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 About The Authors
ALAN P. TRUJILLO Al ­Trujillo
is a Distinguished Teaching Pro-
fessor in the Earth, Space, and
Aviation Sciences Department
at Palomar College in San Mar-
cos, California. He received his
bachelor’s degree in geology from
the University of California at
Davis and his master’s degree
in geology from Northern Arizona
University, afterward working for
several years in industry. Al began
teaching at Palomar in 1990. In
1997, he was awarded Palomar’s
Distinguished Faculty Award for
Excellence in Teaching, and in 2005
he received Palomar’s Faculty Research Award. He has coauthored
Introductory Oceanography with Hal Thurman and is a contrib-
uting author for the textbooks Earth and Earth Science. In addi-
tion to writing and teaching, Al works as a naturalist and lecturer
aboard natural history expedition vessels for Lindblad Expeditions/
National Geographic in Alaska, Iceland, and the Sea of Cortez/Baja
California. His research interests include beach processes, sea cliff
erosion, and active teaching techniques. He enjoys photography,
and he collects sand as a hobby. Al and his wife, Sandy, have two
children, Karl and Eva.
­December 29, 2012. His writing expertise, knowledge about the
HAROLD V. THURMAN Hal
Thurman’s interest in geology
led to a bachelor’s degree from
Oklahoma A&M University, fol-
lowed by seven years working as
a petroleum geologist, mainly in
the Gulf of Mexico, where his
interest in the oceans developed.
He earned a master’s degree from
California State University at Los
Angeles. Hal began teaching at
Mt. San Antonio College in Wal-
nut, California, in 1968 as a tem-
porary teacher and taught Physics
1 (a surveying class) and three
Physical Geology labs. In 1970,
he taught his first class of General Oceanography. It was from this
experience that he decided to write a textbook on oceanography and
received a contract with Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company in
1973. The first edition of his book Introductory Oceanography was
released in 1975. Harold authored or coauthored over 20 editions
of textbooks that include Introductory Oceanography, Essentials of
Oceanography, Physical Geology, Marine Biology, and Oceanogra-
phy Laboratory Manual, many of which are still being used today
throughout the world. In addition, he contributed to the World Book
Encyclopedia on the topics of “Arctic Ocean,” “Atlantic Ocean,”
“Indian Ocean,” and “Pacific Ocean.” Hal Thurman retired in May
1994, after 24 years of teaching, and moved to be closer to family
in Oklahoma, then to Florida. Hal passed away at the age of 78 on
ocean, and easy-going demeanor will be dearly missed.
 Brief Contents

Preface xi

1 Introduction to Planet “Earth” 3

2 Plate Tectonics and the Ocean Floor 39

3 Marine Provinces 81

4 Marine Sediments 105

5 Water and Seawater 137

6 Air–Sea Interaction 171

7 Ocean Circulation 207

8 Waves and Water Dynamics 245

9 Tides 279

10 Beaches, Shoreline Processes, and the Coastal Ocean 305

11 Marine Pollution 347

12 Marine Life and the Marine Environment 375

13 Biological Productivity and Energy Transfer 403

14 Animals of the Pelagic Environment 445

15 Animals of the Benthic Environment 479

16 The Oceans and Climate Change 513

Afterword 550

Appendix I Metric and English Units Compared 554

Appendix II Geographic Locations 558
Appendix III Latitude and Longitude on Earth 560
Appendix IV A Chemical Background: Why Water Has Two Hs and One O
(Online as MasteringOceanography Bonus Web Content)
Appendix V Careers in Oceanography 563

Glossary 566

Credits and Acknowledgments 586

Index 589

v
 Contents

Preface xi

To the Student xi

Diving Deeper Preface.1 A User’s Guide for Students: How to

Read a Science Textbook xi

To the Instructor xii

Diving Deeper Preface.2 Ocean Literacy: What Should People

Know about the Ocean? xii

Reorganization of What’s New in This Edition Section xiii

For the Student xiv

For the Instructor xiv

Acknowledgments xv

1 Introduction To Planet “Earth” 3 2 

Plate Tectonics and the Ocean Floor 39
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 3 E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 39

1.1 How Are Earth’s Oceans Unique? 3
Earth’s Amazing Oceans 4 • How Many Oceans Exist on Earth? 4
The Four Principal Oceans, Plus One 5 • Oceans versus Seas 6
1.2 How Was Early Exploration of the Oceans Achieved? 9
Early History 9
Diving Deeper 1.1 Historical Feature How Do Sailors Know Where They
Are at Sea? From Stick Charts to Satellites 10
The Middle Ages 13 • The Age of Discovery in Europe 13
• The Beginning of Voyaging for Science 14 • History of
Oceanography . . . To Be Continued 15
1.3 What Is Oceanography? 16
1.4 What Is the Nature of Scientific Inquiry? 17
Observations 17 • Hypothesis 17 • Testing 18 • Theory 18
• Theories and the Truth 18
1.5 How Were Earth and the Solar System Formed? 19
The Nebular Hypothesis 20 • Proto-Earth 20 • Density and Density
Stratification 22 • Earth’s Internal Structure 22
1.6 How Were Earth’s Atmosphere and Oceans Formed? 26
Origin of Earth’s Atmosphere 26 • Origin of Earth’s Oceans 26
1.7 Did Life Begin in the Oceans? 27
The Importance of Oxygen to Life 27 • Stanley Miller’s Experiment 28
• Evolution and Natural Selection 29 • Plants and Animals Evolve 29
Diving Deeper 1.2 Historical Feature The Voyage of HMS Beagle: How It
Shaped Charles Darwin’s Thinking about the Theory of Evolution 30
1.8 How Old Is Earth? 33
Radiometric Age Dating 33 • The Geologic Time Scale 33
Essential Concepts Review 35
2.1 What Evidence Supports Continental Drift? 40
Fit of the Continents 40 • Matching Sequences of Rocks and
Mountain Chains 40 • Glacial Ages and Other Climate Evidence 41
• Distribution of Organisms 41 • Objections to the Continental
Drift Model 42
2.2 What Evidence Supports Plate Tectonics? 43
Earth’s Magnetic Field and Paleomagnetism 44 • Sea Floor Spreading
and Features of the Ocean Basins 46
Diving Deeper 2.1 Research Methods in Oceanography Using Moving
­ ontinents to ­Resolve an ­Apparent Dilemma: Did Earth Ever Have Two
C
­Wandering North Magnetic Poles? 47
Other Evidence from the Ocean Basins 49
• Detecting Plate Motion with Satellites 53
• The Acceptance of a Theory 53
2.3 What Features Occur at Plate Boundaries? 54
Divergent Boundary Features 55 • Convergent Boundary
Features 60 • Transform Boundary Features 65
2.4 Testing the Model: How Can Plate Tectonics Be Used as a Working
Model? 67
Hotspots and Mantle Plumes 67 • Seamounts and Tablemounts 70
• Coral Reef Development 70
2.5 How Has Earth Changed in the Past, and How Will it Look in the
Future? 74
The Past: Paleogeography 74 • The Future: Some Bold
Predictions 74 • A Predictive Model: The Wilson Cycle 76
Essential Concepts Review 78

vi

3 Marine Provinces 81
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 81
3.1 What Techniques Are Used to Determine Ocean Bathymetry? 81
Soundings 82 • Echo Soundings 82 • Using Satellites to Map Ocean
Properties from Space 84 • Seismic Reflection Profiles 85
3.2 What Features Exist on Continental Margins? 87
Passive versus Active Continental Margins 87 • Continental
Shelf 88 • Continental Slope 89 • Submarine Canyons and Turbidity
Currents 89 • Continental Rise 91
3.3 What Features Exist in the Deep-Ocean Basins? 92
Abyssal Plains 92 • Volcanic Peaks of the Abyssal Plains 93
• Ocean Trenches and Volcanic Arcs 93
3.4 What Features Exist along the Mid-Ocean Ridge? 95
Volcanic Features 96 • Hydrothermal Vents 96
Diving Deeper 3.1 Research Methods in Oceanography Earth’s
Hypsographic Curve: Nearly ­Everything You Need to Know about Earth’s
Oceans and Landmasses in One Graph 97
Diving Deeper 3.2 Research Methods in Oceanography Now You See It,
Now You Don’t: Recovering Oceanographic Equipment Stuck in Lava 98
Fracture Zones and Transform Faults 100 • Oceanic Islands 101
Essential Concepts Review 102
4 Marine Sediments 105
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 105
4.1 How Are Marine Sediments Collected, and What Historical Events
Do They Reveal? 106
Collecting Marine Sediments 106 • Environmental Conditions
Revealed by Marine Sediments 108 • Paleoceanography 108
4.2 What Are the Characteristics of Lithogenous Sediment? 109
Origin of Lithogenous Sediment 109 • Composition of Lithogenous
Sediment 109 • Sediment Texture 110 • Distribution of Lithogenous
Sediment 111
4.3 What Are the Characteristics of Biogenous Sediment? 113
Origin of Biogenous Sediment 113 • Composition of Biogenous
Sediment 114
Diving Deeper 4.1 Oceans and People Diatoms: The Most Important
Things You Have (Probably) Never Heard Of 115
Distribution of Biogenous Sediment 117
4.4 What Are the Characteristics of Hydrogenous Sediment? 121
Origin of Hydrogenous Sediment 121 • Composition and Distribution
of Hydrogenous Sediment 122
4.5 What Are the Characteristics of Cosmogenous Sediment? 124
Origin, Composition, and Distribution of Cosmogenous
Sediment 124
4.6 How Are Pelagic and Neritic Deposits Distributed? 125
Mixtures of Marine Sediment 125 • Neritic Deposits 126
Pelagic Deposits 126 • How Sea Floor Sediments Represent
Surface Conditions 128 • Worldwide Thickness of Marine
Sediments 128
4.7 What Resources Do Marine Sediments Provide? 129
Energy Resources 129 • Other Resources 130
Essential Concepts Review 133
 Contents  vii
5 Water and Seawater 137
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 137
5.1 Why Does Water Have Such Unusual Chemical Properties? 137
Atomic Structure 137 • The Water Molecule 138
5.2 What Important Physical Properties Does Water Possess? 140
Water’s Thermal Properties 140 • Water Density as a Result of
Thermal Contraction 145
5.3 How Salty Is Seawater? 147
Salinity 147 • Determining Salinity 148
Diving Deeper 5.1 Oceans and People How to Avoid Goiters 149
Comparing Pure Water and Seawater 150
5.4 Why Does Seawater Salinity Vary? 151
Salinity Variations 151 • Processes Affecting Seawater Salinity 152
• Dissolved Components Added to and Removed from Seawater 153
5.5 Is Seawater Acidic or Basic? 156
The pH Scale 156 • The Carbonate Buffering System 157
5.6 How Does Seawater Salinity Vary at the Surface and with Depth? 158
Surface Salinity Variation 159 • Salinity Variation with Depth 159
• Halocline 160
5.7 How Does Seawater Density Vary with Depth? 161
Factors Affecting Seawater Density 161 • Temperature and Density
Variation with Depth 162 • Thermocline and Pycnocline 163
5.8 What Methods Are Used to Desalinate Seawater? 164
Distillation 165 • Membrane Processes 165 • Other Methods of
Desalination 166
Essential Concepts Review 167
6 Air–Sea Interaction
171
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 171
6.1 What Causes Variations in Solar Radiation on Earth? 172
What Causes Earth’s Seasons? 172 • How Latitude Affects the
Distribution of Solar Radiation 173 • Oceanic Heat Flow 175
6.2 What Physical Properties Does the Atmosphere Possess? 175
Composition of the Atmosphere 175 • Temperature Variation in
the Atmosphere 176 • Density Variation in the Atmosphere 176
• Atmospheric Water Vapor Content 176 • Atmospheric
Pressure 177 • Movement of the Atmosphere 177 • An Example:
A Nonspinning Earth 177
6.3 How Does the Coriolis Effect Influence Moving Objects? 178
Example 1: Perspectives and Frames of Reference on a
Merry-Go-Round 179 • Example 2: A Tale of Two Missiles 180
• Changes in the Coriolis Effect with Latitude 181
6.4 What Global Atmospheric Circulation Patterns Exist? 181
Circulation Cells 182 • Pressure 183 • Wind Belts 183
• Boundaries 183 • Circulation Cells: Idealized or Real? 184
6.5 How Does the Ocean Influence Global Weather Phenomena and
Climate Patterns? 185
Weather versus Climate 186 • Winds 186
Diving Deeper 6.1 Historical Feature Why Christopher Columbus Never
Set Foot on North America 187
Storms and Fronts 188 • Tropical Cyclones (Hurricanes) 188
• The Ocean’s Climate Patterns 196
6.6 How Do Sea Ice and Icebergs Form? 198
Formation of Sea Ice 198 • Formation of Icebergs 200
viii  Contents
6.7 Can Power from Wind Be Harnessed as a Source of Energy? 201
Essential Concepts Review 202
7 Ocean Circulation 207
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 207
7.1 How Are Ocean Currents Measured? 207
Surface Current Measurement 207
Diving Deeper 7.1 Oceans and People Running Shoes as
Drift Meters: Just Do It 209
Deep Current Measurement 210
7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They
Organized? 211
Origin of Surface Currents 211 • Main Components of Ocean
Surface Circulation 212 • Other Factors Affecting Ocean Surface
Circulation 214 • Ocean Currents and Climate 218
7.3 What Causes Upwelling and Downwelling? 220
Diverging Surface Water 220 • Converging Surface Water 220
• Coastal Upwelling and Downwelling 220 • Other Causes of
Upwelling 221
7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean
Basin? 222
Antarctic Circulation 222 • Atlantic Ocean Circulation 223
Diving Deeper 7.2 Historical Feature Benjamin Franklin: The World’s
Most Famous Physical Oceanographer 226
Indian Ocean Circulation 227 • Pacific Ocean Circulation 229
7.5 How Do Deep-Ocean Currents Form? 236
Origin of Thermohaline Circulation 236 • Sources of Deep Water 236
• Worldwide Deep-Water Circulation 237
7.6 Can Power from Currents Be Harnessed as a Source of
Energy? 240
Essential Concepts Review 241
8 Waves and Water Dynamics 245
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 245
8.1 How Are Waves Generated, and How Do They Move? 245
Disturbances Generate Ocean Waves 245
• Wave Movement 246
8.2 What Characteristics Do Waves Possess? 248
Wave Terminology 248 • Circular Orbital Motion 248
• Deep-Water Waves 250 • Shallow-Water Waves 251
• Transitional Waves 251
8.3 How Do Wind-Generated Waves Develop? 252
Wave Development 252 • Interference Patterns 256
• Rogue Waves 256
8.4 How Do Waves Change in the Surf Zone? 258
Physical Changes as Waves Approach Shore 258
• Breakers and Surfing 259 • Wave Refraction 260
• Wave Reflection 262
8.5 How Are Tsunami Created? 263
Coastal Effects 265 • Some Examples of Historic and Recent
Tsunami 266 • Tsunami Warning System 269
Diving Deeper 8.1 Oceans and People Waves of Destruction: The 2011
Japanese Tsunami 270
8.6 Can Power from Waves Be Harnessed as a Source
of Energy? 272
Wave Power Plants and Wave Farms 272 • Global Coastal Wave
Energy Resources 273
Essential Concepts Review 275
9 Tides 279
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 279
9.1 What Causes Ocean Tides? 279
Tide-Generating Forces 279 • Tidal Bulges: The Moon’s Effect 282
• Tidal Bulges: The Sun’s Effect 284 • Earth’s Rotation and the
Tides 284
9.2 How Do Tides Vary during a Monthly Tidal Cycle? 285
The Monthly Tidal Cycle 285 • Complicating Factors 287
• Idealized Tide Prediction 289
9.3 What Do Tides Look Like in the Ocean? 291
Amphidromic Points and Cotidal Lines 291 • Effect of the
Continents 291 • Other Considerations 292
9.4 What Types of Tidal Patterns Exist? 292
Diurnal Tidal Pattern 292 • Semidiurnal Tidal Pattern 292
• Mixed Tidal Pattern 292
9.5 What Tidal Phenomena Occur in Coastal Regions? 294
An Example of Tidal Extremes: The Bay of Fundy 294
Diving Deeper 9.1 Oceans and People Tidal Bores: Boring Waves These
Are Not! 295
Coastal Tidal Currents 296 • Whirlpools: Fact or Fiction? 297
• Grunion: Doing What Comes Naturally on the Beach 297
9.6 Can Tidal Power Be Harnessed as a Source of Energy? 299
Tidal Power Plants 299
Essential Concepts Review 301
10 Beaches, Shoreline Processes, and the
Coastal Ocean 305
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 305
10.1 How Are Coastal Regions Defined? 305
Beach Terminology 306 • Beach Composition 306
10.2 How Does Sand Move on the Beach? 307
Movement Perpendicular to the Shoreline 307 • Movement Parallel to
the Shoreline 308
10.3 What Features Exist along Erosional and Depositional
Shores? 310
Features of Erosional Shores 310
Diving Deeper 10.1 Oceans and People Warning: Rip C ­ urrents . . . Do You
Know What to Do? 312
Features of Depositional Shores 313
10.4 How Do Changes in Sea Level Produce Emerging and Submerging
Shorelines? 319
Features of Emerging Shorelines 320 • Features of Submerging
Shorelines 320 • Changes in Sea Level 320
10.5 How Does Hard Stabilization Affect Coastlines? 322
Groins and Groin Fields 322 • Jetties 323 • Breakwaters 324
• Seawalls 326 • Alternatives to Hard Stabilization 326

10.6 What are the Characteristics and Types of Coastal Waters? 328
Characteristics of Coastal Waters 328 • Estuaries 331
• Lagoons 335 • Marginal Seas 336
10.7 What Issues Face Coastal Wetlands? 338
Types of Coastal Wetlands 338 • Characteristics of Coastal
Wetlands 340 • Serious Loss of Valuable Wetlands 340
Essential Concepts Review 342
11 Marine Pollution 347
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 347
11.1 What Is Pollution? 347
Marine Pollution: A Definition 348 • Environmental Bioassay 348
• The Issue of Waste Disposal in the Ocean 349
11.2 What Marine Environmental Problems Are Associated with
Petroleum Pollution? 349
The 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 350 • Other Oil Spills 350
Diving Deeper 11.1 Focus on the Environment The 2010 Gulf of
Mexico Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 352
11.3 What Marine Environmental Problems Are Associated with
Non-Petroleum Chemical Pollution? 356
Sewage Sludge 356 • DDT and PCBs 357 • Mercury and Minamata
Disease 359 • Other Types of Chemical Pollutants 360
11.4 What Marine Environmental Problems Are Associated with Non-
point Source Pollution, Including Trash? 362
Non-point Source Pollution and Trash 362 • Plastics as Marine
Debris 363
11.5 What Marine Environmental Problems Are Associated with
Biological Pollution? 367
The Seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia 367 • Zebra Mussels 368
• Other Notable Examples of Marine Biological Pollution 368
11.6 What Laws Govern Ocean Ownership? 368
Mare Liberum and the Territorial Sea 368 • Law of the
Sea 369
Essential Concepts Review 371
12 Marine Life and the Marine
Environment 375
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 375
12.1 What Are Living Things, and How Are They Classified? 375
A Working Definition of Life 375 • The Three Domains of Life 376
• The Six Kingdoms of Organisms 377 • Linnaeus and Taxonomic
Classification 378
12.2 How Are Marine Organisms Classified? 379
Plankton (Drifters) 380 • Nekton (Swimmers) 381 • Benthos (Bottom
Dwellers) 382
12.3 How Many Marine Species Exist? 383
Why Are There So Few Marine Species? 384 • Species in Pelagic and
Benthic Environments 384
12.4 How Are Marine Organisms Adapted to the Physical Conditions of
the Ocean? 385
Need for Physical Support 385 • Water’s Viscosity 386
• Temperature 387 • Salinity 389 • Dissolved Gases 391
• Water’s High Transparency 392 • Pressure 394
 Contents  ix
Diving Deeper 12.1 Historical Feature Diving into the Marine
Environment 395
12.5 What Are the Main Divisions of the Marine Environment? 395
Pelagic (Open Sea) Environment 396 • Benthic (Sea Bottom)
Environment 398
Essential Concepts Review 399
13 Biological Productivity and Energy
Transfer 403
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 403
13.1 What Is Primary Productivity? 403
Measurement of Primary Productivity 404 • Factors Affecting
Primary Productivity 404 • Light Transmission in Ocean
Water 406 • Why Are the Margins of the Oceans So Rich
in Life? 408
13.2 What Kinds of Photosynthetic Marine Organisms Exist? 411
Seed-Bearing Plants (Anthophyta) 411 • Macroscopic (Large)
Algae 411 • Microscopic (Small) Algae 413 • Ocean Eutrophication
and Dead Zones 416 • Photosynthetic Bacteria 418
13.3 How Does Regional Primary Productivity Vary? 419
Productivity in Polar (High Latitude) Oceans: 60 to 90 degrees
North and South Latitude 420 • Productivity in Tropical
(Low-Latitude) Oceans: 0 to 30 degrees North and South
Latitude 421 • Productivity in Temperate (Middle Latitude) Oceans:
30 to 60 degrees North and South Latitude 422 • Comparing
Regional Productivity 424
13.4 How Are Energy and Nutrients Passed Along in Marine
Ecosystems? 424
Flow of Energy in Marine Ecosystems 424 • Flow of Nutrients in
Marine Ecosystems 425 • Oceanic Feeding Relationships 426
13.5 What Issues Affect Marine Fisheries? 430
Marine Ecosystems and Fisheries 430 • Overfishing 430 • Incidental
Catch 432
Diving Deeper 13.1 Focus on the Environment Fishing down the Food
Web: Seeing Is Believing 433
Fisheries Management 435 • Effect of Global Climate Change on
Marine Fisheries 439 • Seafood Choices 440
Essential Concepts Review 441
14 Animals of The Pelagic Environment 445
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 445
14.1 How Are Marine Organisms Able to Stay Above the Ocean Floor? 445
Use of Gas Containers 445 • Ability to Float 446 • Ability to
Swim 447 • The Diversity of Planktonic Animals 447
14.2 What Adaptations Do Pelagic Organisms Possess for Seeking
Prey? 452
Mobility: Lungers versus Cruisers 452 • Swimming Speed 453
Diving Deeper 14.1 Oceans and People Some Myths (and Facts) about
Sharks 454
Adaptations of Deep-Water Nekton 455
14.3 What Adaptations Do Pelagic Organisms Possess to Avoid Being
Prey? 456
Schooling 457 • Symbiosis 458 • Other Adaptations 458
x  Contents
14.4 What Characteristics Do Marine Mammals Possess? 459
Mammalian Characteristics 459 • Order Carnivora 460 • Order
Sirenia 462 • Order Cetacea 462
14.5 An Example of Migration: Why Do Gray Whales Migrate? 472
Migration Route 472 • Reasons for Migration 472 • Timing of
Migration 473 • Are Gray Whales an Endangered Species? 473
• Whaling and the International Whaling Commission 474
Essential Concepts Review 475
15 Animals of the Benthic Environment 479
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 479
15.1 What Communities Exist along Rocky Shores? 479
Intertidal Zonation 480 • The Spray (Supratidal) Zone: Organisms
and Their Adaptations 484 • The High Tide Zone: Organisms and
Their Adaptations 484 • The Middle Tide Zone: Organisms and
Their Adaptations 484 • The Low Tide Zone: Organisms and Their
Adaptations 486
15.2 What Communities Exist along Sediment-Covered Shores? 487
Physical Environment of the Sediment 488 • Intertidal Zonation 488
• Sandy Beaches: Organisms and Their Adaptations 488 • Mud Flats:
Organisms and Their Adaptations 489
15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor? 490
Rocky Bottoms (Subtidal): Organisms and Their Adaptations 490
• Coral Reefs: Organisms and Their Adaptations 493
15.4 What Communities Exist on the Deep-Ocean Floor? 500
The Physical Environment 500 • Food Sources and Species
Diversity 501 • Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Biocommunities:
Organisms and Their Adaptations 501
Diving Deeper 15.1 Research Methods in Oceanography How Long
Would Your Remains Remain on the Sea Floor? 502
Low-Temperature Seep Biocommunities: Organisms and Their
Adaptations 507 • The Deep Biosphere: A New Frontier 509
Essential Concepts Review 510
16 The Oceans and Climate Change 513
E s s e n t i a l Le a r n i n g C o n ce p t s 513
16.1 What Comprises Earth’s Climate System? 513
16.2 Earth’s Recent Climate Change: Is It Natural or Caused by Human
Influence? 516
Determining Earth’s Past Climate: Proxy Data and
Paleoclimatology 516 • Natural Causes of Climate Change 516
• The IPCC: Documenting Human-Caused Climate Change 520
16.3 What Causes the Atmosphere’s Greenhouse Effect? 523
Earth’s Heat Budget and Changes in Wavelength 523 • Which Gases
Contribute to the Greenhouse Effect? 524
Diving Deeper 16.1 Research Methods in Oceanography The Iconic
Keeling Curve of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and the Father–Son Team Who
Created It 526
Other considerations: Aerosols 529 • What Documented Changes Are
Occurring Because of Global Warming? 530
16.4 What Changes Are Occurring in the Oceans as a Result of Global
Warming? 531
Increasing Ocean Temperatures 531 • Changes in Deep-Water
Circulation 534 • Melting of Polar Ice 534 • Recent Increase in
Ocean Acidity 536 • Rising Sea Level 539 • Other Predicted and
Observed Changes 540
16.5 What Should Be Done to Reduce Greenhouse Gases? 542
The Ocean’s Role in Reducing Global Warming 543 • Possibilities
for Reducing Greenhouse Gases 543 • The Kyoto Protocol: Limiting
Greenhouse Gas Emissions 546
Essential Concepts Review 547
Afterword 550
Appendix I Metric and English Units Compared 554
Appendix II Geographic Locations 558
Appendix III Latitude and Longitude on Earth 560
Appendix IV A Chemical Background: Why Water Has Two Hs and One O
(Online as MasteringOceanography Bonus Web Content)
Appendix V Careers in Oceanography 563
Glossary 566
Credits and Acknowledgments 586
Index 589
 Preface

