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Introductory Oceanography: Broward College
Introductory Oceanography: Broward College
Introductory Oceanography: Broward College
Broward College
Chapter 1:
Introduction to
Planet Earth
• The oceans are the largest and
most prominent feature on Earth.
• Approximately 70% of the Earth’s
surface is covered by oceans.
How are Earth’s oceans unique?
‐ Earth is the only planet in our solar
system with liquid water on its
surface. In fact, no other body in
the solar system has a confirmed
ocean, but recent satellite missions
to other planets have revealed
some possibilities.
‐ Two moons of Jupiter,
Ganymede and Callisto, may
also have liquid oceans of
Introduction to Planet water beneath their cold icy
crust. Saturn’s tiny moon
“Earth” Enceladus also portrays water
vapor geysers that contain salt.
• Earth’s oceans have had a profound effect on our planet and
continue to shape our planet in critical ways:
• The oceans are essential to all life‐forms and are in large part
responsible for the development of life on Earth, providing a
stable environment in which life could evolve over billions of
years.
Earth’s • Today, the oceans contain the greatest number of living things
on the planet, from microscopic bacteria and algae to the
Amazing largest known life‐form alive today, the blue whale.
• The oceans comprise the planet’s largest habitat and contain
Oceans 97.2% of all the water on or near Earth’s surface.
• The oceans influence climate and weather around the world –
even in the inner continents, far away from water.
• The oceans shape political boundaries and also contain the
majority of Earth’s geographic features.
• The oceans are a source of food, minerals and energy that
remains largely untapped.
How Many Oceans Exist on Earth?
• All oceans of the Earth are interconnected and form a single continuous body of
seawater, which is why the oceans are commonly referred to as a “world ocean.”
• Our planet can be divided into four principal oceans plus a smaller additional one.
• The Pacific Ocean – World’s largest, covers more than half of the ocean surface area on Earth,
the deepest ocean, contains many tropical islands.
• The Atlantic Ocean – About half the size of the Pacific, separates Europe, Asia and Africa from
North and South America.
• Indian Ocean – Slightly smaller than the Atlantic, primarily in the southern hemisphere.
• Arctic Ocean – About 7% of the size of the Pacific and is only a little more than ¼ as deep as
the rest of the oceans, has a permanent layer of sea ice at its surface that is only a few
meters thick.
• Southern Ocean (Antarctic Ocean) – Defined by the meeting of currents near Antarctica
called the Antarctic Convergence.
• A sea is defined as the following:
• Smaller and shallower than an
ocean.
• Composed of saltwater.
• Somewhat enclosed by land.
• Directly connected to the world
ocean.
• Before the 15th century, Europeans
considered the seven seas to be the
following:
• Red Sea
• Mediterranean Sea
• Persian Gulf
• Black Sea
• Adriatic Sea
• Caspian Sea
• Indian Ocean
Oceans vs. Seas • Today, more than 100 seas, bays, and
gulfs are recognized.
• The average depth of the world’s
oceans is 3682 square meters (12,080
feet).
• The average height of the continents is
only about 840 meters (2756 feet),
which means that the average height of
Comparing Oceans the land is not very far above sea level.
and Continents • The highest continental point,
Mount Everest, is 8850 meters
(29,035 feet) tall, while the lowest
point in the ocean at the Mariana
Trench is 11,022 meters (36,161
feet) below sea level. This implies
that the ocean is much deeper than
the ground surface is tall!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE‐lAftuQgc
Early Exploration – How was it
Achieved?
Early History
‐ Archeological evidence suggests that when boat
technology was first developed about 40,000
years ago, people probably traveled the oceans.
Vessels were likely built to move upon the
ocean’s surface and transport oceangoing people
to new fishing grounds.
‐ Oceans also facilitated trade and interaction
between cultures.
• Pacific Navigators: It is likely
that a few voyagers made
landfall in the Pacific Islands
Early History contd. (Oceania), inhabiting the three
major islands of Micronesia,
Melanesia and Polynesia.
