ARTICLE
SomeEarlyGerman
Contributionsto
Oceanography
ThenamesAugustusPetermann,
VictorHensen,CarlChun,FritzSpiess,
AlfredMerz,andGunterDietrichare
hardlyhouseholdnames.Eventoday
theirnamesarelittleknowninthe
geographic,oceanographic,and
hydrographiccommunitieswhichthey
servedsowell.Theywereallpartofa
thrivingGermangeographicand
oceanographiccommunitywhich
mademanyadvancesinthethree
generationsbetweenthelate19th
centuryandtheadventoftheSecond
WorldWar.Theirworkislittleknown
excepttoafewsciencehistoriansand
interestedoceanographers,primarily
asaresultoftheWorldWars.
Collectively,theirshipshadsuch
namesasGermania,Gazelle,National,
Valdivia,andMeteor.Theywentfrom
theArctictotheAntarcticand
circumnavigatedtheEarth.The
Germanimpetustoexplorationwas
initiallyfueledbythegreatgeographer
AugustusPetermann,whowasalso
thepublisherofPetermanns
GeographischeMitteilungen.This
journalwasthepremiergeographic
journalofthe19thcenturyand
providedup-to-dateinformation
concerningrecentexplorationsand
scientificexpeditions.Italsoconsistentlyproducedmanybeautifulandoriginal
cartographicproducts.In1866,Petermannwroteapamphletentitled
ProclamationtotheGermanNationstronglyurgingGermanparticipationinthe
questfortheNorthPole.Petermannwasalsoinstrumentalinbothreportingon
andpromotingoceanexplorationasheproducedmanybeautifulmapsincluding
thefirstbathymetricmapofthePacificOcean,thefirstpublishedmapofthe
Congosubmarinecanyon,andmanyothernotablebathymetricandhydrographic
firsts.
InresponsetoPetermann'surging,Germanymountedtwoexpeditions:thefirst
in1868whichexploredtheregionofnortheastGreenlandandthesecondin
1869.In1869,theGermaniasailedwiththeHansa,asupplyship,andheadednorthintotheArcticOcean.Theyreached
approximately75.5northlatitudebeforebeingforcedbackbythepackice.Thisexpeditionnearlyendedindisasterasthe
HansabecameseparatedfromtheGermaniaandwasultimatelycrushedintheice.ThecrewoftheHansaconstructeda
shelterfromcoaldustbriquettesandsurvivedthewinterdriftingontheice.Ultimately,theymadetheirwaytoGreenlandand
wererescuedbyaDanishship.EarlyArcticsurfacewatertemperaturemaps,icelimitmaps,andotherscientificinformation
resultedfromthesecruises.
AlthoughtheArcticexpeditionsexperiencedmodestsuccess,theexamplesetbytheseexpeditionsledtoadditionalnotable
accomplishments.TheGazelleExpedition,contemporaneouswiththeChallengerExpedition,circumnavigatedtheEarth
between1874and1876.EffortsweremadeduringthiscruisetocoordinateeffortswiththeChallengersuchthatmaximum
coverageoftheoceanswaseffected.However,thisexpeditionalsohadnationalisticovertonesastheworkoftheGazelle
broughtittotheshoresofNewGuineaandwhatisnowknownastheBismarckArchipelago.Eightyearsaftertheexpedition,
GermanyannexedthisareaanditbecameaGermanprotectorate.TheGazellewascommemoratedbyitscaptain,Freiherr
vonSchleinitz,bythenamingoftheGazellePeninsulaonNewBritainIsland.Incidentally,vonSchleinitzbecamethefirst
governoroftheGermanNewGuineacolonyin1886.However,theGazellealsodidmuchgoodoceanographicworkdredging
forthecreaturesofthedeepsea,makingnumerousserialtemperatureobservationsthroughouttheworld'soceans,and
obtaininganumberofabyssaldepthstoaddtothehard-wongrowingstoreofoceanicdata.Italsomadenumerous
ethnographic,botanic,andgeologicobservationsduringthecourseoftheexpedition.
FollowingtheGazelleExpedition,thenextmajorGermanexpeditionwasledbyVictorHensenontheshipNationalin1889.
