Marine Science – Chapter 1 Notes

Question Why were cities built around oceans or rivers?

History of Ocean Exploration: 3,000 b.c. – first ocean sailing vessel 2,000 b.c. – earliest recorded trade routes (Phoenicians)

History of Ocean Exploration 700 b.c. – Phoenicians sail completely around Africa 150 a.d. – Phoenicians sailed to Great Britain 800 – 1100 a.d. – Vikings continued sea exploration after the fall of Roman empire; Vikings learn to build superior ships (15-30 m long) made of oak w/ oars & sails

History of Ocean Exploration 1488 – 1492 – Columbus voyages followed by Cabot, Vespucci, Magellan, etc –Columbus set sail from Spain looking for a new route to India by traveling west. Landed in what is now know as the Bahamas in the Caribbean. He also reached the coast of Central America and South America. –Cabot explored the coast of North America –Vespucci Italian navigator once landed on North America was the first to realize it was not part of Asia.

History of Ocean Exploration Magellan ( )- Portuguese navigator, was the first person to attempt to sail completely around the Earth (circumnavigate). In 1519 he sailed West from Spain with 5 ships and 290 men. In 1522 only one ship made it back with 18 surviving. Magellan was not one. Victoria

History of Ocean Exploration 1607 – 1611 – Henry Hudson an English navigator explored what is now the present-day Hudson River.

History of Ocean Exploration By the middle of the eighteenth century, much was known about the geography of the ocean. However, there was still not much known about ocean depths, life forms, ocean currents, etc.

History of Ocean Exploration Scientific exploration of the ocean began in the mid 1700s with Captain James Cook a British navigator and explorer. He explored the South Pacific in search of a Southern continent. He was concerned about the health of his crew and noticed when the crew ate citrus fruits they did not develop scurvy. He made sure his crew ate citrus fruits on a regular basis.

History of Ocean Exploration 1831 – Darwin’s HMS Beagle responsible for collecting huge amounts of information about animals from S. America and Galapagos

History of Ocean Exploration HMS Challenger, British sailing vessel was redesigned into a laboratory ship. Challenger collected data on temp., salinity, sediments, pressure; catalogued over 4700 new species of marine organisms. Enough scientific information was compiled to fill a 50-volume Challenger report.

History of Ocean Exploration – Nansen bottle used to collect samples of sea water at varying depths.

History of Ocean Exploration early 1900’s – sonar developed (sound navigation ranging) & early sea floor maps developed. Sonar emits and receives sounds – Dr. William Beebe reached depth of 1000 m in a bathysphere (steel chamber) 1943 – Jacques Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnon developed the “aqua lung”, a tank of compressed air that allowed divers to reach depths of 150 meters (maximum ever)

AKA Scuba tank A tank of compressed air strapped to the diver’s back. Using a regulator that connects from the mouthpiece to the tank by a hose. –Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

History of Ocean Exploration late 1940’s – (post WWII), many countries developed and launched oceanographic vessels, leading to the discovery of the mid-oceanic ridge system, deep sea hydrothermal vents, etc.

History of Ocean Exploration 1960 – Swiss team of Auguste & Jacques Picard made the deepest dive to the bottom of the Mariana trench (10,852 meters) in a bathysphere Concept: “Inner Space” = world beneath the ocean’s surface

History of Ocean Exploration Diving suits, chambers, “aqua lung” & scuba tank developed to increase personal exploration of the oceans SCUBA = self contained underwater breathing apparatus

History of Ocean Exploration Modern-day submersibles: “Alvin”: over 1000 dives; recovered a hydrogen bomb in 1966 at 1830 m “Jason” & other robots now being used…tethered “deep drone” is an un-tethered robot Combination of sonar and robots enables

History of Ocean Exploration French-American team of Robert Ballard and Jen-Louis Michel to find the Titanic in 1985 in 3,600m of water. After Alvin found the ship, “Argo” a robot vehicle was tethered to Alvin and was used to photograph the Titanic. Jason then used to explore it further from the inside. Robert Ballard