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of
wonder forever.”
—Jacques-Yves Cousteau, oceanographer, underwater
videographer, and explorer (circa 1963)
To the Student
Welcome! You’re about to embark on a journey that is far from ordi-
nary. Over the course of this term, you will discover the central role
the oceans play in the vast global system of which you are a part.
This book’s content was carefully developed to provide a foun-
dation in science by examining the vast body of oceanic knowledge.
This knowledge includes information from a variety of scientific dis-
ciplines—geology, chemistry, physics, and biology—as they relate to
the oceans. However, no formal background in any of these disciplines
is required to successfully master the subject matter contained within
this book. Our desire is to have you take away from your oceanography
course much more than just a collection of facts. Instead, we want you
to develop a fundamental understanding of how the oceans work and
why the oceans behave the way that they do.
This book is intended to help you in your quest to know more
about the oceans. Taken as a whole, the components of the ocean—
its sea floor, chemical constituents, physical components, and life-
forms—comprise one of Earth’s largest interacting, interrelated, and
interdependent systems. Because human activities impact Earth sys-
tems, it is important to understand not only how the oceans operate
but also how the oceans interact with Earth’s other systems (such as its
atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere) as part of a larger picture.
Thus, this book uses a systems approach to highlight the interdisci-
plinary relationships among oceanographic phenomena and how those
phenomena affect other Earth systems.

Diving Deeper Preface.1

A User’s Guide for Students: How To Read a Science Textbook

H ave you known someone who could scan a

reading assignment or sleep with it under
their pillow and somehow absorb all the infor-
mation? Studies have shown that those people
haven’t really committed anything to long-term
memory. For most of us, it takes a focused,
concentrated effort to gain knowledge through
reading. Interestingly, if you have the proper
motivation and reading techniques, you can de-
velop excellent reading comprehension. What is
the best way to read a science textbook such as
this one that contains many new and unfamiliar
terms?
One common mistake is to approach read-
ing a science textbook as one would read a
newspaper, magazine, or novel. Instead, many
reading instructors suggest using the SQ4R
reading technique, which is based on research
about how the brain learns. The SQ4R tech-
nique includes these steps:
1. Survey: Read the title, introduction, major
headings, first sentences, concept state-
ments, review questions, summary, and
study aids to become familiar with the
content in advance.
2. Question: Have questions in mind when you
read. If you can’t think of any good ques-
tions, use the chapter questions as a guide.
3. Read: Read flexibly through the chapter,
using short time periods to accomplish the
task one section at a time (not all in one
sitting).
4. Recite: Answer the chapter questions.
Take notes after each section and review
your notes before you move on.
5. (w)Rite: Write summaries and/or
­reflections on what you’ve read. Write
­answers to the questions in Step 2.
6. Review: Review the text using the
­strategy in the survey step. Take the time
to review your end-of-section notes as
well as your summaries.
To help you study most effectively, this
textbook includes many study aids that are de-
signed to be used with the SQ4R technique.
For example, each chapter includes a word
cloud of key terms, a list of learning objec-
tives that are tied to the Essential Concepts
throughout the chapter, review Concept Check
questions embedded at the end of each sec-
tion, and an Essential Concepts Review that
includes a chapter summary, study resources,
and critical thinking questions.
Here are some additional reading tips that
may seem like common sense but are often
­overlooked:
• Don’t attempt to do your reading when you
are tired, distracted, or agitated.
• Break up your reading into manageable sec-
tions. Don’t save it all until the last minute.
• Take a short break if your concentration
begins to fade. Listen to music, call a
friend, have a snack, or drink some water.
Then return to your reading.
Remember that every person is different,
so experiment with new study techniques to
discover what works best for you. In addition,
being a successful student is hard work; it is
not something one does in his/her spare time.
With a little effort in applying the SQ4R read-
ing technique, you will begin to see a differ-
ence in what you remember from your reading.

xi
xii  Preface

To that end—and to help you make the most of your study time—
we focused the presentation in this book by organizing the material
around three essential components:
1. CONCEPTS: General ideas derived or inferred from specific in-
stances or occurrences (for instance, the concept of density can
be used to explain why the oceans are layered)
2. PROCESSES: Actions or occurrences that bring about a result (for
instance, the process of waves breaking at an angle to the shore
results in the movement of sediment along the shoreline)
3. PRINCIPLES: Rules or laws concerning the functioning of natural
phenomena or mechanical processes (for instance, the principle
of sea floor spreading suggests that the geographic positions of
the continents have changed through time)
Interwoven within these concepts, processes, and principles are
hundreds of photographs, illustrations, real-world examples, and ap-
plications that make the material relevant and accessible (and maybe
sometimes even entertaining) by bringing science to life.
Ultimately, it is our hope that by understanding how the oceans
work, you will develop a new awareness and appreciation of all aspects
of the marine environment and its role in Earth systems. To this end,
the book has been written for you, a student of the oceans. So enjoy
and immerse yourself! You’re in for an exciting ride.
Al Trujillo
To the Instructor
This twelfth edition of Essentials of Oceanography is designed to ac-
company an introductory college-level course in oceanography taught
to students who have no formal background in mathematics or sci-
ence. As in previous editions, the goal of this edition of the textbook
is to clearly present the relationships of scientific principles to ocean
phenomena in an engaging and meaningful way.
This edition has greatly benefited from being thoroughly reviewed
by hundreds of students who made numerous suggestions for im-
provement. Comments by former students about the book include, “I
have really enjoyed the oceanography book we’ve used this semester. It
had just the right mix of graphics, text, and user-friendliness that re-
ally held my interest,” and “What I really liked about the book is that
it’s a welcoming textbook—open and airy. You could almost read it at
bedtime like a story because of all the interesting pictures.”
This edition has been reviewed in detail by a host of instructors
from leading institutions across the country. Reviewers of the eleventh
edition described the text as follows: “Clean, sleek, easy-to-read text
with engaging photos, figures, text features, and animations/videos
that will “hook” students in and get them excited about the material,”
and “I think the text is very well put together. It does a nice job
presenting the material and supporting it with many pictures, illustra-
tions, and graphs. The text is well-organized and laid out in an easy-to-
use fashion. I would recommend this text to a colleague for teaching
Introductory Oceanography.”
In 2012, the tenth edition of Essentials of Oceanography received
a Textbook Excellence Award, called a “Texty,” from the Text and Aca-
demic Authors Association (TAA). The Texty award recognizes written
works for their excellence in the areas of content, presentation, ap-
peal, and teachability. The publisher, Pearson Education, nominated
the book for the award, and the textbook was critically reviewed by a
panel of expert judges.
The 16-chapter format of this textbook is designed for easy cover-
age of the material in a 15- or 16-week semester. For courses taught on
a 10-week quarter system, instructors may need to select those chap-
ters that cover the topics and concepts of primary relevance to their
course. Chapters are self-contained and can thus be covered in any
order. Following the introductory chapter (Chapter 1, which covers
the general geography of the oceans; a historical perspective of ocean-
ography; the reasoning behind the scientific method; and a discussion
of the origin of Earth, the atmosphere, the oceans, and life itself), the

Diving Deeper Preface.2

Ocean Literacy: What Should People Know About The Ocean?

T he ocean is the defining feature of our

planet. Accordingly, there is great interest
in developing ocean literacy, which means un-
derstanding the ocean’s influence on humans
as well as humans’ influence on the ocean. For
example, scientists and educators agree that
an ocean-literate person:
• Understands the essential principles
and fundamental concepts about the
functioning of the ocean.
• Can communicate about the ocean in a
meaningful way.
• Is able to make informed and responsible de-
cisions regarding the ocean and its resources.
To achieve this goal, ocean educators and
experts have developed the Seven Principles of
Ocean Literacy. The following ideas are what ev-
5. The ocean supports a great diversity of life
and ecosystems.
6. The ocean and humans are inextricably
eryone—especially those who successfully pass
interconnected.
a college course in oceanography or marine sci-
ence—should understand about the ocean: 7. The ocean is largely unexplored.
This book is intended to help all people
1. Earth has one big ocean with many
features. achieve ocean literacy. For more information
about the Seven Principles of Ocean Literacy,
2. The ocean and life in the ocean shape the see http://oceanliteracy.wp2.coexploration.org/
features of Earth.
3. The ocean is a major influence on weather
and climate.
4. The ocean makes Earth habitable. https://goo.gl/eMPlXD

