Oceans—Marine Biome

• Oceans cover 70% of Earth

• Largest carbon sink

• Five Oceans

Oceans of the World

The five oceans are the • Pacific Ocean, • Atlantic Ocean• Indian Ocean• Arctic Ocean• Southern Ocean

Indian Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific

Arctic Ocean

Southern Ocean

• In 2000 the International Hydrographic Organization created the fifth and newest world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The new Southern Ocean completely surrounds Antarctica.

• The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five.

Currents flow like rivers

Hypsographic Curve--distribution of elevations on the surface of the Earth

Continental Shelf

Most plant andanimal life live on or near the Continental Shelf

• Where an animal lives in the ocean depends on the depth, salinity and temperature of the ocean.

SONAR

• Sound Navigation and Ranging provided a rapid method of looking through water to identify features in the water beneath a vessel and on the sea floor.

• Lewis Nixon invented the very first Sonar type listening device in 1906, as a way of detecting icebergs. Interest in Sonar was increased during World War I when there was a need to be able to detect submarines.

• In 1915, Paul Langévin invented the first sonar type device for detecting submarines called an "echo location to detect submarines" using the piezoelectric properties of the quartz.

Active and Passive

• Active sonar creates a pulse of sound, often called a "ping", and then listens for reflections of the pulse. To measure the distance to an object, one measures the time from emission of a pulse to reception.

• Passive sonar listens without transmitting

Mapping the Sea Floor

Remote Sensing

Deep Sea Exploration

Deep Ocean--in late 70’s dicovery of Hydrothermal Vents

Threats to Oceans

Sedimentation

Ocean Acidity

• Almost a third of atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean.

• This was, at one time, seen as positive due to the diminishing effect it has on global warming; however, high levels of carbon dioxide in the ocean lower the pH or increase the acidity, which is harmful to coral.

Coral Bleaching

• Occurs when the coral is stressed and expels the zooxanthellae.

• Without them, the coral loses its color and becomes white. Sometimes the coral will ingest new zooxanthellae, but if it does not, the coral will die.

Overfishing

Illegal Whale Hunting

• The increased harvest led to the creation of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1946, which regulated which species could be hunted and under what conditions.

• In 1986, commercial whaling was banned altogether by the IWC.

Sea Level Rise

Beached Wildlife

• Sonar and drilling confuses the animals• Submarine noises• Viruses

Pollution

Sewage Runoff

Pollution Runoff

• Urban runoff--rain falls in our urban and suburban areas, or when we over-water our lawns and wash our cars, driveways and sidewalks

• Argricultural and Landscape Runoff--The excess water that can't be used by plants or can't filter into the soil runs off into ditches, canals, streets and storm drains. This excess irrigation water can carry huge quantities of pesticides, herbicides, or nutrients that are harmful in surface water.

Erosion and Turbidity

Ocean Dumping

Regulatory Controls

• The 1890 River and Harbors Act prohibited any obstruction to the navigation of U.S. Waters, and hence regulated the discharge of dredged material into inland and coastal waters.

• By weight, dredged material comprises 95 percent of all ocean disposal on a global basis.

1972

U.S. Congress passed the • Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries

Act (Ocean Dumping Act) • Federal Water Pollution Control Act

Amendments (Clean Water Act) Prohibiting the disposal of waste materials into the ocean, and regulated the discharge of wastes through pipelines into the ocean.

Double Hull Tanker Act

As a result of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989

• Oil Pollution Act in 1990 (OPA 90). The United States unilaterally imposed double hull requirements on both new and existing oil tankers, set according to vessel age limits (between 23 and 30 years, as from 2005) and according to deadlines (2010 and 2015) for the phasing out of single-hull oil tankers.

Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 3619• mandates that two powerful tugboats must continue escorting oil

tankers -- even those with double hulls -- hauling crude oil through Alaska's Prince William Sound.

• Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988 significantly amended portions of the 1972 Ocean Dumping Act, and banned ocean dumping of municipal sewage sludge and industrial wastes (with limited exceptions) by phased target dates.

• The disposal of sewage sludge in waters off New York City was a major motivation for its enactment. Ocean disposal of sewage sludge and industrial waste was totally banned after 1991.

• In 2000, the U.S. Congress enacted the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act) to reduce the risk of disease to users of the nation's coastal and Great Lakes waters.

• Funds are being made available for states and tribes to establish monitoring programs for disease-causing microbes, and to notify the public when monitoring indicates and public health hazard