Packet 1: Bonus 8
A seven-thousand-kilometer chain of these ecosystems once covered the north Atlantic during the Jurassic, creating the largest-known biostructure to ever exist. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name these ecosystems mainly inhabited by hexactinellids (“HECK-sah-TIH-neh-lidz”). Organisms that comprise these ecosystems likely moved into deep waters to avoid resource competition with diatoms.
ANSWER: glass sponge reefs [prompt on reefs; reject “coral reefs”] (Diatoms are thought to be more efficient at processing silicon than sponges, leading to the decline of reef-building sponges as they couldn’t compete for silica to build their spicules.)
[10e] Due to their delicate exoskeletons, reef-building sponges are susceptible to damage from this type of fishing in which a net is dragged through the water behind a boat.
ANSWER: trawling [accept trawlers; accept seine fishing or seining]
[10m] Because they inhabit deep benthic environments, many sponge reefs depend on this kind of detritus for food. This kind of detritus is sourced from dead particulate matter sinking from the photic (“FOH-tick”) zone.
ANSWER: marine snow [or sea snow; reject “snow”; reject “whale falls” or “jelly falls”]
<MS, Biology> | NAFTA-Packet-1
| Heard | PPB | E % | M % | H % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 17.56 | 98% | 76% | 2% |
Conversion
| Team | Opponent | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Total | Parts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Neg of Beauty is a Joy Forever | Dielectrical Materialism | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20 | EM |
| Dour Straits | Vacuous Tortoise | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | E |
| No Country for Old Quizzers | H Charlson's Washed Up Scrubs | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20 | EM |
Summary
| Tournament | Edition | Match | Heard | PPB | E % | M % | H % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 NAFTA at Stanford | 01/17/2026 | ✓ | 4 | 15.00 | 100% | 50% | 0% |
| 2026 NAFTA at UBC | 01/17/2026 | ✓ | 2 | 15.00 | 100% | 50% | 0% |
| 2025 NAFTA Online | 02/14/2026 | ✓ | 4 | 12.50 | 75% | 50% | 0% |
| 2026 NAFTA at Vanderbilt | 02/14/2026 | ✓ | 3 | 20.00 | 100% | 100% | 0% |
| 2025 NAFTA at Toronto | 09/13/2025 | ✓ | 4 | 20.00 | 100% | 100% | 0% |
| 2025 NAFTA at Maryland | 09/27/2025 | ✓ | 5 | 18.00 | 100% | 80% | 0% |
| 2025 NAFTA at Harvard | 10/04/2025 | ✓ | 3 | 23.33 | 100% | 100% | 33% |
| 2025 NAFTA at Oxford | 10/11/2025 | ✓ | 3 | 16.67 | 100% | 67% | 0% |
| 2025 NAFTA at Chicago | 11/08/2025 | ✓ | 6 | 20.00 | 100% | 100% | 0% |
| 2025 NAFTA at Columbia | 11/08/2025 | ✓ | 5 | 14.00 | 100% | 40% | 0% |
| 2025 NAFTA at Richmond | 12/20/2025 | ✓ | 2 | 20.00 | 100% | 100% | 0% |