• Archeological evidence
suggests that humans from
New Guinea may have
occupied New Ireland as early
as 4,000 or 5,000 BCE.
However, there is little
evidence that humans
traveled farther into the
Pacific before 1100 BCE.
• Around 1100 BCE, the Lapita
people had traveled to Fiji,
Tonga and Somoa. From these
islands, Polynesians traveled
as far as New Zealand and the
Hawaiian islands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8bDCaPhOek
Pacific Navigators, contd.
• Thor Heyerdahl
sailed on a balsa
raft—the Kon Tiki—
to demonstrate
migration of South
Americans to Pacific
Ocean islands.
European Navigators
• The first Mediterranean people known to have developed
the art of navigation were the Phoenicians, who lived in the
eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, in present‐day
Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Israel.As early as 2000 BCE, they
investigated the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the
Indian Ocean.
• The first recorded circumnavigation of Africa, in 590 BCE,
was made by the Phoenicians, who sailed as far north as
the British Isles.
European Navigators, contd.
• The Greek astronomer‐geographer Pytheas, sailed northward in 325
BCE using the North Star as a tool for guidance.
• As long ago as 450 BCE, Greek scholars became convinced that Earth
was round, using lines of evidence such as the way ships disappeared
beyond the horizon, and the shadows of the Earth that appeared
during eclipses of the Moon. Eratosthenes determined the Earth’s
circumference using a stick in the ground and geometry.
• Most of the knowledge acquired by the Phoenicians, Greeks and
Romans were lost because of destruction of the Library of Alexandria
by fire in 415 CE.
• Some of the knowledge, however, was retained by the Arabs, who
controlled northern Africa and Spain. The Arabs became the dominant
navigators in the Mediterranean Sea area, and they exclusively traded
with East Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
Explorers, contd.
• In northern Europe, the Vikings of Scandinavia had
excellent ships and good navigation skills. They explored
the Atlantic Ocean actively and late in the 10th century, as
they were aided by a period of worldwide climatic warming
and colonized Iceland.
• In about 981 CE, Erik “the Red” Thorvaldsson, sailed
westward from Island and discovered Greenland. He
brought colonists in 985 CE.
• Bjarni Herjólfsson later sailed farther (by accident) and is
thought to have been the first Viking to have seen modern
day Newfoundland.
• Leif Eriksson (Erik’s son) was intrigued by Bjarni’s stories
and set out as well, spending the winter in what he named
“Vinland,” or Newfoundland, Canada.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3GM3F7JZ2c
The Age of Discovery
in Europe
The Age of Discovery was a 30‐year period from 1492‐
1522.
‐ During this time, Europeans explored the continents
of North and South America and the globe was
circumnavigated for the first time.
‐ This has been attributed greatly to a capture of
Constantinople by Sultan Mohammed II, which forced
the Western world to search for new eastern trade
routes.
‐ The Portuguese, under Prince Henry the Navigator, led
a new effort to explore outside of Europe. Henry
developed a new institution to improve Portuguese
sailing skills.
Age of Discovery, contd.
• Bartholomeu Diaz was the first person to go around
Cape Agulhas (the southern tip of Africa). He was
followed in 1498 by Vasco de Gama who took the same
route and reached India, establishing a new eastern
trade route to Asia.
• Christopher Columbus was financed by Spanish
monarchs to find a new route to the East Indies in the
Atlantic Ocean.
• He first arrived in uncharted territory in the
Caribbean.
• He later made three more trips to the area.
• He never actually set foot on the continent of
North America.
Explorers…
• 1497 – Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) landed somewhere on the
northeastern coast of North America.
• 1513 – Vasco Nuñez de Balboa led Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean
for the first time when attempting a land crossing of the Isthmus of
Panama.
• 1519 – Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the globe with five ships
and 280 sailors. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean, sailed down the
eastern coast of South America, and traveled through a passage to
the Pacific Ocean at 52 degrees south latitude. He was killed in the
Philippines in 1521 in a fight with the inhabitants of the islands.
