OCS 1005 Lecture : Oceanography Notes
15 Mar 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Oceanography Notes
8/25
Haosheng Huang
(Howson Huan)
The Blue Marble – the first satellite picture taken from space
70.78% of Earth is covered by water
Every 10m in depth corresponds to 1kg/cm^2 in pressure
At the known deepest spot (Mariana Trench) pressure would be 1.1 ton/cm^2
Deep Ocean Submersical – what scientists use to get to deep parts of the ocean
Average depth: 3796 m
Average land elevation: 840 m
Deepest Spot: Mariana Trench 11022m
Highest Spot on land: Everest 8848m
Avg temp of water 4degreesC (39F)
Average salinity : 3.4%
Age: About 4 billion years
Five Oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Artic, Southern
Utilization of the Ocean
Transportation(Circulation), Natural Resources, high human population in coastal
region, pollution, naval power
Oceanography (Marine Science)
Biological, Chemical, Geological, Physical
Everything is related in Oceanography
Heat Capacity (Ability to store heat) of water is much larger than that of land and air
(Hurricanes form only over warm water)
Climate system – atmosphere ocean ice land biomass rivers lakes human activities
Solar radiation drives the climate system
Large amount of exchange between ocean and atmosphere
Hurricanes rotate counter clockwise
Unique:
Large amount of liquid water, moderate temp, planet is large to retain ocean but not too
large to crush organisms
8/27
A History of Oceanography – Chapter 2
(The early history of oceanography/marine science is closely related to the history of
ocean exploration and voyaging)
Polynesia – first human to navigate the Ocean
Why? Resources, meet new people, find new land
Ancient time technology is low. How can they navigate? The stars, the sun, the clouds
The first Polynesians lived in Indonesia then they moved to the East and arrived in
Polynesia then they traveled three different ways, North – Hawaii, East – Easter Island,
South – New Zealand – but this is not definite could be from South America
Library of Alexandria – We think this means university where people gather and discuss
knowledge and experience navigating the ocean
Egyptians estimated the circumference of the earth based on trigonometry
Local Noon- you don’t even need to have a watch. You cannot see shadow at all – sun is
right over your head
First you find the radius of the Earth by using geometry then you solve for circumference
Greeks
They already had a map of the world (still globe) but they thought they were the
center of the world and they had the concept of longitude and latitude
Vikings
They could navigate the Atlantic Ocean and could build boats carrying 100
people. They also have the technology to build a big boat and go into shallow water too.
China went sailing to go show off to other civilizations
Magnetic Compass – one of Ancient China’s top four inventions (Printing, paper making,
gunpowder)
**Watch the video on the Chinese ships
Ottoman Empire blocks the Silk Road, they can’t go from Europe to China – led to …
Age of Discovery
Prince Harry of Portugal
Magellan – the first person to circumnavigate the Earth
Worked for the King of Spain
Chronometer – can be used to navigate the Ocean –John Harrison
To find N/S you can use stars but for E/W you must have an accurate chronometer
James Cook – first to combine science and ocean exploration
Most exploration of ocean was done by the government – too expensive
Ocean current – The Gulf Stream
There’s also one that connects to the Gulf Stream inside the Gulf of Mexico called the
Loop Current
Ben Franklin was the first person to publish a map of the Gulf Stream
Latitude and Longitude slide – that is a map from the Greeks
360 degrees / 24 hr = Earth rotates 15 degrees/hr
+ 1 = one hour early (1 pm)
- 1 = one hour late (11am)
The degree part is easy to answer, the East or West part is the hard one
60 degrees, East,
W GMT E
-30 0 30
-2 0 2
6 8 10
The key to longitude is time – time changes you set watch forwards and backwards
Telescopes were great on land but useless on the see – that’s why the Chronometer came
about
8/29
The development of oceanography depends on the development of many other fields
Since WWII, the navy is the largest sponsor for Ocean research
Only the government can financially support ocean research
Everything is related to mass
Echo sounder – used to measure the depth of the ocean – shoots to the bottom and then
bounces off of the ocean floor than it hits the receiver at the bottom of the boat
Speed of sound in water is a constant
This receiver is called a hydrophone
Echo sounding can also generate a map of the structure/density of sediment layers
For measuring long distances, the multibeam bathymetry sonar where it lets out many
sound waves to measure the depth in one cross section at a time
LSU has both a Sea Grant Program and Land Grant Program
TOGA – used to do research on El Nino
Costal Studies Institute of LSU – one of the top oceanographic institutions
The NOAA – one of the research centers did the trajectories for the BP oil spill
Three large scale research programs on PLATE TECTONICS
- Deep Sea Drilling Project
- Ocean Drilling Project – many countries and universities participate in this
- Integrated Ocean Drilling Program – vessel belongs to Japan but anyone can
work on it
AUV- Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
You don’t need humans to measure this ocean floor
BP oil spill videos were taken by this
Deep Submersible – Alvin was the first ever used and discovered the Titanic
VIDEO – LEGEND OF ALVIN
Massive pressure hole that protects the crew is most important (Steel ball)
It’s most dangerous at the surface b/c you don’t have the pressure
The sphere form is what makes the deep possible
Alvin found the H bomb dropped during the Cold War
A sandwich came back almost completely preserved after Alvin had fallen for months
Altimetry – used to measure the sea surface height
The white part in the hurricane picture is water vapor – they bring a lot of clouds
The center of the hurricane is fair weather- no rain no wind “the eye”
The temperature of the water can help point out Ocean Currents/Streams
The temp influences the weather and the climate
Ocean Current is measured by the ADCP
CTD measures Conductivity, which is related to salinity
To measure the forecast of the ocean you have to use a supercomputer
Ocean Law
Extends territorial water from 3-12 nautical miles
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) – extends 200 nautical miles from the shore
9/3
The Origin of the Universe
The Big Bang occurred 14 billion years ago
Nebula – made of gasses and dust
The most stable state for particles is the rotation of them (not staying still)
Nuclear fusion – when elements combine together and they release heat
-this happens at the center of the Earth
Solar system was formed about 4.6 billion years ago