four major academic disciplines of oceanography are represented in
the following chapters:
• Geological oceanography (Chapters 2–4 and Chapter 10)
• Chemical oceanography (Chapter 5 and Chapter 11)
• Physical oceanography (Chapters 6–9)
• Biological oceanography (Chapters 12–15)
• Interdisciplinary oceanography: Climate change (Chapter 16)
We strongly believe that oceanography is at its best when it links
together several scientific disciplines and shows how they are interre-
lated in the oceans. Therefore, this interdisciplinary approach is a key
element of every chapter, particularly Chapter 16, “The Oceans and
Climate Change.”
Reorganization of What’s New
in This Edition Section
Changes in this edition are designed to increase the readability,
­relevance, and appeal of this book. Major changes include the f­ ollowing:
1. NEW! Hybridization of the Textbook
• Inclusion of more than 70 Web Animations from Pearson’s Geosci-
ence Animations Library, which include state-of-the-art computer
animations that have been created by Al Trujillo and a panel of
geoscience educators
• Addition of seven new Geoscience Animations that have been spe-
cifically designed for this edition to help students visualize some of
the most challenging oceanographic concepts:
• Formation of Earth’s Oceans (Chapter 1)
• How Salt Dissolves in Water (Chapter 5)
• Three Types of Breakers (Chapter 8)
• Effects of Elliptical Orbits (Chapter 9)
• Osmosis (Chapter 12)
• Feeding in Baleen Whales (Chapter 14)
• Latitude and Longitude on Earth (Appendix III)
• Inclusion of links to more than 50 hand-picked Web videos that
show important oceanographic processes in action
• Addition of QR codes embedded in the text that allow students to
use their mobile devices to link directly to MasteringOceanogra-
phy Animations, SmartFigures, SmartTables, and Web Videos
• Select Diving Deeper features have been migrated online to Mas-
teringOceanography as Bonus Web Content in an effort to reduce
the length of the text
• The addition in each chapter of a series of new SmartFigures
and SmartTables which provide a video explanation of difficult-
to-­understand oceanographic concepts and numerical data by an
oceanography teaching expert
2. NEW! Content/Art Revisions
• A thoroughly updated Chapter 16 “The Oceans and Climate
Change,” including new information about ocean acidification, the
Preface  xiii
most recent findings of the IPCC, five new “Students Sometimes
Ask … ” features that address student misconceptions and
concerns regarding climate change, a new Diving Deeper Box
about the father-son team of Charles David and Ralph Keeling
who created and maintain the Keeling curve of atmospheric
carbon dioxide, an expanded discussion on the role of orbital
parameters in creating natural cycles of climate change, and a
new section on the effect of aerosols on global warming
• A redesigned and updated Chapter 13, “Biological Productiv-
ity and Energy Transfer,” including contributions by Dr. Angel
­Rodriguez of Broward College in Florida highlighting issues of
fisheries sustainability
• A new name and focus for Chapter 11 “Marine Pollution,” which
reframes the chapter discussion along environmental themes
• Reorganization of Chapter 10, adding content about the properties
of the coastal ocean from Chapter 11 and renaming the chapter
“Beaches, Shoreline Processes, and the Coastal Ocean”
• Greater emphasis on the ocean’s role in Earth systems
• Addition of a revised word cloud at the beginning of each chapter
that uses different font sizes to show the most important vocabu-
lary terms within the chapter and directs students to the glossary
at the end of the book to discover the meaning of any terms they
don’t already know
• A detailed list of specific chapter-by-chapter changes is available at
www2.palomar.edu/users/atrujillo.
3. NEW! Pedagogical Enhancements
• A stronger learning path that directly links the learning objec-
tives listed at the beginning of each chapter to the end-of-section
“­Concept Checks,” which allow and encourage students to pause
and test their knowledge as they proceed through the chapter
• Addition of a new “Recap” feature that summarizes key points
throughout the text that making studying easier
• A new active learning pedagogy that divides chapter material
into easily digestible chunks, which makes studying easier and
assists student learning (cognitive science research shows that
the ability to “chunk” information is essential to enhancing
learning and memory)
• The addition of one or more “Give It Some Thought” assessment
questions to each “Diving Deeper” boxed feature
• The addition of a new “Climate Connection” icon that alerts
­students to topics that are related to the overarching theme of the
ocean’s importance to global climate change
• A new multidisciplinary icon that flags content related to two or
more of the sub-disciplines in oceanography: geological oceanogra-
phy, chemical oceanography, physical oceanography, and biological
oceanography
• In all Essential Concept Review (end-of-chapter) materials, the
revision of existing “Critical Thinking Questions” and the addition
of new “Active Learning Exercise” questions that can be used for
in-class group activities
• Updating of information throughout the text to include some of
the most recent and critical developments in oceanography
xiv  Preface
• Addition of an array of new “Students Sometimes Ask … ” ques-
tions throughout the book
• Diving Deeper features appearing in the book are organized
around the following four themes:
• Historical Features, which focus on historical developments
in oceanography that tie into chapter topics
• Research Methods in Oceanography, which highlight how
oceanographic knowledge is obtained
• Oceans and People, which illustrate the interaction of
­humans and the ocean environment
• Focus on the Environment, which emphasizes environmen-
tal issues that are an increasingly important component of
ocean studies
• All text in the chapters has been thoroughly reviewed and edited
by students and oceanography instructors in a continued effort to
refine the style and clarity of the writing
• In addition, this edition continues to offer some of the previous
edition’s most popular features, including the following:
• Scientifically accurate and thorough coverage of oceanography topics
• “Students Sometimes Ask … ” questions, which present actual
student questions along with the authors’ answers
• Use of the international metric system (Système International [SI]
units), with comparable English system units in parentheses
• Explanation of word etymons (etumon = sense of a word) as new
terms are introduced, in an effort to demystify scientific terms by
showing what the terms actually mean
• Use of bold print on key terms, which are defined when they are
introduced and are described in the glossary
• A reorganized “Essential Concepts Review” summary at the end of
each chapter
• MasteringOceanography, which features chapter-specific Essential
Concepts, eText, Bonus Web Content, Geoscience Animations,
Web Videos, Web Destinations, and two Test Yourself quiz
modules
4. NEW! Squidtoons
• A new, comic-styled Squidtoons cartoon in each chapter; c­ reated by
a team of graduate students at Scripps Institution of O
­ ceanography
in California, each Squidtoons highlights an i­mportant marine
organism relevant to the chapter’s content; the cartoon links to a
poster-like presentation that uses engaging ­graphics and humor to
discuss interesting aspects of each creature
For the Student
• MasteringOceanography delivers engaging, dynamic learning
opportunities—focused on course objectives and responsive
to each student’s progress—that are proven to help students
absorb course material and understand difficult concepts.
MasteringOceanography and MyLab & Mastering are customized
learning resources that include:
• Student Study Area, which is designed to be a one-stop resource
for students to acquire study help and serve as a launching pad
for further exploration. Content for the site was written by au-
thor Al Trujillo and is tied, chapter-by-chapter, to the text. The
Student Study Area is organized around a four-step learning
pathway:
1. Review, which contains Essential Concepts as learning
objectives
2. Read, which contains the eText and Bonus Web Content
3. Visualize, which contains Geoscience Animations, Web
Videos, and Web Destinations. Geoscience Animations
were created by a team of geoscience educators and include
an array of more than 70 visualizations that help students
understand complex oceanographic concepts and processes
by allowing the user to control the action. For example,
students can fully examine how an animation develops by
replaying it, controlling its pace, and stopping and starting
the animation anywhere in its sequence. In order to facili-
tate effective study, Al Trujillo has written an accompanying
narration and assessment quiz questions including hints
and specific wrong-answer feedback for each animation.
Web Videos include more than 50 hand-selected short
video clips of oceanographic processes in action. Web
­Destinations include links to some of the best oceanogra-
phy sites on the Web.
4. Test Yourself, which contains three Test Yourself modules,
including multiple-choice and true/false, multiple-answer,
and image-labeling exercises. Answers, once submitted, are
automatically graded for instant feedback.
• RSS Feeds, which allow students to subscribe and stay up-to-
date on oceanographic discoveries
• Study Tools such as flashcards and a searchable online glossary
to help make the most of students’ study time
• THE PEARSON eTEXT gives students complete access to a digital ver-
sion of the text whenever and wherever you have access to the
Internet. eText pages look exactly like the printed text, offering
powerful new portability and functionality.
For the Instructor
• MasteringOceanography: CONTINUOUS LEARNING BEFORE, DURING,
AND AFTER CLASS MasteringOceanography is an online homework,
tutorials, and assessments program designed to improve results by
helping students quickly master oceanography concepts. Students
will benefit from self-paced tutorials that feature immediate
wrong-answer feedback and hints that emulate the office-hour
experience to help keep them on track. With a wide range of
interactive, engaging, and assignable activities, students will be
encouraged to actively learn and retain tough course concepts:
• SmartFigures and SmartTables, which are short instructional
videos that examine and explain the most important concepts
illustrated by the figure or data table. With nearly 100 of
these SmartFigures/SmartTables inside the text, students
can stop, pause, and replay the videos multiple times to help
them learn about important concepts and real oceanographic
data.

• Mobile Interactive Geoscience Animations, which include more
than 70 Geoscience Animations of difficult-to-understand
concepts that are embedded throughout the text using mobile-
friendly QR codes
• GeoTutors, which coach students through difficult concepts
• Encounter Oceans Activities, which provide interactive explora-
tions of oceanography concepts using Google Earth™. Stu-
dents work through the activities in Google Earth and then
test their knowledge by answering the assessment questions,
which include hints and specific wrong-answer feedback.
• Geoscience Animations, which illuminate the most difficult-to-
understand topics in oceanography and were created by an
expert team of geoscience educators. The animation activi-
ties include audio narration, a text transcript, and assign-
able ­multiple-choice questions with specific wrong-answer
­feedback.
• Dynamic Study Modules, which help students study effectively on
their own by continuously assessing their activity and perfor-
mance in real time. Here’s how it works: Students complete
a set of questions with a unique answer format that also asks
them to indicate their confidence level. Questions repeat un-
til the student can answer them all correctly and confidently.
Once completed, Dynamic Study Modules explain the concept
using materials from the text. These are available as graded
assignments prior to class, and accessible on smartphones, tab-
lets, and computers.
• Learning Catalytics™, which are an interactive student response
tool that uses students’ smartphones, tablets, or laptops to
engage them in more sophisticated tasks and thinking. Now
included with MyLab & Mastering and eText, Learning Cata-
lytics™ enables you to generate classroom discussion, guide
your lecture, and promote peer-to-peer learning with real-time
analytics.
• STUDENT PERFORMANCE ANALYTICS MasteringOceanography allows
an instructor to gain easy access to information about student
performance and their ability to meet student learning outcomes.
Instructors can quickly add their own learning outcomes, or use
publisher-provided ones, to track student performance.
• INSTRUCTOR MANUAL (DOWNLOAD ONLY) This resource contains learning
objectives, chapter outlines, answers to embedded end-of-section
questions, and suggested teaching tips to spice up your lectures.
• TESTGEN® COMPUTERIZED TEST BANK (DOWNLOAD ONLY) This resource
is a computerized test generator that lets instructors view and edit
Test Bank questions, transfer questions to tests, and print the test
in a variety of customized formats. The Test Bank includes over
1200 multiple-choice, matching, and short-answer/essay questions.
All questions are tied to the chapter’s learning outcomes, include
a rating based on Bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains (Bloom’s
1–6) and contain the section number in which each question’s an-
swer can be found.
• INSTRUCTOR POWERPOINT® PRESENTATIONS (DOWNLOAD ONLY) Instruc-
tor Resource Materials include the following three PowerPoint®
files for each chapter so that you can cut down on your preparation
time, no matter what your lecture needs:
Preface  xv
1. EXCLUSIVELY ART: This file provides all the photos, art, and
tables from the text, in order, loaded into PowerPoint® slides.
2. LECTURE OUTLINE: This file averages 50 PowerPoint® slides per
chapter and includes customizable lecture outlines with sup-
porting art.
3. CLASSROOM RESPONSE SYSTEM (CRS) QUESTIONS: Authored
for use in conjunction with classroom response systems,
this ­PowerPoint® file allows you to electronically poll your
class for responses to questions, pop quizzes, attendance,
and more.
For more information about these instructor resources, contact your
Pearson textbook representative.
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to many individuals for their helpful comments and
suggestions during the revision of this book. I am particularly indebted
to Development Editor Dr. Barbara Price of Pearson Education for
her encouragement, ideas, and tireless advocacy that she provided to
improve the book. It was a pleasure working with you, Barbara! Laura
Faye Tenenbaum did an outstanding job of creating and narrating the
SmartFigure and SmartTable videos that are found as QR code links
throughout this book. Jenny Duncan did an excellent job of updating
all the study area questions in MasteringOceanography. Thanks also
go to Dr. Angel Rodriquez of Broward College in Florida for his ideas
and contributions to Chapter 13. In addition, Garfield Kwan did a su-
perb job of bringing scientific information to life through his Squid-
toons infographic comics, some of which are included as links in each
chapter of this book.
Many people were instrumental in helping the text evolve from its
manuscript stage. My chief liaison at Pearson Education, Senior Geo-
science Editor Andrew Dunaway, suggested many of the new ideas
in the book to make it more student-friendly and expertly guided the
project. The copy editors at Lumina Datamatics did a superb job of
editing the manuscript, catching many English and other grammar
errors, including obscure errors that had persisted throughout sev-
eral previous editions. Program Manager Sarah Shefveland worked
behind the scenes to manage the quality of this text in terms of ac-
curacy, budget, and the achievement of program goals. Project Man-
ager Connie Long kept the book on track by making sure deadlines
were met along the way and facilitated the distribution of various
versions of the manuscripts. Media Producer Mia Sullivan helped
create the electronic supplements that accompany this book, in-
cluding M ­ asteringOceanography and all of its outstanding features.
The a­ nimations studio Thought Café - http://thoughtcafe.ca/#sthash.
TQCfCo9V.dpbs crafted the new animations and added additional ideas,
which led to great improvements. International Mapping Associates
and Peter Bull Art Studio did a beautiful job of modernizing and up-
dating all maps and most of the figures to add annotations that help
tell the story of the content through the art. Art Development Editor
Jay McElroy reviewed every single piece of art throughout the text
and suggested many improvements to make the figures more clear.
Marine biologist and talented Digital Graphic Artist Justin Hofman
supplied a host of new figures featuring realistic marine organisms
that greatly enhanced the art program. The artful design elements of
xvi  Preface
the text, including its color scheme, text wrapping, and end-of-chap-
ter features, was developed by Layout Designer Gary Hespenheide
in conjunction with Pearson’s Design Manager Derek Bacchus. New
photos were researched and secured by Photo Researcher Kristin Pil-
jay. Last but not least, Senior Production Manager Lindsay Bethoney
of Lumina Datamatics deserves special recognition for her persistence
and encouragement during the many long hours of turning the manu-
script into the book you see today.
I thank my students, whose questions provided the material for
the “Students Sometimes Ask … ” sections and whose continued input
has proved invaluable for improving the text. Because scientists (and
all good teachers) are always experimenting, thanks also for allowing
yourselves to be a captive audience with which to conduct my experi-
ments.
I also thank my patient and understanding family for putting up
with my absence during the long hours of preparing “The Book.” Fi-
nally, appreciation is extended to the chocolate manufacturers Her-
shey, See’s, and Ghirardelli, for providing inspiration. A heartfelt
thanks to all of you!
Many other individuals (including dozens of anonymous review-
ers) have provided valuable technical reviews for this and previous
works. The following reviewers are gratefully acknowledged:
Patty Anderson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Shirley Baker, University of Florida
William Balsam, University of Texas at Arlington
Tsing Bardin, City College of San Francisco
Tony Barros, Miami-Dade Community College
Steven Benham, Pacific Lutheran University
Lori Bettison-Varga, College of Wooster
Thomas Bianchi, Tulane University
David Black, University of Akron
Mark Boryta, Consumnes River College
Laurie Brown, University of Massachusetts
Kathleen Browne, Rider University
Aurora Burd, Green River Community College
Nancy Bushell, Kauai Community College
Chatham Callan, Hawaii Pacific University
Mark Chiappone, Miami-Dade College–Homestead Campus
Chris Cirmo, State University of New York, Cortland
G. Kent Colbath, Cerritos Community College
Thomas Cramer, Brookdale Community College
Richard Crooker, Kutztown University
Cynthia Cudaback, North Carolina State University
Warren Currie, Ohio University
Hans Dam, University of Connecticut
Dan Deocampo, California State University, Sacramento
Richard Dixon, Texas State University
Holly Dodson, Sierra College
Joachim Dorsch, St. Louis Community College
Wallace Drexler, Shippensburg University
Walter Dudley, University of Hawaii
Iver Duedall, Florida Institute of Technology
Jessica Dutton, Adelphi University
Charles Ebert, State University of New York, Buffalo
Ted Eckmann, University of Portland
Charles Epifanio, University of Delaware
Jiasong Fang, Hawaii Pacific University
Diego Figueroa, Florida State University
Kenneth Finger, Irvine Valley College
Catrina Frey, Broward College
Jessica Garza, MiraCosta College
Benjamin Giese, Texas A&M University
Cari Gomes, MiraCosta College
Dave Gosse, University of Virginia
Carla Grandy, City College of San Francisco
John Griffin, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Elizabeth Griffith, University of Texas at Arlington
Gary Griggs, University of California, Santa Cruz
Joseph Holliday, El Camino Community College
Mary Anne Holmes, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Timothy Horner, California State University, Sacramento
Alan Jacobs, Youngstown State University
Ron Johnson, Old Dominion University
Uwe Richard Kackstaetter, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Charlotte Kelchner, Oakton Community College
Matthew Kleban, New York University
Eryn Klosko, State University of New York, Westchester Community College
M. John Kocurko, Midwestern State University
Lawrence Krissek, Ohio State University
Jason Krumholz, NOAA/University of Rhode Island
Paul LaRock, Louisiana State University
Gary Lash, State University of New York, Fredonia
Richard Laws, University of North Carolina
Richard Little, Greenfield Community College
Stephen Macko, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Chris Marone, Pennsylvania State University
Jonathan McKenzie, Edison State College–Lee Campus
Matthew McMackin, San Jose State University
James McWhorter, Miami-Dade Community College
Gregory Mead, University of Florida
Keith Meldahl, MiraCosta College
Nancy Mesner, Utah State University
Chris Metzler, MiraCosta College
Johnnie Moore, University of Montana
P. Graham Mortyn, California State University, Fresno
Andrew Muller, Millersville University
Andrew Muller, Utah State University
Daniel Murphy, Eastfield College
Jay Muza, Florida Atlantic University
Jennifer Nelson, Indiana University–Purdue University at Indianapolis
Jim Noyes, El Camino Community College
Sarah O’Malley, Maine Maritime Academy
B. L. Oostdam, Millersville University
William Orr, University of Oregon
Joseph Osborn, Century College
Donald Palmer, Kent State University
Nancy Penncavage, Suffolk County Community College
Curt Peterson, Portland State University
Adam Petrusek, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Edward Ponto, Onondaga Community College
Donald Reed, San Jose State University
Randal Reed, Shasta College
M. Hassan Rezaie Boroon, California State University, Los Angeles
Cathryn Rhodes, University of California, Davis
James Rine, University of South Carolina
Felix Rizk, Manatee Community College
Angel Rodriguez, Broward College
Diane Shepherd, Shepherd Veterinary Clinic, Hawaii
Beth Simmons, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Jill Singer, State University of New York, Buffalo
Arthur Snoke, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
 Preface  xvii

