The Growth of Oceanography

The Growth of Oceanography

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.

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 Oceanography

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.

Notable explorers include:• Herodotus- prepared a world map in

450 BC illustrating three continents surrounded by a vast ocean.

Notable explorers include:

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

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.

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.

2. Early scientific investigations began

when people began to describe the ocean.

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 (71oS)-“Discovered” Hawaii

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 longitude

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!

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”

3. Modern oceanographyBegan in the twentieth century with

interdisciplinary oceanic research anduse of complex scientific instruments.

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 study

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.

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.