• Juan Sebastian del Caño completed the circumnavigation by taking the last of
the ships, the Victoria, across the Indian Ocean, around Africa, and back to
Spain by 1522 (1 ship and 18 men completed the voyage.. eek.)
A Change in Power
• The Spanish initiated many other voyages, mostly in
search of gold from the Aztec and Inca cultures in
Mexico and South America. The English and Dutch, on
the other hand, built smaller, more maneuverable
ships to rob the gold from Spanish galleons, leading to
many confrontations at sea.
• The maritime dominance of Spain ended when the
English defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, giving
control of the seas to the English. The English became
the dominant world power as a result – until early in
the 20th century.
Voyaging for Science
• The English realized that increasing their scientific knowledge
of the oceans would help maintain their maritime superiority.
• Captain James Cook (1728‐1779), undertook three voyages of
scientific discovery wit the ships Endeavor, Resolution, and
Adventure between 1768 and 1779.
• He concluded that Antarctica (Terra Australia) must be
south of the Southern Ocean.
• He mapped many islands previously unknown to
Europeans – South Georgia, South Sandwich, and
Hawaiian Islands.
• He determined the outline of the Pacific Ocean and was
the first to cross the Antarctic Circle on his quest to find
Antarctica.
• He initiated systematic sampling and subsurface water
temperatures, measuring winds and currents, taking
soundings (depth) and collecting data on coral reefs.
He made the wrong people angry in the end…
Fields of Oceanography
Sub‐fields:
1. Geological Oceanography
2. Chemical Oceanography
3. Physical Oceanography
4. Biological Oceanography
The Process of Science and the Nature of
Science Inquiry
• Natural phenomena governed
by physical processes
• Physical processes similar
today as in the past
• Scientists discover these
processes and make
predictions.
The process of science begins with
observations—events or phenomena that can
be detected with the senses.
• When observations are repeated and documented, they
become data.
The Process Observations often lead to a hypothesis—a
tentative, testable statement about the general
of Science nature of the phenomena being observed.
A hypothesis is tested through further
observations:
• If a hypothesis is falsified, it must be dropped and an
alternative hypothesis must be generated.
Science never reaches absolute truth.
Truth is probable and based on available
observations.
The Process
of Science, New observations yield scientific progress.
contd.
In reality, scientists have no formal method.
Theory—well‐substantiated explanation of some
aspect of the natural world
Earth and Solar System
Formation
• Earth is the 3rd of eight major planets in our solar system,
that revolve around the Sun.
• Evidence suggests that the Sun and the rest of the solar
system formed about 5 billion years ago from a huge
cloud of gas and space dust called a nebula.
• Evidence: orderly nature of the solar system and the
consistent age of meteorites. Astronomers have also
been able to observe distant nebula and planetary
systems in various stages of formation elsewhere in
our galaxy.
• Nebular Hypothesis: All bodies in the solar system
formed from a nebula, made mostly of hydrogen and
helium.
Hypothesis, contd.
• Gravity concentrates material at center of
cloud (Sun).
• Protoplanets form from smaller
concentrations of matter (eddies).
Proto‐Earth
• Proto‐Earth looked very different than Earth today.
• Larger, no oceans, no life.
• Homogenous (uniform) composition
throughout.
• Heavy stuff eventually sank toward the center
to form the core.
• Many meteorites and comets from space
bombarded it. (Collision theory of moon
formation)
• Lost its initial atmosphere due to ionized solar
radiation.
• Cooled and contracted!
Density and Density Stratification ‐ Earth
• High density = heavy for
its size
• Early Earth experienced
gravitational separation:
• High‐density materials
(iron and nickel) settled
in core.