Pamela Stephens, Midwestern State University Although this book has benefited from careful review by many in-
Dean Stockwell, University of Alaska, Fairbanks dividuals, the accuracy of the information rests with the authors. If you
Scott Stone, Fairfax High School, Virginia find errors or have comments about the text, please contact me.
Lenore Tedesco, Indiana University–Purdue University at Indianapolis
Shelly Thompson, West High School Al Trujillo
Craig Tobias, University of North Carolina, Wilmington Department of Earth, Space, and Aviation Sciences
M. Craig VanBoskirk, Florida Community College at Jacksonville Palomar College
Paul Vincent, Oregon State University 1140 W. Mission Rd.
George Voulgaris, University of South Carolina San Marcos, CA 92069
Bess Ward, Princeton University atrujillo@palomar.edu
Jackie Watkins, Midwestern State University
www2.palomar.edu/users/atrujillo
Jamieson Webb, Gulf Coast State College
Arthur Wegweiser, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Diana Wenzel, Seminole State College of Florida
John White, Louisiana State University
Katryn Wiese, City College of San Francisco “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”
Raymond Wiggers, College of Lake County —Loren Eiseley, American educator and
John Wormuth, Texas A&M University ­natural science writer (1907–1977)
Memorie Yasuda, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
 SmartFigures

1.2 Earth’s oceans 7.12 Coastal upwelling and downwelling

1.15 The scientific method 7.22 Normal, El Niño, and La Niña conditions
1.19 The nebular hypothesis of solar system formation 7.28 Atlantic Ocean subsurface water masses
1.21 Comparison of Earth’s chemical composition and physical 8.4 Characteristics and terminology of a typical progressive wave
properties 8.15 Constructive, destructive, and mixed interference produce a
1.27 Photosynthesis and respiration are cyclic and complimentary variety of wave patterns
processes that are fundamental to life on Earth 8.22 Wave reflection and constructive interference at The Wedge,
2.10 Magnetic evidence of sea floor spreading Newport Harbor, California
2.12 Earthquakes and tectonic plate boundaries 8.25 Tsunami generation, propagation, and destruction
2.19 Comparing oceanic rises and ridges 8.32 How a wave power plant works
2.20 The three subtypes of convergent plate boundaries and their 9.6 Resultant forces
associated features 9.9 The lunar day
2.25 Origin and development of mantle plumes and hotspots 9.11 Earth-Moon-Sun positions and the tides
2.33 The Wilson cycle of ocean basin evolution 9.16 Predicted idealized tides
3A Earth’s hypsographic curve 9.21 Reversing tidal currents in a bay
3.2 Multibeam sonar 10.4 Longshore current and longshore drift
3.9 Passive and active continental margins 10.14 Physiographic features of barrier island and migration of a
3.12 Submarine canyons and turbidity currents barrier island in response to sea level rise
3.24 Transform faults and fracture zones 10.16 Beach compartments
4.1 Accumulation of siliceous ooze 10.20 Interference of sand movement
4.15 Sea floor spreading and sediment accumulation 10.30 Salinity variation in the coastal ocean
4.20 Distribution of sediment across a passive continental margin 10.34 Classifying estuaries by mixing
4.21 Distribution of neritic (nearshore) and pelagic (open ocean) 11.3 Comparison of selected oil spills
sediments 11.9 Processes acting on oil spills
5.8 Latent heats and changes of state of water 11.16 How biomagnification concentrates toxins in higher-level
5.9 Hydrogen bonds in H2O and the three states of matter organisms
5.12 Water density as a function of temperature and the formation 11.17 Methylmercury concentration in fish, fish consumption rates
of ice. for various populations, and the danger levels of mercury
5.21 The pH scale including pH values of common substances poisoning
5.26 Salinity variation with depth 11.20 International laws regulate ocean dumping in U.S. waters

5.27 Comparing vertical profile curves for temperature and 12.1 The three domains of life and the six kingdoms of organisms
density in the low and high latitudes 12.12 Surface area-to-volume ratio of cubes of different sizes
6.2 Perspective view of Earth’s orbit: Why Earth has seasons 12.18 Salinity adaptations of freshwater and saltwater fish
6.10 A merry-go-round spinning counterclockwise as viewed from 12.26 Abundance of dissolved oxygen and nutrients with depth
above illustrates some concepts about the Coriolis effect 13.1 Photosynthesis and respiration are cyclic and complimentary
6.14 High- and low-pressure regions and resulting air flow in the processes that are fundamental to life on Earth
Northern Hemisphere 13.3 The electromagnetic spectrum and transmission of visible
6.20 Typical North Atlantic hurricane storm track and detail of light in seawater
internal structure 13.6 Coastal upwelling
7.5 Wind-driven surface currents 13.14 How dead zones form
7.7 The Ekman spiral produces Ekman transport 13.28 Ecosystem energy flow and efficiency

xviii
 New Geoscience Animations Specifically Designed for this Edition   xix

13.30 Oceanic biomass pyramid 15.28 Comparing chemosynthesis (top panel) and photosynthesis
13.36 Methods and gear used in commercial fishing (bottom panel)

14.2 Swim bladder 16.1 Major components of Earth’s climate system

14.9 General features and fins of a fish 16.2 Examples of climate feedback loops

14.17 Major groups of marine mammals 16A The Keeling curve

14.19 Skeletal and morphological differences between seals and 16.17 Ice core data of atmospheric composition and global
sea lions temperature

14.24 Cutaway views showing the echolocation system of a sperm 16.18 Scenarios for future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and
whale and a dolphin corresponding global temperature increase

15.1 Worldwide distribution of oceanic benthic biomass 16.26 Examples of marine organisms that are affected by increased
ocean acidity
15.2 Rocky shore intertidal zones and common organisms
16.34 The iron hypothesis
15.20 Coral reef structure and zonation

SmartTables

Table 1.1 Comparing oceanic and continental crust Table 6.3 The Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity
Table 2.1 Characteristics, tectonic process, features, and examples Table 7.1 Subtropical gyres and surface currents
of plate boundaries Table 7.2 Characteristics of western and eastern boundary
Table 3.1 Comparison between transform faults and fracture currents of subtropical gyres
zones Table 8.1 Beaufort Wind Scale and the state of the sea
Table 4.3 Comparison of environments interpreted from deposits Table 12.1 Taxonomic classification of selected organisms
of siliceous and calcareous ooze in surface sediments
Table 13.1 Values of net primary productivity for various
Table 5.1 Selected dissolved materials in 35‰ seawater ecosystems
Table 5.2 Comparison of selected properties of pure water Table 15.1 Adverse conditions of rocky intertidal zones and
and seawater organism adaptations
Table 5.3 Processes that affect seawater salinity Table 16.1 Human-caused greenhouse gases and their contribution
Table 6.2 Characteristics of wind belts and boundaries to increasing the greenhouse effect

New Geoscience Animations Specifically Designed for this Edition

Chapter 1 Formation of Earth’s Oceans Chapter 12 Osmosis

Chapter 5 How Salt Dissolves in Water Chapter 14 Feeding in Baleen Whales
Chapter 8 Three Types of Breakers Appendix III Latitude and Longitude on Earth
Chapter 9 Effects of Elliptical Orbits
OCEANOGRAPHY JUST GOT

REAL!
WITH al Trujillo,
Essentials of Oceanography
Twelfth Edition
 T able 5.1 selecTed dissolved maTerials in 35‰ seawaTer

1. Major constituents (in parts per thousand by weight, ‰)

Constituent Concentration (‰) Ratio of constituent/total salts (%)
Chloride (Cl−) 19.2 55.04

Dynamic visuals and integrated media

Sodium (Na+)
Sulfate (SO42−)
Magnesium (Mg2+)
10.6
2.7
1.3
30.61
7.68
3.69

bring oceanography to life

Calcium (Ca2+)
Potassium (K+)
0.40
0.38
1.16
1.10
Total 34.58‰ 99.28%
Highly visual and interactive tools make oceanography approachable,
2. Minor constituents (in parts per million by weight, ppma)
enabling students Gases to see oceanographic processesNutrients in action. Others
Constituent Concentration (ppm) Constituent Concentration (ppm) Constituent Concentration (ppm)
Carbon dioxide 90 Silicon (Si) 3.0 Bromide (Br−) 65.0
2.3 What Features Occur at Plate Boundaries? 59

The slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a

(CO2) Sea Level

tall, steep, rugged portion of the mid-ocean
ridge with a prominent central rift valley.