Thisexpeditionisalsoknownasthe'PlanktonExpedition'.IthadbeenadreamofHensen'ssinceatleast1867todetermine
theprimaryproductivityofthesea.Henseniscreditedwithbeingafounderofbiologicaloceanographyashedeveloped
meanstodeterminetheaggregateamountofthemicroscopiclifeandbiologicaldetritusoftheoceanswhichisthebasisof
boththeoceanicfoodchainandthesourceofasignificantamountofoxygenintheatmosphere.Theoldtermforthis
materialwas'auftrieb'whichmeantfloatingmatter.Henseninturncoinedtheterm'plankton',meaningdrifter,todescribethis
materialanddefineditasfollows:‘...planktoniscomprisedofallparticlesandmaterials,whichfloatinthewatercolumn,no
matterwhethertheyoccurintheupperordeeperlayersofthewatercolumn,orwhethertheyarealiveordead.'Todaywe
tendtothinkofHensen'splanktononlyintermsofthelivingdriftersofthesea.
AnotherdecadewouldpassbeforeGermanylaunchedtheValdiviaExpedition(1898-1899)totheSouthernOceanandthen
ontoSumatrabeforereturninghomeviatheSuezCanal.ThisexpeditionontheshipValdiviawasledbyCarlChunwho
producedaremarkablypopularaccountoftheexpedition;AusdenTiefendesWeltmeeres:Schilderungenvonder
DeutschenTiefsee-expedition.(Thisbookisavailableonlineat).EvenifonecannotreadGerman,thebookisprofusely
illustratedandcoversallaspectsoftheexpeditionwhich,insomerespects,wasacontinuationoftheplanktonstudiesof
Hensen.Chun'spersonalityalsoshowsthroughinthisbookastherearenumerouscaricaturesoftheship'scomplement
interspersedwithmanyexamplesofbeautifulartworkandphotographyencompassingshipboardoperations,weather
conditions,andthefaunaandfloraencountered.Chun,showingwhatcouldonlybeconsideredasenseofhumor,
discoveredandnamedthe'vampiresquidfromhell',Vampyroteuthisinfernalis.
Moreseriously,Chunstudiedthedifferenttypesofplanktonandhowtheyfitintovariousecologicalniches.Healso
discoveredmarinelifeatmid-waterdepthswhichputhimatoddswiththeAmericanoceanographerAlexanderAgassiz.
Agassizbelievedthattheupperlevelsoftheoceanto200fathomsdepthandthenear-bottomhadprolificlife,buthebelieved
thatthemid-levelsweretheequivalentofabiologicaldesertwithlittleornolife.UltimatelyChunwasprovenright.InAgassiz's
defencethough,hewasunluckyandsubsequentinvestigatorsfoundlittleinthesameareasthathesampled.Thephysical
oceanographeroftheexpeditionwasGerhardSchottwhowentontopublishnumerousbooksonoceanographyoverthe
nextfortyyears.
ThelastmajorexpeditionsofGermanoceanographerspriortotheSecondWorldWarwerethoseoftheMeteor.Thefirst
MeteorExpedition(1925-1927)wasliterallylaunchedtodetermineifgoldcouldbeeconomicallyextractedfromseawater.To
dothis,thechiefscientist,AlfredMerz,designedaseriesofpredominantlyeast-westlinesalongwhichwatersamples,
soundings,bottomsamples,andevengravitycoreswouldbeobtained.UnfortunatelyMerzdiedearlyintheexpeditionand
thescientificdirectionoftheexpeditionwastakenoverbytheMeteor'scaptain,FritzSpiess.Asitturnedout,extractionof
goldfromseawaterwasnoteconomical;but,fromthestandpointofhydrographersandbathymetrists,theMeteor
Expeditionwasafigurativegoldmine.Approximately67,000acousticsoundingsweremadeduringthecourseofthis
expedition.ThesesoundingsrevealedtheruggednessoftheMid-AtlanticRidge,discoveredthenatureoftheabyssalhills
marchingofffromtheaxisoftheRidge,andhintedattheexistenceofamedianvalley.By1938,subsequentexpeditionsby
theMeteorledGunterDietrichtounequivocallyidentifythemedianvalleyoftheMid-AtlanticRidgeaswellassurmisethatthe
adjacentabyssalhillswereroughlyparalleltotheridgeaxisandeachother.
WorldWarIIwasapproachingandoceanographyingeneralturnedtowardsdefence-relatedresearch.Manygreattoalmost
greatGermanscientistshadgreatlyadvancedthescienceofoceanographyinthepastsevendecades.Muchofthiswork
wasforgottenorpreemptedbyothersintheaftermathofthewar.Perhapsthisshortessaywillhelpkindlefurtherinterestin
theirresearchandaccomplishments.
https://www.hydro-international.com/content/article/some-early-german-contributions-to-oceanography