1. The Origin of the Ocean
The Water Planet

3. AN OCEAN WORLD The ocean covers 71% of Earth’s surface
The ocean contains 97% of the water on Earth
The ocean is Earth’s most important feature
The named oceans and seas (Pacific and Atlantic, Mediterranean and Baltic) are named for our convenience
They are only temporary features of a single world ocean
Average ocean depth is about 4½ times greater than the average height of the continents above sea level

5. Earth is a Water Planet oceans occupy 71% of the earth's surface
not distributed equally with respect to the equator
ocean covers 61% of the northern hemisphere and 80% of the southern hemisphere
presence of oceans is function of geological activity and planet's location in relation to sun
too far away -- water will be in a frozen state
too close -- water will evaporate
Earth is in a perfect location to allow water to be in liquid state

7. Oceans Today's oceans are traditionally divided into 4 large basins
North and South Pacific
North and South Atlantic
Indian
Arctic
Oceans are really interconnected
Connected to these 4 large basins are smaller, marginal seas, such as the Mediterranean, Gulf of Mexico, South China Sea, Red Sea, Caribbean, Baltic Sea, Bering Sea, etc.
Each basin or marginal sea varies in its ability to support life due to both climatic differences and shapes and positions of present-day continents
Ocean basins consist of the deep seafloor (13,000-20,000 ft; 4-6 km) and cover most of the earth's surface (30%); continents only cover 29%

10. Distribution of land and sea by latitude

11. Hypsographic Curve
Elevation areas above
And below sea-level

12. Bathymetric Chart of the Sea Floor

13. Physiographic Map of the Sea Floor

14. 3-D Computer Generated Image of the East Pacific Rise

15. The Big Bang Event that occurred approximately 13.7 BILLION years ago
All the mass and energy concentrated at a point
The universe began expanding and continues to expand
After 1 million years matter began to cool enough to form atoms- Hydrogen- the building block of stars

17. Galaxies and Stars
Galaxy- huge rotating aggregation of stars, dust, gas held together by gravity
Earth, the sun and our solar system is part of the Milky Way
Stars are massive spheres of incandescent gases (hydrogen and helium)

18. The Solar System
Our solar system is located away from the galaxy’s center
Our sun and the planets originated from a solar nebula that had been enriched with heavy elements from nearby super novae
Solar system is approximately 5 Billion years old
Composition is 75% hydrogen, 23% helium and 2% other materials

19. Formation of a
Protostar

20. Center contracts
Center continues to heat up
Protostar radiates more heat

21. Fusion begins in the stars core

22. Shockwaves radiate outward releasing material
Material coalesces into planets, moons or comets
Other material is ejected to the periphery

23. Our Solar System
4 inner planets (terrestrial)
4 outer planets (gaseous)

25. Solar nebula photographed by Hubble

26. The Earth
Core is composed of mixtures or alloys of iron (pressure is more than a million times that at the surface and temperature is estimated to be at 4000°C); has a solid inner core and a liquid outer core (earth's magnetic field may be produced by the motion of the liquid material in the iron-rich outer core)
Layer outside the earth's core is the mantle; it is solid but very hot, near the melting point of rocks, so it flows almost like a liquid, though much slower; it is 70% of the earth's volume

27. The Earth
Outermost layer is the crust; it is extremely thin (is thinner under the oceans than under the continents)
Oceanic crust is made of basalt (low in silica and high in iron and magnesium) and has a higher density compared to continental crust, which is made of granite (high content of aluminum and magnesium silicate with quartz and feldspar) and has a lower density
Thus, continents lie above sea level and oceanic crust lies below sea level because of density differences

28. Formation of the Oceans: Prevailing Theory
The major trapped volatile was water (H2O). Others included nitrogen (N2), the most abundant gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide (CO2), and hydrochloric acid (HCl), which was the source of the chloride in sea salt (mostly NaCl).
The volatiles were probably released early in the Earth's history, when it melted and segregated into the core, mantle, and crust. This segregation occurred because of differences in density, the crust being the "lightest" material.
Volcanoes have released additional volatiles throughout the Earth's history, but probably more during the early years when the Earth was hotter.
Probably, the oceans formed as soon as the Earth cooled enough for water to become liquid, about 4 billion years ago. The oldest rocks on the earth's surface today are 3.8 billion years old.

29. Outgassing
Oceans are byproducts of heating and differentiation: as earth warmed and partially melted, water locked in the minerals as hydrogen and oxygen was released and carried to the surface by volcanic venting activity

31. Origin of Atmosphere Atmosphere evolved in 4 steps:
primordial gases, later lost from sun's radiation
exhalations from the molten surface (volcanic venting); bombardment from icy comets
steady additions of carbon dioxide, water vapor, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, hydrogen chloride, ammonia, and methane from volcanic activity
addition of oxygen by plant/bacterial life

32. The Hydrologic Cycle Water occurs as a solid, liquid and gas
Amount of water is fixed
The places where water resides are called Reservoirs
Water constantly moves from one reservoir to another

34. Comparison of the amount of water supply held in each of the major reservoirs
If the total earth’s water supply was a 55 gallon drum

36. The Origin of Sea Salts
The sea became salty because of chemicals leached from the rocks of the crust, plus some volatile chemicals (hydrochloric acid and hydrogen sulfide) released from the Earth's interior and by volcanoes.
Probably, the ocean was salty as soon as it formed. More salts have accumulated gradually, as more of the rocks of the crust were broken down by water (weathered).
The composition of the sea salt has been about the same for about 1 billion years. That is because a balance exists between input of salts (mainly by rivers) and output (mainly by sediments).
The early ocean, 3.8 billion years ago, was probably similar in composition to today, except for changes caused by living things. The most important of these is the production of oxygen by plants.

37. The Origin of Life

39. Europa (Moon of Jupiter)- Icy Crust
Other Ocean Worlds

40. Drainage Systems on Mars

41. Ice
Sand