Intro to Intro to OceanographyOceanography

How does it differ from Marine Biology?

Study of the ocean, its surroundings, and life within it.

Marine bio studies marine organisms’ anatomy, physiology, behavior; more individualistic.

1.Pacific2.Atlantic3.Indian4.Arctic5.Southern or

Antarctic Ocean

The five principal oceans

Indian

Southern or Antarctic

Artic

Pacific

Atlantic

Ocean Area (square miles) Average Depth (ft) Deepest depth (ft)

Pacific Ocean 64,186,000 15,215 Mariana Trench, 36,200 ft deep

Atlantic Ocean 33,420,000 12,881 Puerto Rico Trench, 28,231 ft deep

Indian Ocean 28,350,000 13,002 Java Trench, 25,344 ft deep

Southern Ocean

7,848,300 sq. miles (20.327 million sq km )

13,100 - 16,400 ft deep (4,000 to 5,000 meters)

the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench, 23,736 ft (7,235 m) deep

Arctic Ocean 5,106,000 3,953 Eurasia Basin, 17,881 ft deep

Comparison of Oceans Size

The Seven Seas?

Physical Oceanography

How and why ocean currents flow, air-sea interactions such as the generation of waves by wind.

                                                                       

Chemical Oceanography

Composition of sea water and the processing controlling and altering its

composition, including marine pollution

Organisms that live in the ocean and their relationship to the environment

                                                      

Biological Oceanography

Study of rock structure in the ocean basin, properties of rocks such as

magnetism, occurrence of earthquakes.

Geological Oceanography

Design and installation of oceanographic instrumentation and vehicles

Ocean Engineering

NOAA Weather Buoy/ Tsunami

Global/Local Monitoring

Chlorophyll

Disciplinary ConnectionsBIOLOGY

BIOCHEMISTRY

OCEANOGRAPHYPHYSICS

GEOLOGY

CHEMISTRY

GEOPHYSICS

BIOPHYSICS

GEOCHEMISTRY

Average depth of ocean- 4000m

Average temperature- 39oF (3.9oC)

Age of ocean- 4 billion years old

Covers 71% of the Earth’s surface

Amazon River

Average salinity- 35 o/oo

Dead Sea

Jordan

Israel

Dead Sea

Deepest spot- Marianas Trench (10,912m)

1960- Walsh & Piccard

Marianas Trench10,912 m

Mt Everest 8,863 m

Millions of Years Before Present

Age of the ocean basin: 200 my old

It formally began in the 1800’s.Previously, it was thought that the deep ocean had no life below 550 m(Edward Forbes- Azoic Theory).

Prior to then:

1500 B.C., Phoenicians were skilled sailors and traded goods

Migration Routes of Polynesia

Voyage of Columbus (1492) and Magellan (1519)

Cook (1700’s)- sailed twice around the world

1st European to visit Hawaii

Cook

Humboldt (1800’s)- German naturalist, contributions in geophysics, meteorology, and oceanography

Voyage of the HMS Beagle

Darwin (1831):

•Subsidence theory of coral reef formation (atolls) & origin of species

Ben Franklin (1770’s)- mapped the Gulf Stream

                                         

1996

1786

• collected thousands of biological and sea bottom samples

• traveled in every ocean except arctic• cruise directed by Charles Wyville Thompson• 362 stations, 715 new genera, 5000 new

species• discovered Mariana

Trench and Mindarniad (34,000 ft deep)

Voyage of the HMS Challenger (1872-1876)

Voyage of the HMS Challenger (1872-1876)

HMS Challenger's Chemical Laboratory

Deep sea Collections

Late 19th century – early 20th century:

•Founding a number of important marine laboratories, including coastal labs and open ocean labs.

                         

Founded 1903

Founded 1930

                                                  1888

Meteor Expedition (1925)- introduced modern optical and electronic equipment (echo sounder)

Recent:

Glomar Challenger (1968)- drilling for deep sea sediments

Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964)

                      

    

Marine biologist at U.S. Bureau of Fisheries & Fish & Wildlife Service

Jacque Cousteau (1910-1997) Navy officer, explorer, film maker, inventor of scuba (1947)

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to the earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.”

Bob Ballard (1942-)Navy officer, explorer, film maker

Waves

Ocean waves can form from something as simple as wind or as violent as an earthquakeThey can travel through water slowly or incredibly quickly

Anatomy of a Wave

Waves are made of two main parts

Crests: highest point of the waveTroughs: lowest point of the wave

Anatomy of a Wave

The distance between two adjacent wave crests or wave troughs is a wavelengthThe vertical distance between a crest and trough is the wave height

Wave Speeds

Scientists need to know the wavelength and wave period to calculate wave speedWave period is the time between the passage of two crests/troughs

Wave Speed Equation

Wavelength (m) = speed Wave period (s)

Types of Waves

Shore currents create an undertow which brings water back into the oceanLongshore currents cause waves to hit the shore at an angle

Types of Waves

Tsunamis are large waves that are formed from violent activity on the ocean floor (earthquakes, landslides)

Tides

• The rise and fall in sea level is called tide.

• A tide is caused by a giant wave produced by the gravitational pull of the Sun, Earth and Moon.

• The tidal range is the difference between the level of the ocean at high tide and low tide.

Spring Tides

When the Moon, Earth, and the Sun are lined up together, they cause spring tides.During spring tides, high tides are higher and low tides are lower than normal.

Neap Tides

Neap Tides are when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon form a right angle, High tides are lower and low tides are higher than normal.

Currents

A current is a large stream of water that flows through the ocean

Two types of currents

Surface Currents Deep Currents

Surface CurrentsDue to the Coriolis effect, currents in the Northern Hemisphere curve to the right and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

The largest and most powerful surface current in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf Stream, is caused by strong winds that blow regularly from the west. It carries more than 100 times the water of the mighty Mississippi river. It carries warm water from the Gulf of Mexico northward along the east coast of the U.S. As a result of the Coriolis effect, it curves north east across the Atlantic

A surface current warms or cools the air above it, influencing the climate of the land near the coast.

Because of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, a country as far north as England can have fairly mild weather.

The average winter temperature in Newfoundland, Canada is 15°F. In England the average winter temperature is 42°F. That’s a difference of 27°, all due to the Gulf Stream.

Deep Currents

Deep currents are caused by differences in the density of ocean water.

Ocean water density depends on its temperature and its salinity.

Cold water is more dense than warm water.

Saltier water is more dense than less saltier water.

As warm surface currents near the poles the water cools and its salinity increases due to ocean water freezing and leaving the water near the poles more salty.

The cold, saltier water sinks and starts moving back towards the equator along the bottom of the ocean.

When the water reaches the equator, it warms and rises again.

Deep currents flow slowly. They may take as long as 1,000 years to flow from pole to equator and back again.

Deep Currents

Questions???????