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97% + of the Earth’s water is in the oceans!. Ocean Statistics: Contain 97% of Earth’s surface water If Earth were a smooth sphere, the water would be 8810 feet deep everywhere Average depth of the oceans is 4 ½ times height of the land
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Ocean Statistics: • Contain 97% of Earth’s surface water • If Earth were a smooth sphere, the water would be 8810 feet deep everywhere • Average depth of the oceans is 4 ½ times height of the land • Pacific Ocean is the single biggest observable feature on the Earth • Oceans contain only 0.02% of the Earth’s total mass
The Pacific Ocean is Earth’s single most prominent feature • Note the hemispheric land vs. sea differences
The oceans play a key role in moderating the Earth’s temperatures and providing a haven for life. They also produce MOST of the oxygen you breathe…
The oceans play a key role in moderating the Earth’s temperatures and providing a haven for life. They also produce MOST of the oxygen you breathe…
Life as an Oceanographer can be exciting (and dangerous!) or routine…
The Scientific Method Scientists use a logical method to analyze things…
One “version” of the steps in the Scientific Method….. The steps are always about the same, but may be called different things! Theory of Evolution Theory of Plate Tectonics Law of Universal Gravitation
The Polynesians were talented ocean explorers, and they spread out over most of the Pacific ocean starting in the Philippines about 20,000 years ago!
The Polynesians used really high-tech navigation systems. This is a map…
…and the Greeks of 2500 years ago (500 BC) were already pretty good at building ships…
Eratosthenes (235 BC – 192 BC) deduced the Earth was round by watching how the masts of a departing ship were the last thing seen. He devised and experiment to measure the circumference of the Earth by measuring shadows at different latitudes.
Every point on the Earth can be specified by use of two numbers – Latitude and Longitude. Latitude is the North-South range, with values from 90N to 90S
Longitude tells us East-West location, with values ranging from 180W to 180E (GIS systems use –180 to +180)
Latitude and Longitude together tell us where you are! You are at about latitude 45ºN and longitude 90ºW
And back in Europe, the Vikings were becoming accomplished mariners! A Viking ship around 900AD – it was 76 feet long and 17 feet wide. It was designed for open ocean travels!
And the Chinese built an enormous fleet of enormous ships! These sailed the Pacific and Indian oceans in the early 1400s.
The Age of Discovery – Prince Henry to Magellan Prince Henry the Navigator -- in the mid 1400s –established a center in Portugal for the study of marine science and navigation
Christopher Columbus “discovered” the New World about 11,000 years after native Americans moved in…. and about 500 years after the Vikings landed in the Canadian Maritimes. He gets the “credit” because he made it a big deal – was a master politician – and people were more interested in such things in his time!
Magellan was the first person (with his ship and crew!) to “circumnavigate” or go all the way around the world. He did this from 1519 to 1522. He was also from Portugal.
Captain James Cook was an accomplished navigator, cartographer, writer, artist, diplomat, sailor, scientist, and dietician..!
Scientific Expeditions
United States Exploring Expedition set sail in 1838 under the command of Lt. Charles Wilkes. He was a combative and disagreeable leader (unlike Captain Cook!) and not very political – so his very successful journey exploring the Pacific and Antarctic coast.
Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury USN was crippled in a stagecoach accident in 1842, so did not go to sea after that. However, his interest in oceanography and ability to “assimilate” data from many sources into useful publications and charts led to his appointment as the director of the U.S. Navy Depot of Charts and Instruments.
Even Benjamin Franklin was interested in oceanography – he drew this chart of the Gulf Stream to make mail ship faster in their trips to and from Europe.
The Challenger Expedition was the first sailing expedition devoted entirely to marine science. It set sail in 1872 on a 4-year voyage of discovery. We still use data from this trip today!
