Exploring the Ocean
Tools and Techniques Used to
Explore Our Oceans
Research Vessels
• Ships and Boats
– Most common
– Versatile
– Can carry many other types of research
equipment
– Wide variety – based on use
• Large ships with large crews for long term, distant
research
• Small boats, small crews coastal research
Challenger (1872-1876)
• Fast sailing ship – Corvette
• Often considered to be first truly scientific
oceanographic voyage
– Crew of over 200, research party of 6
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Soundings
Sampled sea floor
Collected biological specimens
Measured water temp at various depths
Measured and charted currents
Made Atmospheric and Meteorological
Observations
HMS Challenger
Glomar Challenger (1968)
• Deep sea drilling project
• Drilled and recovered cores from about
1000 holes drilled in Atlantic, Pacific and
Indian Oceans
• Cores provided evidence of sea floor
spreading
• 400 Ft long
• Drilling derrick –
almost 200 ft
above water level
• Can load 1million
pound cores
Glomar Challenger
Core Sample
Storage at
Woods Hole
Oceanographic
Gravity Corer Cutting Head
Gravity Corer Cutting Head after a close
encounter with a hydrothermal vent
JOIDES Resolution (1980’s)
• Joint
Oceanographic
Institutions Deep
Earth Sampling
• Follow-up to
Glomar Challenger
• More modern and
sophisticated
FLIP
•FLIP – FLoating Instrument Platform
•Scripps Institute – La Jolla – Steady Platform
for conducting research
•Must be towed to site
FLIP Flipping!
YouTube - FLIP marine research
vessel
R/V Atlantis
• WHOI Research
Vessel
• 3 Generation
• Carries wide
array of
equipment
• Best known for being able to deploy Alvin
and Jason (submersibles)
Calypso
• Famous for being the flagship of Jacques
Cousteau
• Cousteau was a
world famous
oceanographer,
marine biologist
and inventor of
SCUBA
Submersibles
• Any vessel capable of going beneath the
surface
• Can be manned or un-manned
Turtle (1776)
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One of the earliest submarines
One man Vessel
Powered by hand
Designed for warfare
– Was used to attach
explosives to ships
Beebe’s Bathysphere
• 1934 Dr. William Beebe reached a depth of 900 meters in a
steel chamber called a Bathysphere ( fits 2 people).
Trieste (1960)
• Bathyscaphe – a bathysphere (strong
sphere with viewing ports) that was not
attached to surface ship
• One and only manned trip to Challenger
Deep in Marianas Trench (35,000 ft
/10,852 meters) took 4 hours
How was the Titanic located?
Using sonar and submersibles.
1934 Dr. William Beebe reached a depth of 900
meters in a steel chamber called a Bathysphere (
fits 2 people).
In 1960 a Swiss team of Auguste and Jacques
Piccard, made the deepest dive in a submersible
(bathyscaphe) to the bottom of the Mariana
Trench (10,852 meters- 4 hrs.).
Alvin is a submersible that has logged in over
1000 dives. It holds a crew of 3.
Dr. Sylvia Earle holds the record for the deepest
solo dive- 380 meters. (Jim Suit)
Alvin
• WHOI Submersible
• Carries remote instruments and crew of up
to 3 persons, to almost 15,000 ft (86% of
Earth’s Oceans)
•Technology at WHOI :: Alvin
Pros and Cons of Submersibles
• Pros
• Cons
– Allows direct
observation
– Able to operate
independent of
surface ship
– Can explore small
features
– Can remain stationary
with relative ease
– Dependence on
surface ship to carry
or tow them to site
– Small crew
– Cramped and
uncomfortable
– Not a very large
range
ROVs
• ROV – Remote Operated Vehicle
• Controlled from surface ship or with-in
submersible
• Often carry camera, remote arm, collection
devices, etc.
• Can be used to explore
places too small or
dangerous for
submersible
Jason – ROV that was paired with
Alvin in initial exploration of Titanic
Jason being deployed
from side of ship
•Hercules hovering near stern
of Titanic
Jason Jr. peers into a window of Titanic
The Jim Suit
 Dr. Sylvia Earle holds the record for the deepest solo
dive- 380 meters. (Jim Suit)
What do you
think each
piece of
equipment is
used for?
How difficult is it to
see underwater
without a facemask?
Why?
History of
Diving
4500 years ago the
ancient Greeks were the
first to “dive”.
They used newly
developed glass, it was
very primitive and
difficult to see through.
They dove for
ornamental shells.
Diving Chamber
•The diving chamber
was a huge barrel
that contained a
limited supply of air!
•It was attached to a
ship, limited
movement.
•Was made of metal
so you couldn’t see
through it
Diving Suit
The Diving Suit
(1873)was made of
watertight canvas
 had a heavy metal
helmet into which
air was pumped
from the surface.
Limited
movement, still
attached to the
ship.
12 Steps of Honor
SCUBA
SCUBA- self
contained underwater
breathing apparatus
(aqualung) was
developed by Jacques
Cousteau and his
partner Emil Gagnan
in 1942.
 It allowed for greater
movement and
freedom underwater.
Jacques Cousteau
Sediment Sampling
Shipek
Grab
Clamshell Sampler
Water Sampling
Niskin Bottle
• Top and bottom close at a
predetermined depth to
collect water
• Water brought to surface for
testing
Conductivity (salinity) and Temperature
with Depth –CTD Carousel
Nansen Bottle
Similar to Niskin Bottle, used to
collect water at various depths
Secchi Disc
• White disc used to measure water’s
transparency
Where the disc disappears, there is 18%
transparency
Viewing and Listening
• SONAR
– SOund Navigation And Ranging
• Uses reflected sound waves
to detect objects
– Ocean Floor Profiles
– Objects
– Animals
• Active Sonar
– Emitting the sound and listening for the echo
to return
• Passive Sonar
– Listening for sounds in the ocean (both
natural and man-made)
• Side-Scan Sonar
– Ship drags torpedo-like device behind
– Emits and collects wide “beam”
– Produces high resolution image of bottom
Biological Collections
• Plankton Nets
– Collect small swimming / floating organisms
Satellite Data Collection
• Can collect data from remote devices
• Can actively collect data
– Ocean temps
– Water height
– Biological activity
• See Page 79 - text
Anchored Buoy System
• Series of buoys through oceans
• Anchored to sea floor
• At various depths on anchoring cable may
be sensors (temp, salinity, currents)
• Buoy may collect weather, wave height
data
• Data can be transmitted via satellite
• http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov