Introductory Oceanography

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IntroductoryOceanography
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An Ocean World

• There is no other realm where physics, chemistry,
  geology, and biology are so intertwined as the
  ocean.
• Composition of seawater is controlled by a
  combination of geological and biological
  processes.
• Sediment on the ocean floor consists of shells of
  microorganisms and the distribution of this
  sediment depends on the nature and abundance of
  life.

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• Life in turns depends most strongly on the
  distribution of chemical nutrients in the water.
• Nutrient distribution depends on currents and
  the fluid dynamics of the oceans,
• which is influenced by meteorology and the
  geology of the oceans, etc.
• Only through an understanding of basic principles
  from all of these sciences can an understanding
  and appreciation of the ocean as a whole be
  achieved.

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Resources

• Most modern societies depend more heavily on the
  oceans than you might imagine.
• The most obvious kind of resource we extract from
  the ocean is food, primarily fish.
• Fish and shellfish are wonderful low-fat and
  protein-rich contributions to our diet.

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• Fish are not the only resource we extract from
  the sea.
• We also extract a host of chemical compounds from
  a variety of marine species.
• Algin, extracted from Kelp, is an emulsifier used
  in everything from rubber to beer.
• Other compounds include anti-cancer drugs,
  pain-killers, and chemicals for testing vaccines
  for the presence of bacteria.

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• We also harvest non-biological resources.
• These include things like
• magnesium, bromine, and salt
• petroleum, and minerals of the continental shelf.
  
• In the future, we will probably extract minerals
  from the deep sea floor as well.

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Transportation

• We have used the seas as easy ways to transport
  goods.
• It is still far cheaper to transport goods by sea
  than by rail or truck, not to mention air.
• It requires and understanding of ocean currents
• For this reason, Benjamin Franklin produced the
  first map of the Gulf Stream over 200 years ago.

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Waste Repository

• The oceans have been the ultimate dumping ground,
  the ultimate toilet.
• But using them as such potentially conflicts with
  our other uses.
• The medical wastes that washed up on New Jersey
  shores is good example of how things can go
  wrong.

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• Another profound effect is on climate.
• The oceans effect on climate extends to all
  parts of the globe.
• Almost every one has heard of El Niño
• El Niño is just one way that changes in ocean
  currents affect climate globally.

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• Ocean currents and changes in them are
  responsible extreme cold, drought, storms, you
  name it.
• Actually, we are just beginning to understand how
  the oceans produce long term climate
  fluctuations.
• We live on a planet whose surface is over 70
  water.

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• The ocean has always been a bit mysterious.
• Some of the strange creatures that dwell in the
  sea, make most of us a just bit fearful of it.

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• Yet the sea has always held a romantic attraction
  for many of us .
• And it can be a place to just have fun
• Some find the mystery of the ocean and
  irresistible intellectual challenge .
• We want to understand what is under the waves,
  hidden from view.

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History Of Oceanography

• 100 B.C. Phoenicians-Sailed The Straights Of
  Gibraltar
• 5 B.C. - Greek - First Map Produced By Hecataeus
• D.C. - Seneca Described The Hydrologic Cycle

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• 900-700 BC - Greeks first use term okeanos, root
  for our word ocean
• 230 BC - Eratosthenes calculates circumference of
  Earth,
• Invent latitude and longitude (f.2.2 p.25)

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• AD 450-600 Polynesians colonization, discovery of
  Hawaii, settling most of the Pacific by 200 A.D.

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• AD 650 -Viking raids begin
• AD 700 - Vikings - Discovered Iceland, Greenland,
  North America
• 1405-1433 Chinese navigators explore the other
  side of the world use of compass

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• Prince Henry of Portugal, the Navigator,
  rekindled European interest in oceanic
  exploration in the mid 1400s by opening a school
  to teach navigation techniques and 'marine
  science'

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• AD 1492 - Columbus's first voyage
• Christopher Columbus got funding from Queen
  Isabel of Spain to sail west in order to reach
  the east-the 'Orient', including Japan, the Spice
  Islands (Indonesia), and India.

