TECHNOLOGY OF
MARINE SCIENCE
Introduction

Humans interact with the ocean for three reasons:
 Food
gathering
 Discovering new lands
 Trade

In order to interact with the ocean, humans have
created tools
 Boats,

navigation techniques, fishing tools & techniques
Our tools have changed and improved over the
course of history
Ancient Explorations

Earliest sea voyage – 3200 BC
 Egyptian

Pharaoh Snefru
Ancient Phoenicians
 Established
the first trade routes
throughout the Mediterranean

Polynesians were the earliest
known explorers of the open
ocean
Ancient Explorations – the Greeks

Pytheas (314 BC)
 Predicted
tides based on the phases of
the moon
 Could determine distance North or South
of the North Star using geometry

Eratosthenes (264 – 194 BC)
 Calculated
Earth’s circumference
 Invented the first latitude & longitude
system

Mapmakers
 Hipparchus,
Herodotus, Strabo, Ptolemy
The Middle Ages



Dark Ages in Europe
Vikings
Chinese
 Magnetic
Compass 1000 AD
 Shipbuilding – rudders &
watertight compartments
European voyages

Renaissance in Europe
 Discovering
new land & trade
 Led to the “discovery” of Americas & Pacific Ocean

Ferdinand Magellan – first to circumnavigate the globe
1519 – 1522
Birth of Modern Marine Science

Captain James Cook
 Led
the first expeditions devoted to scientific
oceanography
 Invention of the chronometer – made it
possible to determine longitude accurately

United States Exploring Expedition
 Proved

existence of Antarctica
Matthew Maury
 “Father
of Physical Oceanography”
 Published the first textbook on modern
oceanography
Modern Marine Science

Darwin
 5-year
voyage on the HMS Beagle
 Studied coral reef formations
 Natural Selection

Challenger expedition
 First
expedition devoted to marine science
 studied deep ocean & cataloged marine
organisms
th
20

Century Marine Science
Industrial Revolution
 Better
ships, steam engines, better equipment, submarine
 Global conflict accelerated technological advances

Meteor Expedition 1925
 Water
circulation, nutrient dispersal, plankton growth
 Mapped the Atlantic seafloor with echo-sounding technology

Atlantis 1931
 Confirmed

the existence of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
HMS Challenger 1951
 Found
the deepest know part of the ocean – Marianas Trench
 Named “Challenger Deep”
Submersibles

Allowed scientists to directly observe
the ocean without taking samples
 Able
to take delicate samples without
causing damage

Three types:
 Bathysphere
– vertical movement only
 Bathyscaphe – vertical and limited
horizontal mobility
 Deep-diving submersibles – used for
various types of research, durable,
some have robotic arms
Self-Contained Diving - SCUBA


“Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”
Three designs:
 Augustus
 Limited
 Henry
Siebe (1840) – hard-hat diving
because of weight and equipment required
Fleuss (1878) – rebreather
 Recirculation
of pure oxygen
 Couldn’t be used deeper than 10 meters
 Jacques
 First
Cousteau (1943) - Aqualung
practical scuba
 Worked with Emile Gagnan
 System used compressed air
 Easy to operate, portable, reliable, lightweight
ROVs




“Remotely Operated Vehicles”
Small, unmanned submarine
Tethered to the surface
Capabilities of a submersible
with the dexterity of a scuba
diver
AUVs


“Autonomous Underwater
Vehicles”
Untethered, robotic devices with
self-contained power systems
 Piloted
by an on-board computer
 Take samples along a
programmed underwater path
Electronic Navigation

LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation); LORAN-C



Satellites



Used land-based radio transmitters along the coasts
Accuracy varied farther from shore
Global Observations – large areas in a short period
of time
Continuous measurements used for detection &
monitoring
GPS



Replaced LORAN
Uses signals from satellites
Works everywhere & is accurate to within 3-6 feet