1. History of Oceanography The Youngest Science

2. I. Professional Oceanography Careers 1. 48% = Biological- Marine life 2. 24% = Physical- Plate tectonics 3. 18% = Historical

3. II. Early American Oceanography 1. 1807- The coast of the U.S. was mapped 2. In 1830 the U.S. Naval Hydrographic Office was established (today called the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office) 3. In U.S. in 1840 Lieutenant Matthew Maury founded the Naval Depot of Charts. a. wind and current data from ships’ logs were collected. b. In 1847 wind/current charts of North Atlantic were produced and they became part of the first published atlases of sea conditions and sailing directions. b. In 1847 wind/current charts of North Atlantic were produced and they became part of the first published atlases of sea conditions and sailing directions.

4. Early American Oceanography (cont) 4. 1843- Alexander Bache mapped the Gulf Stream (Benjamin Franklin was actually the first to do this) 5. In 1855 Maury published The Physical Geography of the Sea: 5. In 1855 Maury published The Physical Geography of the Sea: a. contents included information on the Gulf Stream, b. the atmosphere, currents, ocean depths, and winds c. the first contour chart of the N. Atlantic sea floor. c. the first contour chart of the N. Atlantic sea floor. d. He is generally considered the first true oceanographer.

5. First attempt at a bathymetric map by Matthew Fontaine Maury as published in The Physical Geography of the Sea. First attempt at a bathymetric map by Matthew Fontaine Maury as published in The Physical Geography of the Sea.

6. 6. Gulf Stream a. A river of faster, warmer water, that comes up from tropics. b. It moves along eastern coast of Florida, part way up the coast and out into Atlantic ocean towards England.

7. Gulf Stream Map

8. c. Franklin’s and Folger’s contribution: produced chart to encourage captains to sail within the Gulf Stream to save time. Fig.1.10 The Franklin-Folger map 1769 Fig.1.11 Average SST 1996

9. III. History of Oceanography: Ocean Science Begins 1. With more accurate charts and increased information naturalists and biologists begin to show an interest in the oceans. a. Charles Darwin was the naturalist aboard the survey ship Beagle from 1831-1836. b. He described, collected and classified organisms from the land and the sea.

10. Ocean Science Begins 2. English naturalist Edward Forbes (1815-1854) surveyed marine life around the British Isles, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas: a. he proposed a system of ocean depths each characterized by specific animal populations. b. He theorized that there was no life below 550 m. c. 20 yrs earlier Arctic explorer John Ross found bottom samples taken from more than 1800 m in depth had worms and other animals living in the mud.

11. Ocean Science Begins 3. 1860 –Royal Society of London established. They began to provide financial support for ocean research. 4. December 1872 /May 1876- British ship H.M.S. Challenger traveled 68,000 mile to collect rock, mineral & biological samples. 5. In 1887 the name plankton was given to the minute drifting plant and animal organisms of the oceans. Illustration of microscopic drifting animals taken from Fauna and Flora of the Gulf of Naples (1899)

12. IV. H.M.S. Challenger 1. It took 50 large volumes to record all the information gathered by her crew.

13. The Challenger Expedition 2. This expedition is considered the most comprehensive single oceanographic expedition ever undertaken. 3. The expedition took 3 1/2 years and covered over 68,000 miles. They occupied 362 stations and took the first soundings over 12,000' using a 200 lb. weight. 4. At each station they took soundings and measured the temperature of the surface and the bottom and fairly frequently the intermediate layers as well. Usually they made one or more hauls with the dredge or trawl and towed nets and measured surface currents.

14. The Challenger Expedition 5. Researchers collected deep-sea water samples; investigated deep-water motion; and collected thousands of sea-bottom and biological samples. (life was found at all depths) 6. They discovered the Puerto Rico Trench when their self-registering thermometers came up fractured from the great pressure at a station 90 miles north of St. Thomas. 7. The 50-volume Challenger Reports took 20 years to complete! 8. Oceanography as a modern science is usually dated from the Challenger expedition and the Challenger Reports laid the foundation for the science of oceanography.

15. Fig.1.14 Challenger Expedition (1872-76)

16. V. The Albatross - 1882 1. U.S. Government sponsored the USS Albatross 2. A ship used for fisheries research 3. Docked off Cape Cod- a center for research was built called Marine Biologic Laboratory (1888). Now part of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI)

17. The Albatross 4. Carried five boats: a Steam Cutter, a steam gig, a seine boat, a whale boat, and a dinghy 5. 1921-returned to Woods Hole, where she was decommissioned.

18. VI. U.S. Oceanography in the Twentieth Century 1. In the U.S. after the Civil War (1861–1865) steam replaced sail and government interest lessened. 2. In 1903,The University of California’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography was financially supported by the Scripps family. a. The establishment of other private institutions, often funded by wealthy individuals, followed. 3. Research during World War II focused on military needs.

19. Oceanography in the Twentieth Century 4. After WW II oceanographers returned to classrooms and labs with much newly-developed technology such as a. radar and improved sonar, b. automated wave detectors, c. temperature-depth recorders. 5. There was also an increase in large-scale government funding for research and education. 6. Interest in, and exploitation of, the oceans continued to increase and by 1970-80 scientists started to recognize the signs of global degradation and the need for management of living and non-living resources. a. Satellite monitoring became an invaluable tool to determine levels of biological productivity and to indicate how and where physical processes in the oceans influence the distribution and health of marine life.

20. 7. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute a. Founded in 1930 b. Privately owned and independently operated. c. No funding from the state of Massachusetts or federal government. d. Works on the principle of “Publish or Perish” – scientists operate under WHOI name, but must provide their own funding. eastern equatorial Pacific, an area of 64 km2 was fertilized with iron Phytoplankton photochemical efficiency

21. WHOI e. Government contracts are accepted -this makes up the bulk of the work done at Woods Hole. f. The administrators take a cut of the profits from the government funded Navy projects.

22. 8. History of WHOI a. 1930- WHOI was a quiet retreat for summer research b. Retreat grew during the Great Depression c. Flourished during WW II, Woods hole developed: 1) secret sonar 2) underwater electronic communications for Navy subs 3) better depth charges 4) anti-fowling paint for battleships and aircraft carriers (so ships and aircraft carriers (so ships wouldn’t be encrusted wouldn’t be encrusted with barnacles.) with barnacles.)

23. VII. Oceanography Research today 1. Today oceanography is based on hypothesis testing: theory based on present knowledge/develop experiment designed to test theory. 2. Oceanographers are focusing their research on global studies and their management of resources as well as continuing to explore the interrelationships of the chemistry, physics, geology, and biology of the oceans.