0 150 300 Miles

Nitrogen (N2) 14 Nitrogen (N) 0.5 1.5

0 150 300 Kilometers

Carbon (C)
5000
28.0

Depth (km)

Depth (ft)
3.0 10,000

Oxygen (O2) 6 Phosphorus (P) 0.07 4.5

Strontium (Sr)
15,000
8.0

NEW! SmartFigures and SmartTables

6.0 20,000
100 75 50 25 0 25 50 75 100

Iron (Fe) 0.002 Boron (B) 4.6

Time (million years)

are 3- to (a) Profile view of an oceanic ridge.

Mid–Atlantic Ridge

4.4 What Are the Characteristics of Hydrogenous Sediment? 121

4-minute
3. Trace constituentsmini video
(in parts lessons
per billion by weight, ppbb)
containingexplanations s mart table 4.3 comparison of environments interpreted from deposits of siliceous and calcareous ooze
in surface sediments

Constituent Concentration (ppb) Constituent

of difficult-to-understand oceanographic concepts andConcentration (ppb) Constituent Concentration (ppb) Siliceous ooze Calcareous ooze

Surface water temperature Cool Warm

above sea floor deposits

Lithium (Li) 185 Zinc (Zn) 10 Lead (Pb) 0.03

numerical data directed by an oceanography teaching
Main location found Sea floor beneath cool surface water in high latitudes Sea floor beneath warm surface water in low latitudes

Other factors Upwelling brings deep, cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface Calcareous ooze dissolves below the CCD

Rubidium (Rb) 120 Aluminum (Al) 2 Mercury (Hg) Other locations found
0.03
Sea floor beneath areas of upwelling, including along the equator
Sea floor beneath warm surface water in low
latitudes along the mid-ocean ridge

Iodineexpert
(I) and NASA Science 60 Communicator.
Manganese By(Mn)scanning 2 Gold (Au) 0.005
calcareous ooze (sometimes exceeding 80%) are found along segments of the mid-
ocean ridge, but little is found in deep-ocean basins below the CCD. For example,
in the northern Pacific Ocean—one of the deepest parts of the world ocean—there
SmartTable 4.3 Comparison of environments
interpreted from deposits of siliceous and
calcareous ooze in surface sediments

the1000accompanying QR code, or typing in the short

https://goo.gl/H5uBwg
East Pacific Rise is very little calcium carbonate in the sediment. Calcium carbonate is also rare in
a
note that ppm = 1‰.
sediments accumulating beneath cold, high-latitude waters where calcareous-se-
The fast-spreading East Pacific Rise is a broad, creting organisms are relatively uncommon.
low, gentle swelling of the mid-ocean ridge
that lacks a prominent rift valley.
table 4.3 compares the environmental conditions that can be inferred from sili- RECap

URL, 1000students now have a multitude of ways to learn

ceous and calcareous oozes. It shows that siliceous ooze typically forms below cool
b Biogenous sediment is produced from the hard remains of

note that ppb = 1 ppm.

Sea Level
0 150 300 Miles surface water regions, including areas of upwelling where deep-ocean water comes
once-living organisms. Microscopic biogenous sediment is
1.5
0 150 300 Kilometers to the surface and supplies nutrients that stimulate high rates of biological produc-
5000 ooze, on the other hand, is found on the shallower areas of the
tivity. Calcareous especially widespread and forms deposits of ooze on the

Depth (km)

Depth (ft)
3.0 ocean floor10,000
beneath warmer surface water. ocean floor.

from art and data tables, all designed to teach. 4.5 15,000
ConCEpt ChECk 4.3 Describe the characteristics of biogenous sediment.

Salinity is often expressed in parts per thousand (‰). For example, as 1%

6.0
30
(b) Profile view of an oceanic rise.
is 1 part in 100, 1‰ is 1 part in 1000. When converting from percent to parts per
20,000
15 0 15 130Describe the origin, composition,
Time (million years) and distribution of biogenous sediment.
2 List the two major chemical com-
pounds of which most biogenous sedi-
ment is composed and two examples of
the microscopic organisms that produce
ooze? What other component do all
oozes contain?
4 If siliceous ooze is slowly but con-
stantly dissolving in seawater, how can
deposits of siliceous ooze accumulate
on the ocean floor?

thousand, the decimal is simply moved one place to the right. For instance, typical
SmartFigure 2.19 Comparing oceanic rises and
them. Sketch and label these organisms.
ridges. Perspective and profile views of the ocean 5 Explain the stages of progression
(6.5 inches) per year.7 Conversely, steeper-sloping and slower-spreading areas of the 3 Technically, what must a biog-
floor based on satellite bathymetry showing differ-
that result in calcareous ooze existing
enous ooze contain to be classified as below the CCD.
mid-ocean ridge are called oceanic ridges. For instance, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge ences between oceanic ridges (part a above) and

seawater salinity of 3.5% is the same as 35‰. Advantages of expressing salinity in

(Figure 2.19a) between the South American and African Plates is a tall, steep, rug-
ged oceanic ridge that has an average spreading rate of 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) per
oceanic rises (part b below). Note that both
profile views have the same scale.
https://goo.gl/Zh9QSS

parts per thousand are that decimals are often avoided and4.4values convert directly
What are the Characteristics
year and stands as much as 3000 meters (10,000 feet) above the surrounding sea
floor. Its prominent central rift valley is as much as 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide
of hydrogenous sediment?
to grams of salt per kilogram of seawater. For example, 35‰ seawater has 35 grams
7
The spreading rate is the total widening rate of an ocean basin resulting from motion of both plates
away from a spreading center.
Hydrogenous sediment (hydro = water, generare = to produce) is derived from
the dissolved material in water.

of salt in every 1000 grams of seawater.10 origin of hydrogenous sediment

Seawater contains many dissolved materials. Chemical reactions within Interdisciplinary
seawater cause certain minerals to come out of solution, or precipitate
(change from the dissolved to the solid state). Precipitation usually oc-
curs when there is a change in conditions, such as a change in tempera-
ture or pressure or the addition of chemically active fluids. To make Relationship
M02_TRUJ3545_12_SE_C02.indd 59 10/12/15 7:30 PM
rock candy, for instance, a pan of water is heated and sugar is added. When the wa-

Determining salinity
ter is hot and the sugar dissolved, the pan is removed from the heat, and the sugar
water is allowed to cool. The change in temperature causes the sugar to become
5.1 squidtoons
NEW!
Early methods of determining seawater salinity involved evaporating a carefully
Squidtoons, a comic-styled call-out created by a team
weighed amount of seawater and weighing the salts that precipitated from it. How-
M04_TRUJ3545_12_SE_C04.indd 121 12/09/15 6:00 PM

ever, the accuracystudents

of graduate at Scripps Institution
of this time-consuming of Oceanography
method is limited in
because some water
canCalifornia,
remain bonded to salts that precipitate and some substances can
are featured in each chapter. These infographics highlight evaporate
along with the water.
an
Another way to marine
important measure organism
salinity is torelated
use the to each chapter’s
principle of constant content
propor-
tions, which was firmly established by chemist William
using graphical representation to display recent discoveries Dittmar (1859–1951)
by
when he analyzed the water samples collected during the Challenger Expedition
researchers in an interesting and captivating manner. By
(see MasteringOceanography Web Diving Deeper 5.2). The principle of constant scanning
the associated QR code or typing in the short URL in the text,
students will bepertaken toarethe digital partsspace to view theSalinity
full values,
cartoon.
10
Note that the units “parts thousand” effectively per thousand by weight.
however, lack units because the salinity of a water sample is determined as the ratio of the electrical con-
ductivity of the sample to the electrical conductivity of a standard. Thus, salinity values are sometimes
https://goo.gl/kbHv7k reported in p.s.u., or practical salinity units, which are equivalent to parts per thousand.

Satellite tracking:
used to precisely Spotter airplane: used
locate a fishing to find dolphins, which
stock. are often associated
with tuna.

Aquaculture pen:
farmed fish are raised

NEW!
in floating pens.

Enhanced illustration program, with new art incorporating

M05_TRUJ3545_12_SE_C05.indd 148 16/12/15 3:57 AM
the research-proven technique of strategically placing annotations and
labels within the key figures, allows students to focus on the most
relevant visual information and helps them interpret complex art.
Sonar: used
to locate fish
underwater.

Overall, nearly 90% of the entire book’s artwork has been updated or is
Purse seine net:

new, including new figures that provide visual summaries of essential Trawl net:
a net with
steel doors that
is dragged along
a net that is
drawn around
an entire
school of fish.

processes and concepts.

the bottom.

Gill net or driftnet:

Long lines:
a long monofilament
a main line
curtain that drifts within Sea floor traps: with hooks.
the water column. metal or wooden
cages with bait inside
that catch crustaceans
and bottom fish. Scale varies; vertical scale
greatly compressed
Essential elements form a
path to successful learning
Each chapter is organized into easily digestible chunks, making studying easier and
assisting student learning. Chapter material begins with learning goals and ends with
assessment questions tied to those learning goals. The end-of-chapter material is also
organized by the chapter's sections, helping students remain focused on the essential
concepts throughout the chapter.

Each chapter opens with a list of

learning objectives called Essential
Learning Concepts, which provide
a roadmap to the chapter. Each
chapter section focuses on one
main Essential Concept.

Concept Check questions at the end of

each section are designed to let students
check their understanding of the Essential
Learning Concept. By stopping and
answering questions, students ensure that
they have a thorough understanding of key NEW! A Recap feature now appears throughout
points before moving on to the next section. each chapter, summarizing essential concepts. This is
a great tool for directing students' study and review.

78 Chapter 2 Plate Tectonics and the Ocean Floor 40˚

50˚ 50˚
40˚
Arrows indicate the direction
of ice flow, preserved as 2.3 what features occur at plate boundaries? 2.5 how has earth changed in the past, and how will it
EURASIA grooves in rocks.

look in the future?

30˚
30˚
NORTH
20˚ AMERICA 20˚
PANTHALASSA
P

▸▸ As new crust is added to the lith-

10˚ 10˚

essential ConCepts review

The three main types of plate boundaries are...
A
140˚

120˚

100˚

140˚

160˚

180˚
100˚

120˚
80˚

60˚

60˚

80˚
N

TETHYS
A AFRICA
osphere at the mid-ocean ridge ▸▸ The positions of various sea floor and continental features have
G

10˚ SEA 10˚

E
20˚ SOUTH A 20˚

30˚
AMERICA
INDIA
30˚ (divergent boundaries where changed in the past, continue to change today, and will look very
40˚

plates move apart), the opposite

40˚ Plate Plate
AUSTRALIA
50˚ 50˚
60˚
About 300 million years ago,
portions of the supercontinent Asthenosphere
DIVERGENT,
where plates are moving apart, different in the future.
2.1 what evidence supports continental drift?
60˚

(a)
70˚ ANTARCTICA of Pangaea lay close to the South
Pole and were covered by glacial ice. ends of the plates are subducted (a)
such as at the mid-ocean ridge...

into the mantle at ocean trenches ▸▸ A predictive working model of plate tectonics is the Wilson cycle,
▸▸ According to the theory of plate tectonics, the outermost portion of or beneath continental mountain which describes the evolution of ocean basins during their forma-
Earth is composed of a patchwork of thin, rigid lithospheric plates 40˚
EUROPE ASIA
50˚
ranges such as the Himalayas tion, growth, and destruction over millions of years.
NORTH 40˚

that move horizontally with respect to one another. The idea began AMERICA
30˚ Plate Plate

(convergent boundaries where

30˚

AFRICA
20˚
Asthenosphere
CONVERGENT,
where plates are moving together,
study resources
as a hypothesis called continental drift proposed by Alfred Wegener 10˚ 10˚
plates come together). In addition, (b)
such as at a deep-ocean trench, and...

MasteringOceanography Study Guide Quizzes, MasteringOceanography

140˚

120˚

100˚

140˚

160˚

180˚
40˚

20˚

60˚

80˚
0˚

at the start of the 20th century. He suggested that about 200 million 10˚
SOUTH
AMERICA Glacial
deposits
10˚ oceanic ridges and rises are offset, Web Animations, MasteringOceanography Web Diving Deeper 2.3
AUSTRALIA
years ago, all the continents were combined into one large continent 20˚

30˚
Glacial
deposits
30˚
20˚
and plates slide past one another
(Pangaea) surrounded by a single large ocean (Panthalassa). 40˚
50˚ 50˚ along transform faults (transform Plate
TRANSFORM,
Critical thinking Question
60˚ Today, glacial deposits in Plate
Asthenosphere where plates slide past each other,

boundaries where plates slowly Assume that you travel at the same rate as a fast-moving continent—
60˚
tropical regions of the world, along such as at a transform fault.