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• Magellan sailed from Spain in 1519 to
  circumnavigate the globe with 5 ships and 270
  crewmen.
• The first European's passage through the Straits
  of Magellan

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• 1753 Benjamin Franklin maps Gulf Stream
• Franklin performed experiments on water
  temperature and current velocity to make his map
  of the Gulf Stream (f.2.20)

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• 1768 - 1779 - Captain James Cook - Charted The
  South Pacific
• First One To Take A Scientist To Make
  Observations
• Explored the Pacific and Indian Oceans for Great
  Britain from 1768-1779 on H.M.S. Resolution.
• He discovered New Zealand and Antarctica.

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• John Harrison's seaworthy clocks could keep good
  time, losing less than 2 seconds during an
  Atlantic crossing, thus solving the LONGITUDE
  PROBLEM.
• His third clock, like the first two, used
  different types of metals that would expand and
  contract with heat and cold, high to low
  humidity, and still keep excellent time

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• 1884 The Greenwich meridian a longitude line,
  became the world longitude zero (f.2.16)

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• 1818 James Clark Ross
• Obtained bottom samples from 1,919 m
• Discovered the Ross Sea
• Obtained depth sounding from the South Atlantic

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• 1804 - William Eaton - Collected Specimens And
  Took Soundings
• 1807 - US Established The Coast Survey - NOAA

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Founders Of Oceanography

• 1815 - 1854 - Edward Forbes - Discovery Of
  Zonation Life At Sea

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• 1831 - 1836 Charles Darwin, who sailed as a guest
  of Captain Fitzroy aboard the H.M.S. Beagle on
  its 5-year voyage around the world.
• Fitzroy accurately mapped the continent of South
  America while Darwin made forays into the
  interior, studying the plant and animal life.

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• He was so impressed with the variety of
  organisms, and their peculiar distributions, he
  began to formulate a hypothesis for their origin.
  

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• 1806 - 1873 - Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury - Full
  Time Oceanographer
• Physical Geography Of The Sea - First Textbook

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• 1872 - 1876 - H.M.S. Challenger -
  Around-The-World Expedition
• Examining Biological And Physical Conditions Of
  The Sea
• 19 Years To Synthesize And 50 Volumes Reports

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• Sir John Murray sailed H.M.S. Challenger around
  the globe from 1872-1876. The staff scientists
  discovered 4,717 new species of organisms,
  including, for the first time, specimens from the
  deeps. They also obtained extensive data on the
  bathymetry (water depths) of the oceans

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• 1882 - R/V Albatross - First Vessel Build For
  Research
• 1892 - Hopkins Marine Station - Pacific Grove CA
• 1905 - Scripps Institution Of Oceanography - La
  Jolla Ca

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• 1905 - Two Devices For Data Collection
• Frederick Nansen - Nansen Bottles
• V.W. Ekman - Ekman's Currents Meter

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• 1934 - William Beebe And Otis Barton -
  Bathysphere
• Descended To 930 M
• 1940 - Study The Crust Of The Earth - Using
  Seismic Vibrations

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• 1942 - Sverdrup, Johnson And Fleming - The Oceans
  - Book
• 1943 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau And Emile Gagnan
• Reinvented Scuba Equipment
• 1960 - Establishment Of NSF

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• 1960 - Development Of The Deep-Water Submersibles

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Deep Sea Drilling

• RV / Glomar Challenger
• 1968-1983 Returned the first complete core of
  deep sea sediments

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• 1985 - The JOIDES (Joint Oceanographic Institutes
  for Deep Earth Sampling) Resolution. 470 feet
  long, 80 feet wide.
• Research drilling vessel it is funded by a
  consortium of oceanographic institutes who pool
  their money through the Ocean Drilling Program
  (fig. 2.29)