1. Geology 155
Oceanography
This is the perspective of the Earth from outer space. It is dominated by oceans. It is known as the blue planet. The oceans are expansive covering approximately 71% of Earth’s surface. Where did the water come from? Proto-Earth – bombardment of comets (ice crystals), volcanoes (gases). Importance! – Life first evolved in the oceans. We are the product of evolution. Microscopic organisms produced gases (oxygen). An important resource – food, fish, shellfish. This shows cloud motion – the atmosphere and oceans influence one another.

2. What is Oceanography?
The science that deals with studying the oceans pertaining to the sea’s geological, physical, chemical, and marine aspects.

3. Oceanography Subdisciplines
Geological
Physical
Chemical
Geological – the study of Earth’s structure. Underwater we have the same features as land – mountain ranges, volcanoes, fractures. If we remove all the water from Earth, this is what we would see – Atlantic basin, ocean ridge, fractures, seamounts, etc. Physical – Movement of water – circulation, waves, tides. This is a satellite view of ocean currents. The arrows depict direction of current. (red) warm (blue) cool. Chemical – Chemistry of the ocean. Why is the ocean salty? Where do the salts come from. Where do gases come from? How are they recycled? Biological – We usually think about the larger organisms – Whales, dolphins, fish. We also need to think of plants (corals) and microscopic organisms. We swallow these diatoms and dinoflagellates when we go swimming in the ocean. Red tides have a big impact on us. Dino blooms can kill you. They release toxins/poison. These can get into shellfish. When these organisms die, consume oxygen; hence, killing other organisms.
Biological

4. How Do the Oceans Impact Us?
Hurricane Katrina
Indonesia Tsunami
Hurricane – usually occur in the Atlantic. Pacific Ocean has cooler waters. Usually begins as a tropical depression. The low pressure takes in moist air and thermal energy from the oceans. Warm air rises by convection and increased pressure pushes it outwards. Winds circulate and increase in strength to form gales and becomes a tropical storm. Tsunami – Common in Pacific Basin. How are they generated. Usually by a large earthquake.

5. Hurricane Katrina
New Orleans – flooded when levees broke. It could not hold the vast amount of waters from both the rain and storm surge. Because of science advances, people of New Orleans had 3-4 days to evacuate. Still, we need to become better educated.

6. Hurricane Katrina
Why did New Orleans flood? Sits below sea level. The Mississippi delta traverses many states into the Gulf. Deposits sediments (mud and clay). These sediments are filled with water. When compacted, it sinks. They built these levees so New Orleans does not get flooded.

7. 2004 Indonesia Tsunami http://asiantsunamisvideos/tsunamiphuket.wmv
Hurricanes and Tsunamis are obvious reasons why oceans are so important because these are national and even global disasters that bring widespread attention.

8. Indonesia Tsunami
Over 200,000 deaths. Here in the Pacific Ocean we have a better warning system.

9. Gaining Knowledge of the Oceans
Early Voyages
Science for Voyaging
Age of Discovery
What has gotten us to where we are now? How did we gain all of this knowledge? Through early voyages.
Voyaging for Science

10. Early Voyages Early navigation done by keeping constant view of land
Not much knowledge
Thought land was flat
Mostly land and not much water
Mythology was used to explain natural phenomena
Alexander the Great
Early voyages originated in the Mediterranean – Egyptians, Cretans and Phoenicians (1200 B.C.). The early travelers traveled for trade – food, curiosity. Began to chart the oceans. It is here the oceans got its name. The Greeks noticed that at the Straits of Gibraltar there was a current from the North Atlantic. They thought it was a huge river. They called it “Oceanus”. There is an early map. As you can see, there is not much knowledge. They thought the land was flat. This map is a wonderful depiction on their viewpoint. The Alexandrians placed themselves at the center of the map. The area is covered mostly by land.
First marine science library (3rd century BC)
Eratosthenese (230 BC)
Realized Earth was spherical
Looked at different angle of sun’s rays
Celestial navigation (astronomy, mathematics)
Hipparchus (127 BC)
Invented latitude and longitude

11. Science for Voyaging Polynesian Colonization Vikings Chinese
Polynesians (30,000 years ago). There was a lot of movement for many reasons – famine, space, expelled from island for religious reasons. Their contributions – they charted the 1000’s of islands. Vikings - They were marauders an pillagers in search for wealth. They navigated the oceans. They also produced charts. Chinese – were excellent voyages. Their purpose to navigate the oceans was to show off China’s wealth. They were a powerhouse. Their main contributions were the compass, which we still use today. They developed sophisticated sails. They were able to travel faster. Rudder helped stabilize and steer the ship. They were able to sail rough waters. The Portuguese – Prince Henry sponsored expeditions into the New World to conquer new lands and to gain wealth.
Chinese

12. The Age of Discovery Prince Henry the Navigator Christopher Columbus
Ferdinand Magellan
Prince Henry – sponsored exploration to conquer new lands and gain wealth. Columbus - he did not discover America. As a matter of fact, he did not even step foot onto the North America. What he did was tell wonderful stories of his travels. He made people want to go out and see the new worlds. He brought back spices and great stories. Magellan circumnavigated the glove. He died during his travels. It took guts. Out of men who set out – only 30 or so returned. Expand knowledge, new routes.

13. Voyaging for Science James Cook Charles Darwin
Establish British presence
Charted New Zealand, Australia, Hawaiian Islands
Highly accurate charts used as late as WWII
Charles Darwin
Correctly determined how atolls and coral reefs form by volcanic activity
Now, they had maps and new how to get around. Voyaging for science began. Cook continued to chart. Darwin – he was just a passenger on the HMS Beagle. Famous for his Theory of Evolution when they had landed on the Galapagos Island. The Challenger Expedition was very important to the contributions of science.
HMS Endeavor

14. Challenger Expedition Modern Exploration
First Pure Scientific Expedition
Life was possible below 549 m (1800 ft)
Discovered 4,717 new species
Collected ocean water information
Temperature, salinity, and water density
Ocean current and sediment distribution

15. 21st Century Technology Underwater Satellite Sonar MODIS QuikSCAT TRMM
Submersibles
Satellite
MODIS
MODIS – (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) – satellite image showing cloud coverage. Here we can see the swirling shape just taking place. QuikSCAT – measures wind speed and direction. Wind speed in color and direction are small barbs. The eye wall has maximum speed, whereas, the eye is virtually calm. This shows wind speeds at approximately 50 mph – not quite hurricane status. TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) – measures rainfall over global Tropics. This shows rainfall to be about 6-10” over Florida.
QuikSCAT
TRMM

16. Ocean Facts About 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by water
Average depth of the Pacific Ocean = 4,638 m
Average depth of the Atlantic Ocean = 3,872 m
Average temperature = 3.9°C (39.0°F)
Age of oceans = 4 billion years

17. Hydrologic Cycle
Continuous cycle of how water moves through different reservoirs, or from ocean to air, onto land, to lakes and streams and groundwater back to the sky and ocean.

18. Hypsographic Curve
Shows distribution of elevations and depths on Earth
( Know how to read graph)