Starter 9-18-13

1. Starter 9-18-13 Reflection: In your opinion, what do you think was the most significant historical contribution to aquatic science? Discuss your reasoning.

2. Aquatic Science Historical Events • Over time, in aquatic science, different explorers and expeditions have led to land and animal discoveries that have changed science • SOOOO….starting from oldest expedition to most recent…

3. Captain James Cook and the Endeavor • Expedition occurred in 1768-1771 • The principal objective of this first voyage was to observe the transit of Venus, that is, the passage of the planet across the face of the sun as viewed from the earth. Knowledge of the precise times taken for the transit as observed from different points on the earth's surface would enable astronomers to calculate, amongst other things, the distance between the earth and the sun.

4. Captain James Cook and the Endeavor • So purpose: South Pacific exploring and gather astronomical data • Impact: First to accurately measure latitude and longitude (among other things)

5. Charles Darwin and the Beagle • Occurred 1831-1836 • Darwin was invited by Capt. Robert Fitz-Roy (1805-65) to be unpaid naturalist aboard the H. M. S. Beagle, about to begin a five year circumnavigation of the globe. Darwin's main research was done during visits to South America and to the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador.

6. Charles Darwin and the Beagle • Purpose: Explore the globe • Impact: Theory of evolution, origin of atolls hypothesis; interest in the ocean

7. Huxley and Forbes • From 1845-1850 • Huxley was made assistant surgeon to HMS Rattlesnake and embarked on a journey to discover and survey New Guinea and Australia • Huxley devoted his time to studying marine invertebrates on the ship; • Purpose: Study biology of oceans

8. Huxley and Forbes • Impact: First geological/biological oceanographers; created a considerable interest in the study of oceans from future explorers

9. Matthew Fontaine Maury and the US Navy • Occurred in 1855 • Upon being hired by the US Navy, Maury tagged along to explore the ocean • As a career Naval officer, Matthew Fontaine Maury developed a uniform methodology for recording ocean winds and currents. His analysis of these patterns allowed shippers to take advantage of air and water flow, decreasing trans-Atlantic travel time by days or even weeks. In his 1855 treatise The Physical Geography of the Seas and Its Meteorology, he wrote, "Our planet is invested with two great oceans; one visible, the other invisible; one underfoot, the other overhead; one entirely envelopes it, the other covers about two thirds of its surface".

10. Matthew Fontaine Maury and the US Navy • His standardized system for logging winds and currents was adopted by navies and merchant marine fleets worldwide, and he also charted the migratory patterns of whales, leading to a much more efficient whale harvest. • Impact: Established relationship between currents and oceanic weather; created FIRST bathymetric map

11. Sir Thomson and the Challenger • This went on from 1872-1876 • Thomson’s interest in this question led him to embark upon a series of crucial deep-sea dredging voyages that culminated in the classic Challenger expedition of 1872–1876.

12. Sir Thomson and the Challenger • Once at sea the staff of the Challenger began the arduous tasks of sounding, dredging, and taking serial temperatures and water samples. Their dredging confirmed that marine life exists at depths approaching three thousand fathoms. They also discovered nodules of almost pure manganese peroxide on the seafloor. As they dredged and sounded in deeper water, they discovered that a clay bottom is characteristic of great depths. The material of the ocean floor is the residue of a chemical process that removes the carbonate of lime from the calcareous skeletons of foraminifers, mollusks, and other species.

13. Sir Thomson and the Challenger • Impact: advanced the systematic study of the oceans; significant contributions to oceanography; created much interest in the field

14. Fridtjof Nansen and Fram • From 1893-1896 • Nansen first began to consider the possibility of reaching the North Pole by using the natural drift of the polar ice • Previous expeditions, he argued, had approached the North Pole from the west, and had failed because they were working against the prevailing east-west current. The secret of success was to work with this current

15. Fridtjof Nansen • Purpose: To explore the North Polar area • Impact: Showed the North Pole was not a continent but rather an ocean covered with moving ice

16. The Meteor (German) • From 1925-1927 • Purpose was to explore the South Atlantic- collect data day and night including weather conditions and seasons • The most important innovation was the use of an  echo sounder. An echo sounder is a device that bounces sound waves off of the ocean floor to study the depth and contours of the seafloor. With this device, they were able to map the seafloor which was the main purpose of this expedition

17. The Meteor (German) • One of the most important discoveries made was that the ocean floor is not smooth. They found that it had many depths and that there were bumps, ridges, and trenches in the ocean. The significance of these discoveries changed our minds about the ocean floor being flat and it lead to more discoveries such as ridges, trenches, and mountains.

18. Submarine Warfare • Occurred during World War II from 1939-1945 • Battle of the Atlantic • In World War II, submarine warfare was split into two main areas - the Atlantic and the Pacific. Although the war still waged in Africa, the Mediterranean Sea was also a very active area for submarine operations. This was particularly true for the British and French as well as the Germans.

19. Submarine Warfare • Purpose: Enhance knowledge of the sea while protecting country’s military • Impact: Showed all parts of the ocean could be explored (regardless of depths) – Artic Ocean and deep-sea trench

20. Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Glomar Challenger • During 1960s and 1970s • The Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) was the first of three international scientific ocean drilling programs that have operated over more than 40 years. • June 24, 1966, that the Prime Contract between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and The Regents, University of California was signed. This contract began Phase I of the DSDP

21. Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Glomar Challenger • Over the next 30 months, Phase II consisted of drilling and coring in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans as well as the Mediterranean and Red seas. Phase II ended on August 11, 1972. • Result: Information gained was extremely valuable; gave composition of ocean floor and discovery of salt domes

22. SEASAT • Occurred in 1978 and lasted 3 months • SEASAT was the first Earth-orbiting satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth's oceans and had onboard the first spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR). SEASAT was launched on June 28, 1978 into a nearly circular 800 km orbit with an inclination of 108 degrees. Fourteen Earth orbits were completed each day

23. SEASAT • Purpose: Use of the first satellite for oceanography purposes • Impact: Collected data in a few hours that would take surface vessels years

24. Robert Ballard and Le Suroit • Occurred in 1985 • In the summer of 1985, Robert Ballard was aboard the French research ship Le Suroît which was using the revolutionary new side scan sonar to search for Titanic's wreck. • Spent 10 days in the area where the Titanic supposedly sank, however the ship was needed elsewhere and Ballard had to end his expedition

25. Robert Ballard continued • Purpose: Try and discovery the Titanic wreck • Impact: Use of the ROV(new type of scanning sonar) and was able to scope different depths of the ocean near the supposed Titanic wreckage

26. World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) • From 1990-2002 • Aimed to establish the role of the world ocean in the Earth’s climate system. WOCE’s field phase was from 1990-1998 and was followed by an analysis and modeling phase that ran until 2002

27. World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) • Purpose: Study role of the oceans in the earth’s climate and to obtain a baseline dataset against which future change would be assessed • Impact: Understanding the ocean and its role in climate