• Less dense materials
formed concentric
spheres around core.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwiiOjyfvAU
Earth’s Internal Structure
• Lithosphere
• Cool, rigid shell
• Includes crust and upper mantle
• About 100 k m (60 miles) thick
ilo eter
• Asthenosphere
• Relatively hot, plastic
• Flows with high viscosity
• Important for movement of
lithospheric plates
• Base of lithosphere to about 700
k m (430 miles) deep
ilo eter
Earth’s Structure, contd.
• Mesosphere
• Rigid due to increased pressure at depth
• Core
• Outer core
• Liquid and capable of flowing
• Inner core
• Solid due to increased pressure
Oceans • Evidence suggests that at least 4 billion years ago,
most of the water vapor from outgassing had
accumulated to form the first permanent oceans on
Earth.
• Recent evidence suggests that this accumulation was
coupled with bombardment of space debris, left over
from the origin of the solar system, that contained
ice.
Ocean Salinity
• Relentless rainfall that landed on Earth’s rocky surface dissolved many
elements and compounds and carried them into the newly formed oceans.
• Even though Earth’s oceans have existed since early in the formation of the planet,
their chemical composition must have changed. This is because of the high carbon
dioxide and sulfur dioxide content in the early atmosphere would have created a
very acidic rain, capable of dissolving greater amounts of minerals in the crust than
occurs today.
• Volcanic gases such as chlorine also became dissolved in the atmosphere.
• As rain fell and washed into the ocean, it carried some of these dissolved
compounds, which accumulated in the newly forming oceans.
Did Life Begin in the Oceans?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de1hiS_XjWg
Life, contd.
• The fundamental question of how life began on Earth has
puzzled humankind since ancient times and has recently
received a great amount of scientific study.
• There are many theories regarding the origin of life – it
may have arrived embedded in meteors, comets or
cosmic dust, it may have originated in minerals that
acted as chemical catalysts within rocks.
• Alternatively, it may have originated around
hydrothermal vents on the deep‐ocean floor.
• According to the fossil record on Earth, the earliest‐
known life‐forms were primitive bacteria that lived in
sea floor rocks about 3.5 billion years ago.
The Importance of
Oxygen
• Oxygen, which comprises almost 21% of Earth’s
present atmosphere, is essential to human life
for two reasons.
• Our bodies need oxygen to “burn” (oxidize)
food, releasing energy to our cells.
• Oxygen in the atmosphere (in the form of
ozone), protects us from the worst of Sun’s
harmful ultraviolet radiation/
• The amount of oxygen has varied greatly in
our atmosphere throughout history – there
was very little oxygen available when
oceans were first beginning to form.
Stanley Miller’s Experiment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNijmxsKGbc
Evolution and Natural
Selection
• Evolution by the process of natural selection has shaped
organisms throughout history, since the first life existed on
Earth.
• Naturally‐occurring mutations in an organism’s DNA can
give an individual a survival advantage, and if the helpful
mutation is passed down to the next generation,
eventually the mutation may become common.
• The change in a genetic makeup over time is driven by
natural selection.
• New traits in organisms that arise in response to
environmental changes are called adaptations.
• New species emerge when the accumulated genetic
changes in a population reach a certain threshold.
The Great Oxidation Event /
Oxygen Crisis
Based on the chemical makeup of certain rocks, Earth’s
atmosphere became oxygen‐rich about 2.45 billion years ago –
called the great oxidation event.
Increased atmospheric oxygen caused the ozone concentration in
the upper atmosphere to build up, thereby shielding Earth’s
surface from ultraviolet radiation.
Many anaerobic organisms went extinct, and the development
and successful evolution of photosynthetic organisms could take
place – shaping the world we know today!
Changes to Earth’s
Atmosphere
• Photosynthetic organisms
are responsible for life as we
know it today.
• Reduce C O2, increase O2 to
21%
• High oxygen = biodiversity
increase
• Low oxygen associated with
extinction events
How Old is the Earth?
• Radiometric dating
• Spontaneous change/decay
• Half‐life
• Earth is about 4.6 billion
years old.