Oceanography

Oceanography (from Ocean + Greek γράφειν = write), also called oceanology or marine science is the study of the Earth's oceans and seas. Oceanographers study a wide range of topics such as plate tectonics to ocean currents to marine organisms. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers blend to help us understand Earth's interdependencies: biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology and physics.

Branches of oceanography

The study of oceanography has five main branches:

• Marine biology or biological oceanography, the study of the plants and animals ( biota) of the oceans and their ecological interaction;
• Chemical oceanography, the study of the chemistry of the ocean;
• Marine geology or geological oceanography, the study of the geology of the ocean floor including plate tectonics;
• Meteorologic oceanography, studies interactions between our atmosphere and the ocean's hydrosphere; and
• Physical oceanography, the study of the ocean's physical attributes (such as its temperature-salinity structure, waves, tides and currents).

These branches reflect the fact that many oceanographers are first trained in the exact sciences and then focus on applying their interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and abilities to oceanography.

History of oceanography

Early exploration of the oceans was limited to its surfaces and the few creatures that fishermen brought up in nets, but when Bougainville and Cook carried out their explorations in the South Pacific, the seas themselves formed part of the reports.

James Rennell wrote the first scientific textbooks about currents in the Atlantic and Indian oceans during the late 18th and at the beginning of 19th century. Sir James Clark Ross took the first modern sounding in deep sea in 1840, and Charles Darwin published a paper on reefs and the formation of atolls.

The steep slope beyond the continental shelves was not discovered until 1849. Matthew Fontaine Maury's Physical Geography of the Sea, 1855 was the first textbook of oceanography. Laying of Transatlantic telegraph cable confirmed the presence of a mid-ocean ridge.

After the middle of the 19th century, scientific societies were processing a flood of new terrestrial botanical and zoological information. European natural historians began to sense the lack of more than anecdotal knowledge of the oceans.

Oceanography began as a quantifiable science in 1872, when the Scots Charles Wyville Thompson and John Murray launched the Challenger expedition (1872-76). Other European and American nations also sent out scientific expeditions (as did private individuals and institutions).

Oceanographic institutes dedicated to the study of oceanography were founded. In the United States, these included the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, and the School of Oceanography at University of Washington. In Britain, there is a major research institution: National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.

The first international organization of oceanography was created in 1901 as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

In 1921 Monaco formed the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB). Then in 1966, the U.S. Congress created a National Council for Marine Resources and Engineering Development. NOAA was in charge of exploring and studying all aspects of Oceanography. It also enabled the National Science Foundation to award Sea Grant College funding to multi-disciplinary researchers in the field of oceanography.

Ocean and atmosphere connections

The study of the oceans is intimately linked to understanding global warming and other global environmental concerns.

Our planet is invested with two great oceans;
one visible, the other invisible; one underfoot, the other overhead; one entirely envelopes it, the other covers about two thirds of its surface.

Matthew F. Maury (1855) The Physical Geography of the Seas and Its Meteorology.

Notable oceanographers

• Robert Ballard ( ONR Science Explorer)
• VADM W. W. Behrens, Jr. ( NOAA)
• Henry Bryant Bigelow
• RADM Richard E. Byrd
• Jacques Cousteau
• Robert S. Dietz
• V. Walfrid Ekman
• Evan Forde
• Gotthilf Hempel
• RADM Grace Murray Hopper USNR
• Charles David Keeling
• Uwe Kils
• Sir James Lovelock (NASA Biosphere)
• Matthew Fontaine Maury ( US Naval Observatory)
• Walter Munk
• Tad Murty
• Stefan Rahmstorf
• Johan Sandström
• RADM Charles Dwight Sigsbee ( Hydographer)
• Henry Stommel
• Harald Sverdrup
• Mary Sears
• Warren White