▸▸ Many lines of evidence were used to support the idea of continental

70˚ ANTARCTICA
with the orientation of grooves in the underlying
(b)

Each chapter ends with the Essential

rock, give evidence that the continentshave moved from their

drift, including the similar shape of nearby continents, matching se-
quences of rocks and mountain chains, glacial ages and other climate
evidence, and the distribution of fossil and present-day organisms.
Although this evidence suggested that continents have drifted, other
incorrect assumptions about the mechanism involved caused many
former positions. grind past one another). (c)
at a rate of 10 centimeters (2.5 inches) per year. Calculate how long
it would take you to travel from your present location to a nearby
Critical thinking Question study resources
large city. Also, calculate how long it would take you to travel across
MasteringOceanography Study Guide Quizzes, MasteringOceanog-
If you could travel back in time with three illustrations from this the United States from the East Coast to the West Coast.
raphy Web Animations
chapter to help Alfred Wegener convince the scientists of his day that
continental drift does indeed exist, what would they be, and why? active learning exercise

Concepts Review, which simplifies the study

geologists and geophysicists to discount this hypothesis throughout Critical thinking Question
Equator

You and two of your fellow class-

540 million years ago

the first half of the 20th century. Using Figure 2.12, analyze and describe the tectonic setting that con-
470 million years ago

active learning exercise mates are colonists on an Earth-

430 million years ago

study resources tributed to these natural disasters: (1) the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa,
Create two teams to debate the evidence for and against continental sized planet orbiting within the 370 million years ago

MasteringOceanography Study Guide Quizzes, MasteringOceanogra- Indonesia; (2) the 2010 Haitian earthquake; and (3) the 2011 earth-
drift. Use only knowledge of Earth processes that was available prior to habitable zone of a distant star. As
quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.
PA

300 million years ago

phy Web Animation

N
G

E
A

the 1930s. a group, choose one of the follow-

A

process. Also organized by section, this review

240 million years ago

active learning exercise ing scenarios for your planet: (1) 170 million years ago

it has extremely active tectonics,

With another student in class, list and describe the three types of
(2) it exhibits Earth-like tectonic 120 million years ago

plate boundaries. Include in your discussion any sea floor features

activity, or (3) it is tectonically
that are related to these plate boundaries and include a real-world
Equator

65 million years ago

dead. Then, based on your planet’s

2.2 what evidence supports plate tectonics? example of each. Construct a map view and cross section showing Today

highlights a key figure from the chapter and

chosen level of tectonic activity,
each of the three types of plate boundaries, including the direction
describe what your planet looks like, including details about various
▸▸ More convincing evidence for drifting continents was introduced in 80° 80°
of plate movement and associated features.
landforms that would be visible.
120° 140° 160° 180° 160° 140° 120° 100° 60° 40° 20° 0° 20° 40° 60°
80°
ARCTIC OCEAN

the 1960s, when paleomagnetism—the study of Earth’s ancient mag-

Arctic Circle

NO RT H AM E RICAN EURASIAN
P L AT E
netic field—was developed and the significance of features of the JUAN DE FUCA P LAT E
PLATE
40°

ocean floor became better known. The paleomagnetism of the ocean

provides a summary of the chapter’s key

Tropic of Cancer CARIBBEAN
PLATE ARABIAN INDIAN

2.4 testing the model: how can plate tectonics be used as a working model?
20°
PHILIPPINE PLATE
AT L ANT I C

floor is permanently recorded in oceanic crust and reveals stripes of PLATE

Equator
PA C I F I C O C E A N COCOS
PLATE
OCEAN AF R I C AN
PL AT E
PL ATE

normal and reverse magnetic polarity in a symmetric pattern relative

0°
PA C I F I C P L AT E
SOUTH AMERICAN
I ND I AN

▸▸ Tests of the plate tectonic model indicate that many features and phe-
PLATE

to the mid-ocean ridge.

NAZCA OCEAN

active learning exercise

20° 20°
Tropic of Capricorn PL ATE
AUSTRALIAN
Kauai, 3.8–5.6 m.y.

nomena provide support for shifting plates. These include mantle

P L AT E Pacific
Plate Oahu, 2.2–3.3 m.y.

▸▸ Harry Hess advanced the idea of sea floor spreading. New sea floor In pairs, investigate the
40° 40°
Molokai, 1.3–1.8 m.y.
Direction of Maui, less than 1 m.y.

plumes and their associated hotspots that record the motion of plates
plate motion
Hawaii, 0.7 m.y. to present

is created at the crest of the mid-ocean ridge and moves apart in op-
60° 60°

idea that a mantle plume Midway

concepts. It also includes study resources,

Islands

past them, the origin of flat-topped tablemounts, and the stages of

Antarctic Circle

Hotspot Oceanic

posite directions and is eventually destroyed by subduction into an Plate velocities (in mm/year) A N T A R C T I C P L A T E
underlies Yellowstone Na- crust
lithosphere

coral reef development.

3–11 25–40 55–70 Oceanic
0 1500 3000 Miles

tional Park. Report to the

11–25 40–55 70–77

ocean trench. This helps explain the pattern of magnetic stripes on

0 1500 3000 Kilometers

the sea floor and why sea floor rocks increase linearly in age in either study resources class what evidence you This sharp bend in the
Hawaiian-Emperor
chain was created Detroit
by a combination 81 m.y.
Aleutian Trench
Emperor Seamont
Mantle
plume

direction from the axis of the mid-ocean ridge. MasteringOceanography Study Guide Quizzes, Mastering- have discovered. Using
of the changing
Suiko chain
motion of the
65 m.y. The chain of volcanoes that
Pacific Plate Hawaiian chain
extends from Hawaii to the Aleutian Trench
and the slow
was created by the movement of the Pacific Plate over

Oceanography Web Animations your understanding about

movement of
the Hawaiian hotspot.

Critical thinking Question

the Hawaiian

▸▸ Other supporting evidence for plate tectonics includes oceanic heat flow
hotspot itself. Midway

Critical Thinking Questions, and NEW! Active

Islands Hawaii

plate tectonics, assess the

27 m.y.

measurements, the pattern of worldwide earthquakes, and, more re- If the sea floor didn’t exhibit any magnetic polarity reversals, what
Ages given
in millions of

Critical thinking Question implications for the future

years (m.y.)
before present.

cently, the detection of plate motion by accurate positioning of locations
on Earth using satellites. The combination of evidence has convinced
geologists of Earth’s dynamic nature and helped advance the idea of
continental drift into the more encompassing plate tectonic theory.
would that indicate about the history of Earth’s ocean basins?
Describe the differences in origin between the Aleutian Islands (Alaska) of this region.
active learning exercise and the Hawaiian Islands. Provide evidence to support your explanation.
A recent discovery suggests that Jupiter’s moon Europa is composed of

study resources
MasteringOceanography Study Guide Quizzes, MasteringOceanogra-
phy Web Table 2.1, MasteringOceanography Web Diving Deeper 2.1,
MasteringOceanography Web Animations
Learning Exercises.
thin, brittle slabs of water ice that undergo plate tectonics, much like
Earth’s lithospheric plates. Research this discovery on the Internet and
describe the evidence for the existence of plate tectonic processes on
Europa.
www.masteringoceanography.com

Looking for additional review and test prep materials? With
individualized coaching on the toughest topics of the course,
MasteringOceanography offers a wide variety of ways for you to move
beyond memorization to begin thinking like an oceanographer. Visit the
Study Area in www.masteringoceanography.com to find practice quizzes,
study tools, and multimedia that will improve your understanding of
this chapter’s content. Sign in today to enjoy the following features:
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Modules, and an optional Pearson eText.
Turning interest into engagement
Everyday topics in a real world context help students relate oceanography
to their lives while engaging them in how oceanography is studied.

NEW! Climate Connection: This NEW! Interdisciplinary Relationship: This

icon shows how various sections of the icon shows how various sections of the text relate
text relate to the overarching theme of to two or more sub-disciplines in oceanography:
the importance of Earth’s oceans to geological oceanography, biological oceanography,
global climate change. physical oceanography, and chemical oceanography.

The new edition includes

a variety of Diving Deeper
features, including Historical
Features, Research Methods in
Oceanography, Oceans and People,
and Focus on the Environment.
These features foster multi-
dimensional understanding with
captivating examples and stories.
Each Diving Deeper feature now
includes one or more “Give It Some
Thought” assessment questions.

The popular Students Sometimes Ask features answer often

entertaining questions posed by real students.
Continuous Learning
Before, During, and After Class
with
MasteringOceanography delivers engaging, dynamic learning
opportunities—focusing on course objectives and responsive to
each student’s progress—that are proven to help students absorb
oceanography course materials and understand challenging
physical processes and oceanography concepts.

Dynamic Study Modules and eText 2.0 provide

Before class students with a preview of what’s to come.

NEW! Dynamic Study Modules enable

students to study effectively on their own in
an adaptive format. Students receive an ini-
tial set of questions with a unique answer for-
mat asking them to indicate their confidence.
Once completed, Dynamic Study Modules
include explanations using material taken
directly from the text.

NEW! Interactive eText 2.0 comes complete with

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ADA accessible.
• Now available on smartphones and tablets.
• Seamlessly integrated videos and other rich media.
• Fully accessible (screen-reader ready).
• Configurable reading settings, including resizable type
and night reading mode.
• Facilitates instructor and student note-taking,
highlighting, bookmarking, and search.
during class Engage students with LearningCatalytics

NEW! LearningCatalytics, a “bring your own

device” student engagement, assessment, and
classroom intelligence system (PRS), allows
students to use their smartphone, tablet, or
laptop to respond to questions in class without
the need for a “clicker.”

Helping students visualize oceanography

after class concepts that can be easily assignable.

NEW! The following 7 geoscience

animations have been specifically designed
for this edition:
• Formation of Earth's Oceans
• How Salt Dissolves in Water
• Three Types of Breakers
• Effects of Elliptical Orbits
• Osmosis
• Feeding in Baleen Whales
• Latitude and Longitude on Earth

More than 70 geoscience animations are

associated with the text, and all include audio
narration, a text transcript, and assignable
multiple-choice questions with specific wrong-
answer feedback in Mastering.

Select key animations have been refreshed

and made compatible for Mastering and
mobile devices.
 helps students learn…
(a) Waves approaching the beach at a slight angle near Oceanside, California,
producing a longshore current moving toward the right of the photo.

ave
each w Downcoast
les with
n d partic ... and an associated
ent of sa
Movem longshore transport
of sand.

NEW! SmartFigures bring key chapter

Upcoast ... causing a zig-zag longshore current
of water in the surf zone... Longshore
current
Waves
approach Wave
illustrations to life! These videos are accessible
c rest
the beach
at an angle... on mobile devices via scannable Quick Response
(QR) codes printed in the text and through the
Study Area in MasteringOceanography. Paired
with other assessments in Mastering, these videos
become assignable and assessable learning
(b) A longshore current, caused by refracting waves, moves water in a zigzag fashion along the
shoreline. This causes a net movement of sand grains (longshore drift) from upcoast to
downcoast ends of a beach.
objects that can either prepare students for
lecture or assess what they have learned.

(a) Waves approaching the beach at a slight angle near Oceanside, California,
producing a longshore current moving toward the right of the photo.

ch wave Downcoast
s with ea
nd particle ... and an associated
ent of sa
Movem longshore transport
of sand.

Upcoast ... causing a zig-zag longshore current

of water in the surf zone... Longshore
current
Waves

NEW! SmartTables are engaging tutorial

approach Wave
the beach c rest
at an angle...

videos that explain the relevance of the real

data found in tables within the textbook.
Paired with other assessments in Mastering, (b) A longshore current, caused by refracting waves, moves water in a zigzag fashion along the
shoreline. This causes a net movement of sand grains (longshore drift) from upcoast to
downcoast ends of a beach.

these become assignable and assessable

learning objects that allow students to
interpret real data sets.

GeoTutor Coaching Activities are based

on data collected from educators across
the country and address the topics most
frequently ranked as tough for students
to understand. These activities guide
students towards mastery of these topics,
using highly visual, kinesthetic, and
interactive activities.
…AND MASTER THE SCIENCE OF OCEANOGRAPHY

Encounter Activities provide

rich, interactive explorations of
Oceanography concepts using the
dynamic features of Google Earth™ to
visualize and explore Earth’s Oceans.
Dynamic assessment includes multiple-
choice and short-answer questions
related to core geology concepts. All
explorations include corresponding
media files, and questions include hints
and specific wrong-answer feedback to
help coach students towards mastery of
the concepts.

