The Growth of Oceanography - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Growth of OceanographySlide2

Why study oceanography

?

Scientific Curiosity

–

How do oceans operate and interact with entire earth system?

Need for Marine Resources

–

We need both food and mineral resources from oceans to survive.

Impact on Human activities

–

Must maintain a balance between nature and human activities to protect the coastal zones, prevent over polluting, ensure safe transportation/recreation on the world’s oceans and better prepare for natural hazards.Slide3

There are

three

major stages in the history of ocean research:

1. Ocean exploration was the period when people explored the ocean boundaries.

Historical Review of OceanographySlide4

Notable explorers include:

Phoenicians - explored the eastern Atlantic Ocean reaching England and sailing around Africa

.

The Greek

Pytheas

circumnavigated

England and reached Iceland

The Polynesians- sailed and explored the western Pacific Ocean in log rafts.

Slide5

Notable explorers include:

Herodotus- prepared a world map in 450 BC illustrating three continents surrounded by a vast ocean.

Slide6

Notable explorers include:

The Vikings- dominated marine exploration during the Middle Ages reaching North America.Slide7

Notable explorers include:

Bartholomew Diaz- reached the southern tip of Africa in an attempt to reach India in 1480s.

Vasco de Gama- reached India in 1498 by sailing around Africa.Slide8

Notable explorers include:

An expedition led by

Ferdinand Magellan

, and continued after his death by

Juan Sebastian

Elcano

, circumnavigated the globe from 1519 to 1522.Slide9

2. Early scientific investigations began when people began to describe the ocean.Slide10

Notable explorers include:

James Cook

In his ships the Endeavour, Resolution, & Discovery, made three voyages in the late 1700’s; these voyages:

-Visited Tahiti

-

Charted New Zealand

-Mapped the Great Barrier Reef

-Circumnavigated the Globe at high

southerly latitudes (71

o

S)

-“Discovered”

HawaiiSlide11

Notable explorers include:

John Harrison

:

in 1728 invented the

chronometer

, a clock that was spring driven, thus could work at sea and be used to

determine

longitudeSlide12

Notable explorers include:

Matthew

Fountaine

Maury-

published

The Physical Geography of the Sea

in 1855 and became known as the father of physical oceanography. He was also born in Virginia!Slide13

The Voyage of the HMS

Beagle

Charles Darwin was a naturalist aboard a 4 1/2 year voyage that began in 1831 and later led to Darwin’s book “Origin of Species”Slide14

3.

Modern oceanography

Began in the twentieth century with

interdisciplinary oceanic research and

use of complex scientific instruments.Slide15

HMS Challenger

HMS Challenger 1872,

first purely scientific sailing expedition

;

4 year voyage discovered 4,717 new species

Took global ocean salinity, temperature, and water density measurements

The “Challenger Report”, a 50 volume set documenting the findings of the Challenger expedition provided the foundation for modern oceanographic studySlide16

Early Scientific Exploration

In the 1920s the German vessel

SMS

Meteor

studied the salinity, temperature, oxygen content, and sea floor topography of the South Atlantic.Slide17

Current Research

Major institutions were established. In the U.S. these include:

Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute,

and

Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory.

NOAA

(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

founded in 1970, government branch that conducts oceanography research and weather monitoring.