The Growth of Oceanography
Why study oceanography?
• Scientific Curiosity – How do oceans operate
and interact with entire earth system?
• Need for Marine Resources – We need both
food and mineral resources from oceans to
survive.
• Impact on Human activities – Must maintain
a balance between nature and human
activities to protect the coastal zones,
prevent over polluting, ensure safe
transportation/recreation on the world’s
oceans and better prepare for natural
hazards.
Historical Review of Oceanography
There are three major stages in the history
of ocean research:
1. Ocean exploration
was the period
when people
explored the ocean
boundaries.
Notable explorers include:
• Phoenicians - explored the eastern
Atlantic Ocean reaching England and
sailing around Africa.
• The Greek Pytheas circumnavigated
England and reached Iceland
• The Polynesians- sailed and explored
the western Pacific Ocean in log rafts.
Notable explorers include:
• Herodotus- prepared a world map in
450 BC illustrating three continents
surrounded by a vast ocean.
Notable explorers include:
• The Vikings- dominated marine
exploration during the Middle Ages
reaching North America.
Notable explorers include:
• Bartholomew Diaz- reached
the southern tip of Africa in an
attempt to reach India in
1480s.
• Vasco de Gamareached India in 1498
by sailing around
Africa.
Notable explorers include:
• An expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan,
and continued after his death by Juan
Sebastian Elcano, circumnavigated the globe
from 1519 to 1522.
2. Early scientific
investigations began
when people began to
describe the ocean.
Notable explorers include:
• James Cook
In his ships the Endeavour, Resolution, & Discovery,
made three voyages in the late 1700’s; these
voyages:
-Visited Tahiti
-Charted New Zealand
-Mapped the Great Barrier Reef
-Circumnavigated the Globe at high
southerly latitudes (71oS)
-“Discovered” Hawaii
Notable explorers include:
• John Harrison: in 1728 invented the
chronometer, a clock that was spring
driven, thus could work at sea and be
used to determine longitude
Notable explorers include:
• Matthew Fountaine
Maury- published The
Physical Geography of
the Sea in 1855 and
became known as the
father of physical
oceanography. He was
also born in Virginia!
The Voyage of the HMS Beagle
Charles Darwin was a naturalist aboard a 4
1/2 year voyage that began in 1831 and later
led to Darwin’s book “Origin of Species”
3. Modern oceanography
Began in the twentieth century with
interdisciplinary oceanic research and
use of complex scientific instruments.
HMS Challenger
• HMS Challenger 1872, first purely scientific sailing
expedition;
• 4 year voyage discovered 4,717 new species
• Took global ocean salinity, temperature, and water density
measurements
• The “Challenger Report”, a 50 volume set
documenting the findings of the Challenger
expedition provided the foundation for modern
oceanographic study
Early Scientific Exploration
• In the 1920s the
German vessel SMS
Meteor studied the
salinity, temperature,
oxygen content, and
sea floor topography
of the South Atlantic.
Current Research
• Major institutions were established. In the
U.S. these include: Scripps Institute of
Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute, and Lamont Doherty Geological
Observatory.
• NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
founded in 1970, government branch that
conducts oceanography research and weather
monitoring.