History Of History Of OceanograpOceanograp

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Early History of Early History of OceanographyOceanography

• The Indian OceanIndian Ocean was the first used for trade but the last to be explored

• In China, a “magnetic “magnetic loadstone”loadstone” was found and adapted as a compass

• The “Dark Ages”“Dark Ages” was the time when most knowledge of the sea that had been acquired was lost and exploration of the oceans was restrained

• The Vikings Vikings of northern Europe sailed to and established colonies in Iceland and Greenland prior to 1000 A.D.

• In the late 1400’s the people of southern Europe again explored the sea.

After the Dark Ages• Magellan’sMagellan’s voyage

proved that the Earth was round (1519 – 1522)

• Captain James CookCaptain James Cook was the first explorer who had instruments to measure accurately latitude and longitude.

• While ocean depth measurements were attempted, the depth and character of the bottom was generally unknown.

How did early explorers How did early explorers measure the depth of the measure the depth of the

ocean?ocean?• “Soundings” are taken by lowering a line to the bottom of the ocean.• A weight was added to the line which then dropped off when the bottom was reached. • Soundings help determine the depth of the water and kept ships from

running a ground.

Early Oceanographic Early Oceanographic Research in the United Research in the United

StatesStatesOceanography started with BenBen

Franklin who published a map of the Gulf Stream.

He had been asked to determine “why” ships traveling from Europe to the Colonies took less time than ships going from the Colonies to Europe.

He discovered that ships traveling “with” the current had a faster travel time than ship sailing “against” the current

Matthew Fontaine Maury

• Belonged to the United States Navy

• Using data from the log books of ships he published a book called the “The Physical “The Physical Geography of the Sea”Geography of the Sea”

• It was one of the first books on oceanography.

• He also accumulated records of deep-sea soundings and published the first bathymetric mapmap of the North Atlantic

US Exploring US Exploring Expedition (1836Expedition (1836)

• Its objective was to collect all the information if could from both land and sea to help increase commercial prospects for the United States.

• The problem with expedition included:– Ships were disabled at sea– Much of the scientific collection

had been lost or mishandled– Little public interest– Insufficient funds for publication

The The BlakeBlake

• Following the Civil War, the US Coast and Geodetic Survey now NOAA) charted the Blake to study the Gulf Stream and the US Continental Shelf

• It conducted several dredging and sampling cruises along the East Coast in the 1870’s and 1880’s

Early Contributions by Early Contributions by Other NationsOther Nations

• A young naturalist named Charles Charles DarwinDarwin (England) set sail on the Beagle to study the diversity of life.

• He studies a variety of organisms on the Galapagos IslandsGalapagos Islands

• His finding on evolution led other scientists to explore the ocean further

Forbes and Huxley Forbes and Huxley (England) – (England) –

Misconceptions on the Misconceptions on the OceanOcean• Edward ForbesEdward Forbes

suggested that the ocean was divided into two main zones. The upper zone contained all the life while the azoic zone did not

• Thomas HuxleyThomas Huxley while collecting specimens from the ocean floor found a thin jelly-like layer on top of the mud samples

• He called it protoplasm and thought it was the origin of life.

The Challenger Expedition (1872-1876)

• This expedition was led by Sir Charles Wyville Thompson

• The expedition circumnavigated the world

• The Challenger made 492 deep soundings,133 dredgings

• Collected data from 362 oceanographic stations

More than 4,700 new species of marine life were discovered

The Challenger The Challenger DeepDeep

• A deep sounding was made at the Marianas Trench in the Pacific

• The sounding depth was 4,475 fathoms or 35,850 feet.

Oceanographic StationsOceanographic Stations

• Measured the depth of the ocean GeologicalGeological• Obtain core samples from the bottom

GeologicalGeological• Sample plant and animal life BiologicalBiological• Sample the fauna from bottom sediment

BiologicalBiological• Measures water temperature ChemicalChemical• Sample sea water ChemicalChemical• Measure ocean currents PhysicalPhysical• Make atmospheric and meteorological

observations PhysicalPhysical

The Fram The Fram (Norwegian)(Norwegian)• The Fram Fram under the direction

of Fridtjof NansenFridtjof Nansen from 1893 – 1880

• Wooden ship constructedso that she could be frozen into the ice of the Arctic OceanArctic Ocean..

• The ships objective was to drift across the North Pole

• Confirmed that the Arctic was an ocean• A field station on the ice was used to

collect geophysical information from the Arctic Ocean

Modern Modern OceanographyOceanography

• U.S.S. StewartU.S.S. Stewart – was the first ship to make a continuous echo-sounding across the ocean basin

Meteor ExpeditionMeteor Expedition• 1925 the Meteor Meteor

ExpeditionExpedition routinely and continuously made sounding across the ocean.

• The soundings were make electronically so they did not have to stop for each measurement.

New Technology beneath New Technology beneath the surface of the seasthe surface of the seas

• TriesteTrieste –bathyscape that dove the Mariana Trench (35,600 ft)

• Nautilus- Nautilus- sailed sailed underunder the Norththe North Pole

• ThresherThresher (1963) and ScorpionScorpion (1967)- both submarines and crew were lost at sea

• Project MoholeProject Mohole – attempted to drill through the earth’s crust

•

Drilling Below the Drilling Below the OceanOcean• The Deep Sea Drilling Deep Sea Drilling

ProjectProject drilled over 850 holes in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans

• The Glomer ChallengerGlomer Challenger – drilling vessel used to collect core samples of the ocean floor

• The Glomer ExplorerGlomer Explorer – drilling vessel build by Howard Hughes and financed by the CIA to attempt to raise a sunken soviet submarine

The 1970’s were the The 1970’s were the International Decade of International Decade of

Ocean ExplorationOcean Exploration

• Studied mixing and circulation processes of the ocean

• Water samples were collected for study – called “water library”“water library”

• Physical oceanographers studied the motion of the ocean

• Chemical oceanographers documented ocean pollution

Submarine and Submarine and SubmersiblesSubmersibles• SubmarineSubmarine

– Self propelled– Large crew– Crew lives on the sub

for months at a time– Can study the ocean

while covering large distance

– SubmersibleSubmersible– Transported by a ship– Crew of three– Crew uses the

submersible short periods of time

– Small and can remain in place for several hours

– Can easily pick up objects from the ocean bottom