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Oceanography

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geology and geophysics

   Thermohaline circulation
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   Thermohaline circulation

   Oceanography (from Ocean + Greek γράφειν = write), also called
   oceanology or marine science is the branch of physical geography that
   studies 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

   The study of oceanography has four 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;
   and

Physical oceanography

   studies the ocean's physical attributes including temperature-salinity
   structure, waves, tides and currents).

Metorological oceanography

   studies the ocean-atmosphere interactions

   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

   Ocean currents (1911)
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   Ocean currents (1911)

   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. The first successful laying of
   Transatlantic telegraph cable in August 1858 confirmed the presence of
   an underwater "telegraphic plateau" 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 Sir John Murray launched the Challenger
   expedition (1872–1876). Other European and American nations also sent
   out scientific expeditions (as did private individuals and
   institutions). The four-month 1910 North Atlantic expedition headed by
   Sir John Murray and Johan Hjort was at that time the most ambitious
   research oceanographic and marine zoological project ever, and led to
   the classic 1912 book The Depths of the Ocean.

   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. In
   Australia, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, known as CMAR, is a
   leading centre.

   The first international organization of oceanography was created in
   1902 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 related biosphere concerns.


   Oceanography

    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.


   Oceanography


   — 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 - Futurist)
     * Henry Bryant Bigelow
     * RADM Richard E. Byrd
     * M. Ilham Artuz HAE
     * Jacques Cousteau
     * Robert S. Dietz
     * V. Walfrid Ekman
     * Evan Forde
     * Gotthilf Hempel
     * Johan Hjort
     * RADM Grace Murray Hopper USNR - Futurist
     * Charles David Keeling
     * Uwe Kils
     * Matthew Fontaine Maury ( US Naval Observatory)
     * CAPT Homer A. McCrerey ( FNMOC - Futurist)
     * Walter Munk
     * Sir John Murray
     * Tad Murty
     * Stefan Rahmstorf
     * Johan Sandström
     * Yuly Shokalsky
     * RADM Charles Dwight Sigsbee ( Hydographer)
     * Henry Stommel
     * Harald Sverdrup
     * Mary Sears
     * CAPT Don Walsh ( Challenger Deep - Deep sea explorer)
     * Warren White
     * Osman El-Rayis
     * Charles Wilkes ( United States Exploring Expedition)

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanography"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
