Intro to Marine
Science
1. Geological Oceanography – Sediments,
formation, rocks and minerals.
2. Physical Oceanography – Waves, tides, and
currents.
3. Chemical Oceanography – Salinity, dissolved
gasses, and nutrients.
4. Biological Oceanography – life and
interactions. We spend 2/3 of our time on this
section.
BUT BEFORE WE HAD THE KNOWLEDGE WE HAVE
TODAY……
We had to start somewhere
Why did ancient
explorers
navigate the
oceans?
"There's probably more history now preserved
underwater than in all the museums of the world
combined. And there's no law governing that history.
It's finders keepers."
— Robert Ballard, Ocean Researcher
HOW DID THEY KNOW WHERE THE
HECK THEY WERE GOING?
5000 BC – 800 AD
-The first civilizations to interact with the oceans were unknown,
but tools used for fishing have been dated back to as early as
5000 BC.
-The Egyptians were the first to make a recorded sea voyage in
3200 BC. They were also the first to begin voyages dedicated to
exploration.
In fact, one of the Great Pyramids contains the ruins of an
entire ship!
5000 BC – 800 AD (CONT’D)
-Ancient Phoenicians (near modern-day Libya) were the
creators of the oldest recorded ship wreck, 1200 BC. Their
motivation was believed to be trade.
-Around 1000 BC, Polynesians (South Pacific Islanders) were
traveling thousands of miles across the Pacific in canoes carved
from trees to trade. They developed double hulled boats also.
-Early methods used for navigation:
Astronomy
Visual Landmarks
Birds
Currents
Smell
Other Animals
5000 BC – 800 AD (CONT’D)
-The Greeks were the first to involve Mathematics to help create
maps for navigation.
-Pytheas discovered the ability to track tides using moon phases,
and how to navigate using the North Star as a guide.
-Herodotus created the one of the first world maps in 450 BC.
-Eratosthenes was the first to calculate Earth’s circumference
and also to create a grid system of long/lat.
-Hipparchus improved on the long/lat system. It uses degrees of
set distance to navigate. 127 BC.
-Strabo was the first to publish a world map in a written text. His
work showed the progression of maps over tens of years.
PTOLEMY
-First to create a map that represented the Earth as a sphere on
a flat piece of paper.
-Improved on Hipparchus’ long/lat system, adding more precise
lines between the basic lines of degrees.
LATITUDE/LONGITUDE
prime meridian
equator
0º Latitude = equator (flatitude)
0º Longitude = prime meridian
THE MIDDLE AGES – 800 AD TO 1400 AD
- Sometimes also referred to as the Dark Ages because so little
was achieved in the fields of geography and science. A
- A focus on religion took center stage during the Middle Ages.
- Viking voyages were the only significant ones during this time.
Their major contributions came with advancements in ship
anatomy and structure.
- Chinese explorers developed the first compass near 1000 AD,
as it was referenced in several pieces of literature.
- They also kept maps of extensive trade routes along the East
Asian Coastlines.
1400-1700: EXPLORATION BOOM
AKA the Renaissance period in Europe.
Economics, politics, and religion were the motivating factors
behind the rebirth of ocean exploration.
Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal was the first to attempt to
find a route to the east around the southern tip of Africa. He did
not succeed, but brought back valuable information.
Vasco da Gama finally accomplished
the feat nearly 20 years after Henry.
He led the first voyage around Africa
to India.
THE NEW WORLD
Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered the America’s.
He was actually looking for another route to Asia and
accidentally landed in the Caribbean. (1492)
Amerigo Vespucci was the first to actually announce the
America’s as a new continent. (1507)
Vasco Nunez de Balboa led an expedition to sail through the
Isthmus of Panama, leading to the Pacific Ocean. (Early 1500s)
Ferdinand Magellan became the first man to sail around the
world. 242 of his 260 men died during the trip, including
Magellan himself during a fight with islanders in the Philippines.
Francis Drake was an English explorer who was paid to raid
Spanish ships in the Americas and bring back their fortunes.
THE TRUE BIRTH OF MARINE SCIENCE (1700-1900)
With the expansion of England, Spain and France globally, they
began to compete for knowledge of the Oceans that would
give them a political advantage.
James Cook
Led the first ever expeditions solely motivated by science and
exploration.
His explorations led to the invention of the chronometer, a clock
that was not affected by the movement of the sea.
He spent the end of his life searching for a mythical southern
continent, but never succeeded.
US EXPEDITIONS
Charles Wilkes was the commander of the US Exploring Expedition
in 1836. His objective was to explore the Southern Oceans important
to trade and whaling.
His expedition proved the existence and location of Antarctica, an
documented 17 books worth of maps, pictures, and descriptions.
Matthew Maury known as the father of physical oceanography. He
was the first to hypothesize and map global currents and winds.
Charles Darwin was the naturalist aboard the H.M.S.
Beagle. This is where he began his work on evolution.
CHALLENGER EXPEDITION
Possibly the greatest Marine Science expedition of all time. The journey
of the Challenger took 4 years to complete. Accomplishments
include:
-The deepest sonar readings to map the ocean floor.
-Used a towing device to capture creatures deeper than ever before.
-Sampled and illustrated microscopic organisms of the ocean.
-Cataloged 4,717 new species.
It took 23 years for the findings to be published in a volume of books
that was 29,500 pages long.
TWENTIETH CENTURY-PRESENT DAY
Advancements in engines and metal ship hulls allowed explorers to be
more efficient travelers.
More elaborate research equipment allowed scientists to study
chemical, physical, biological, and geographic science all at once.
Eventually, submersibles and SCUBA gear allowed explorers to venture
underwater to view the deep ocean with their own eyes.
Bathysphere- steel ball with
window and “umbilical cord”
bringing oxygen.
Bathyscaphe – similar to a
bathysphere, but attached to a free
moving buoy instead of a boat.
Deep-diving
submersibles –
cannot go as deep
as bathyscaphes,
but are more
maneuverable.
SCUBA – SELF-CONTAINED
UNDERWATER BREATHING APPARATUS
Although the first underwater breathing apparatus was created as
early as 375 AD, Jacques Cousteau created the first practical SCUBA
in 1943, similar to what is used today.
"The future is in the hands of those
who explore... and from all the
beauty they discover while crossing
perpetually receding frontiers, they
develop for nature and for
humankind an infinite love."
FINALLY, THE ROBOTS…
ROV’s- Remote-operated Vehicles
– unmanned vehicles that can go
to extreme depths.
AUV’s- Autonomous Underwater
Vehicles – don’t require a
constant operator. Can be set to
complete a goal and complete it
on their own.