Student Study Area Resources in MasteringOceanography include:

• Practice quizzes
• Interactive Animations
• Oceanography Videos–A series of studio demo and field segment
videos created by author Al Trujillo; most of the studio demos were
created as 2-part interactive videos and the field segments show
real oceanographic processes in action.
• Web Video links
• RSS Feeds from ScienceDaily and Scientific American

Learning Outcomes: All of the

MasteringOceanography assignable
content is tagged to book content.
Instructors also have the ability to
add their own learning outcomes
to assessments and keep track of
student performance relative to those
learning outcomes. Mastering offers
a data-supported measure to quantify
students’ learning gains and to share
those results quickly and easily with
colleagues and administrators.
The blue marble, next generation. This composite image of satellite data shows Earth’s interrelated atmosphere,
oceans, and land—including human presence. Its various layers include the land surface, sea ice, ocean, cloud
cover, city lights, and the hazy edge of Earth’s atmosphere.
1
Introduction To
Before you begin reading this chapter, use the
glossary at the end of this book to discover the
meanings of any of the words in the word cloud
above you don’t already know.1

Planet “Earth”

T he oceans2 are the largest and most prominent feature on Earth. In fact, they
are the single most defining feature of our planet. As viewed from space, our
planet is a beautiful blue, white, and brown globe (see this chapter’s opening photo).
Essential LEARNING Concepts

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

The abundance of liquid water on Earth’s surface is a distinguishing characteristic
of our home planet. 1.1 Compare the characteristics of
Yet it seems perplexing that our planet is called “Earth” when 70.8% of Earth’s oceans.
its surface is covered by oceans. Many early human cultures that lived near the 1.2 Discuss how early exploration of the oceans
­Mediterranean (medi = middle, terra = land) Sea envisioned the world as being was achieved.
composed of large landmasses surrounded by marginal bodies of water. From their 1.3 Explain why oceanography is considered an
viewpoint, landmasses—not oceans—dominated the surface of Earth. How sur- ­interdisciplinary science.
prised they must have been when they ventured into the larger oceans of the world.
1.4 Describe the nature of scientific inquiry.
Our planet is misnamed “Earth” because we live on the land portion of the planet.
If we were marine animals, our planet would probably be called “Ocean,” “Water,” 1.5 Explain how Earth and the solar
“Hydro,” “Aqua,” or even “Oceanus” to indicate the prominence of Earth’s oceans. system formed.
Let’s begin our study of the oceans by examining some of the unique geographic 1.6 Explain how Earth’s atmosphere and
characteristics of our watery world. oceans formed.
1.7 Discuss why life is thought to have ­originated
in the oceans.
1.1 How Are Earth’s Oceans Unique? 1.8 Demonstrate an understanding of how old
Earth is.
In all of the planets and moons in our solar system, Earth is the only one that has
oceans of liquid water on its surface. No other body in the solar system has a con-
firmed ocean, but recent satellite missions to other planets have revealed some
tantalizing possibilities. For example, the spidery network of fluid-filled cracks on
Jupiter’s moon Europa (Figure 1.1) almost certainly betrays the presence of an ocean “When you’re circling the Earth every
of liquid water beneath its icy surface. In fact, a recent analysis of the icy blocks that 90 ­minutes, what becomes clearest is that
cover Europa’s surface indicates that the blocks are actively being reshaped in a pro- it’s mostly water; the continents look like
cess analogous to plate tectonics on Earth. Two other moons of Jupiter, G ­ anymede they’re floating objects.”
and Callisto, may also have liquid oceans of water beneath their cold, icy crust. Yet —Loren Shriver, NASA astronaut (2008)
another possibility for a nearby world with an ocean beneath its icy surface is Sat-
urn’s tiny moon Enceladus, which displays geysers of water vapor and ice that have

1
The most commonly used words in this chapter are shown by larger font sizes in this word cloud, which
is a visual aid for identifying important terms. Look for word clouds of important vocabulary terms on
the opening page of each chapter throughout this book.
2
Note that all bolded words are key vocabulary terms that are defined in the glossary at the end of
this book.

3
4  Chapter 1   Introduction To Planet “Earth”
Figure 1.1 Jupiter’s moon Europa. Europa’s network of dark
fluid-filled cracks suggests the presence of an ocean beneath
its icy surface.
Students Sometimes Ask . . .
I’ve heard of the discovery of other planets outside
of our solar system. Could any of them contain life?
O utside our solar system, more than 2000 ­exoplanets
have been discovered orbiting other star systems,
­including a few rocky exoplanets that are Earth-sized and
may be orbiting their Sun-like stars at just the right dis-
tance for water to remain liquid, potentially sustaining life.
­Astronomers are able to detect if these exoplanets have water
or not by analyzing specific frequencies of light. New dis-
coveries of exoplanets are a frequent occurrence, suggesting
that there could be hundreds to billions of Earth-like worlds
in the vastness of the galaxy. However, most of these exo-
planets are many light-years away, so we may never know if
any of them harbor life.
1.1 Squidtoons
https://goo.gl/xwUwNX
recently been analyzed and, remarkably, contain salt. ­Recent analysis of the gravity
field of Enceladus suggests the presence of a 10-­k ilometer (6.2-mile) deep saltwa-
ter ocean beneath a thick layer of surface ice. Also contained in the geysers’ icy
spray are tiny mineral grains, and in 2015 analysis of these particles indicated that
the dust-sized grains likely form when hot, mineral-laden water from the moon’s
rocky interior travels upward, coming into contact with cooler water. This evidence
of subsurface hydrothermal activity is reminiscent of underwater hot springs in the
deep oceans on Earth, a place that may have been key to the development of life on
Earth. And evidence continues to mount that Saturn’s giant moon Titan has small
seas of liquid hydrocarbons, suggesting that Titan may be the only other body in
the solar system besides Earth known to have stable liquid at its surface. All these
moons are enticing targets for space missions to search for signs of extraterrestrial
life. Still, the fact that our planet has so much water, and in the liquid form, is
unique in the solar system.
Earth’s Amazing Oceans
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. Today, the oceans contain the great-
est number of living things on the planet, from microscopic bacteria and algae to
the largest life-form alive today (the blue whale). Interestingly, water is the major
component of nearly every life-form on Earth, and our own body fluid chemistry is
remarkably similar to the chemistry of seawater.
The oceans influence climate and weather all over the globe—even in con-
tinental areas far from any ocean—through an intricate pattern of currents and
heating/cooling mechanisms, some of which scientists are only now beginning to
understand. The oceans are also the “lungs” of the planet, taking carbon dioxide gas
out of the atmosphere and replacing it with oxygen gas. Scientists have estimated
that the oceans supply as much as 70% of the oxygen that humans breathe.
The oceans determine where our continents end and have thus shaped politi-
cal boundaries and human history. The oceans conceal many features; in fact, the
majority of Earth’s geographic features are on the ocean floor. Remarkably, there
was once more known about the surface of the Moon than about the floor of the
oceans! Fortunately, our knowledge of both has increased dramatically over the past
several decades.
The oceans also hold many secrets waiting to be discovered, and new scientific
discoveries about the oceans are made nearly every day. The oceans are a source
of food, minerals, and energy that remains largely untapped. More than half of the
world population lives in coastal areas near the oceans, taking advantage of the mild
climate, an inexpensive form of transportation, proximity to food resources, and vast
recreational opportunities. Unfortunately, the oceans are also the dumping ground
for many of society’s wastes. In fact, the oceans are currently showing alarming
changes caused by pollution, overfishing, invasive species, and climate change, among
other things. All of these and many other topics are contained within this book.
How Many Oceans Exist on Earth?
The oceans are a common metaphor for vastness. When one examines a world map
(Figure 1.2), it’s easy to appreciate the impressive extent of Earth’s oceans. Notice that
the oceans dominate the surface area of the globe. For those people who have trav-
eled by boat across an ocean (or even flown across one in an airplane), the one thing
that immediately strikes them is that the oceans are enormous. Notice, also, that the
oceans are interconnected and form a single continuous body of seawater, which is
why the oceans are commonly referred to as a “world ocean” (singular, not plural).
 1.1 How Are Earth’s Oceans Unique?   5

For instance, a vessel at sea can travel The Arctic Ocean is

from one ocean to another, whereas the smallest and
shallowest ocean.
it is impossible to travel on land from 140° 100° 0° 40° 80°
80°
one continent to most others with- ARCTIC OCEAN
Arctic Circle
The Atlantic Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the second-
out crossing an ocean. In addition, is the world’s largest ocean.
the volume of the oceans is immense. largest and ASIA NORTH EUROPE
ASIA
AMERICA
For example, the oceans comprise deepest
ocean.
the planet’s largest habitat and con- Tropic of Cancer ATLANTIC
tain 97.2% of all the water on or near PACIFIC OCEAN AFRICA
OCEAN
Earth’s surface (­ Figure 1.3). Equator
SOUTH 0°
AMERICA INDIAN
OCEAN
20°

The Four Principal AUSTRALIA Tropic of Capricorn 0 1,500 3,000 Miles The Indian Ocean
exists mostly in
Oceans, Plus One 40°
0 1,500 3,000 Kilometers
Antarctic Convergence
40° the Southern

Hemisphere.
Our world ocean can be divided into 60° SOUTHERN OCEAN 60°
Antarctic Circle
four principal oceans plus an addi-
tional ocean, based on the shape of ANTARCTICA

the ocean basins and the positions of The Southern Ocean surrounds Antarctica; its boundary
the continents (Figure 1.2). is defined by the Antarctic Convergence.

SmartFigure 1.2 Earth’s oceans. Map

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest ocean, covering more showing the four principal oceans plus the Southern
than half of the ocean surface area on Earth (Figure 1.4b). The Pacific Ocean Ocean, or Antarctic Ocean.
is the single largest geographic feature on the planet, spanning more than one- https://goo.gl/BJXqyt
third of Earth’s entire surface. The Pacific Ocean is so large that all of the con-
tinents could fit into the space occupied by it—with room left over! Although
the Pacific Ocean is also the deepest ocean in the world (Figure 1.4c), it contains
many small tropical islands. It was named in 1520 by explorer Ferdinand Magel-
lan’s party in honor of the fine weather they encountered while crossing into the All Earth’s water (liquid)
Pacific (paci = peace) Ocean.
Freshwater (liquid)
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is about half the size of the Pacific Ocean
Lakes and rivers
and is not quite as deep (Figure 1.4c). It separates the Old World (Europe, Asia, and
Africa) from the New World (North and South America). The Atlantic Ocean was
named after Atlas, who was one of the Titans in Greek mythology.

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is slightly smaller than the Atlantic Ocean and
has about the same average depth (Figure 1.4c). It is mostly in the Southern Hemi-
sphere (south of the equator, or below 0 degrees latitude in Figure 1.2). The Indian
Ocean was named for its proximity to the subcontinent of India.

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is about 7% the size of the Pacific Ocean and
is only a little more than one-quarter as deep as the rest of the oceans (Figure 1.4c).
Although it has a permanent layer of sea ice at the surface, the ice is only a few me-
ters thick. The Arctic Ocean was named after its location in the Arctic region, which
exists beneath the northern constellation Ursa Major, otherwise known as the Big
Dipper, or the Bear (arktos = bear).
Southern Ocean, or Antarctic Ocean Oceanographers recognize an
a­ dditional ocean near the continent of Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere
­(Figure 1.2). Defined by the meeting of currents near Antarctica called the
­A ntarctic Convergence, the Southern Ocean, or Antarctic Ocean, is r­ eally
the portions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans south of about 50
degrees south latitude. This ocean was named for its location in the Southern
Hemisphere.
Figure 1.3 Relative sizes of the spheres of water on Earth.
This image shows all of Earth’s liquid water using three blue spheres
of proportional sizes. The big sphere is all liquid water in the world,
97% of which is seawater. The next smallest sphere represents a
subset of the larger sphere, showing freshwater in the ground, lakes,
swamps, and rivers. The tiny speck below it represents an even
smaller ­subset of all the water—just the freshwater in lakes and rivers.
Recap
The four principal oceans are the Pacific, A
­ tlantic, Indian, and
Arctic Oceans. An ­additional ocean, the Southern Ocean, or
Antarctic Ocean, is also recognized.
Another random document with
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN