for a longer time than before. The ship was 135-185 ft. When the explores from 1900 they only were able to discover a little bit of the ship only about 20% was discovered. The next exploration started in September to October. It was led by Theotokis Theodoviou and Aggiliki Simossi. The spot of the ships discovery  is among the most famous of all marine sites. New technology has been created to help make discovering and diving easier. Roberts are one of the new inventions, they create 3D visual maps, and easier ways to read what is under the water. Safer scuba outfits where also created, one was called Exosuit and it can bring humans down 1,000 ft and stay in the bottom for 40 hours. The Sitris was one of the vehicle used underwater to take pictures of the shipwreck. I think that all of this is really cool and it will help people to understand our ocean because it takes up most of the world. The new technology and new scuba suits will  help with that, it will help the divers to stay under the water longer and help to discover new species and help to dive deeper without getting hurt.