INTRODUCTION TO OCEANOGRAPHY

Anticipation Guide The interconnected waters of the ocean cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface. True False 2. The ocean contains more than 90% of all surface water on Earth. 3. How long would it take a river the size of the Amazon to drain the ocean? __________years 4. The ocean contains enough salt to cover all the continents with a layer ________ feet deep 5. Human blood, excluding the cells and protein, has the same general composition as sea water.

6. The average depth of the ocean is _______ feet 7. If the tallest mountain on land, Mt Everest, were sunk in the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana trench, its peak would stick out of the water. True False 8. The ocean off our coast is flat. True False 9. The average temperature of the ocean is __________ degrees Fahrenheit 10. More plants and animals live in the air and on land than in the ocean. 11. Squid have the largest eyes of any animal. 12. The largest animal ever to live on Earth is the _________ 13. A newborn blue whale weighs more than 2000 pounds. 14. Sperm whale teeth can be ten inches long and weigh up to 4 pounds. 15. The sea has always been at its present level.

QUESTION 1 The interconnected waters of the ocean cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface TRUE

TRUE – 97% QUESTION 2 The ocean contains more than 90% of all surface water on Earth TRUE – 97%

QUESTION 3 How long would it take a river the size of the Amazon to drain the ocean? 200,000 YEARS

QUESTION 4 The ocean contains enough salt to cover all the continents with a layer ________ feet deep 500

QUESTION 5 Human blood, excluding the cells and protein, has the same general composition as sea water TRUE

QUESTION 6 The average depth of the ocean is _______ feet 12,300

covered by water around 7000 feet deep QUESTION 7 If the tallest mountain on land, Mt Everest, were sunk in the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana trench, its peak would stick out of the water FALSE – It would be covered by water around 7000 feet deep

QUESTION 8 The ocean off our coast is flat FALSE

QUESTION 9 The average temperature of the ocean is __________ degrees Fahrenheit 38

FALSE – 90% of all organisms live in the ocean QUESTION 10 More plants and animals live in the air and on land than in the ocean FALSE – 90% of all organisms live in the ocean

TRUE – The eyes of a giant squid are around 15 inches in diameter QUESTION 11 Squid have the largest eyes of any animal TRUE – The eyes of a giant squid are around 15 inches in diameter

QUESTION 12 The largest animal ever to live on Earth is the _________ Blue Whale

TRUE – and it can gain 200 pounds a day QUESTION 13 A newborn blue whale weighs more than 2000 pounds TRUE – and it can gain 200 pounds a day

QUESTION 14 Sperm whale teeth can be ten inches long and weigh up to 4 pounds TRUE

QUESTION 15 The sea has always been at its present level FALSE – 1700 years ago it was 400 feet lower. 250 million years ago Texas was covered by the ocean

September 6 Review of expectations and policies; heading on papers Introduction to Oceanography Notes Locating Water Masses – using a globe/ map Branches of Oceanography handout Review questions Exit activity

WHY ARE THE OCEANS IMPORTANT TO US? There are four key reasons the oceans are important to us…

WHY ARE THE OCEANS IMPORTANT TO US? Weather Oxygen Food Water

THEN WHY ARE WE DESTROYING IT? Take a moment to answer this question – consider pollution, overfishing, etc.

DEFINITIONS OCEANOGRAPHY OCEAN The study of all sciences as they relate to the ocean OCEAN The large body of saline water that occupies the depressions of the Earth’s surface

Oceanography is not a pure science Most oceanographers are trained in other sciences Ocean studies rely on collaboration

HOW DID THE OCEANS FORM?

Ocean Formation While the Earth was molten: Heavy metals migrated to the center lighter elements moved toward the surface Hydrogen and oxygen migrated toward the surface to form an atmosphere Volcanic activity released gases, including water, trapped within the Earth This is called outgassing Earth cooled, gases in the atmosphere condensed and rain fell It may have rained for 10 million years Comets collided with the early Earth Materials on land were weathered Chemical bonds were broken by light (photolysis) to release atoms

OCEAN FACTS The oceans and sea ice form 97.957% of all the water on Earth Chemical Content Virtually every element found on land can be found in the ocean Area it covers: 361 million km2 Depth: 3,796 meters 4.5 x’s greater than the average land elevation

More ocean facts… Deepest Spot: Volume: 1.37 billion km3 Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (11,022 meters) This is 2,192 meters deeper than Everest is high Volume: 1.37 billion km3 Holds the most carbon dioxide Average Temperature: 3.00 C (390 F) 5 trillion tons of salt in the ocean Mass – 155 billion tons Distribution: Northern Hemisphere: 60.7% ocean and 39.3% land Southern Hemisphere: 80.9% ocean and19.1% land

PERSPECTIVE While the ocean is large, when put on a planetary scale, the ocean accounts for slightly more than 0.02% of Earth’s mass or 0.13% of its volume. There is much more water chemically trapped within the Earth’s interior than there is in the ocean and atmosphere