INTRODUCTION TO OCEANOGRAPHY

Instructor: Prof. ANAMARIJA FRANKIĆ

Office Number: S-1-061Office Hours: Posted on office door or by appointment

Telephone: 617-287-4415Email Address: anamarija.frankic@umb.edu

Web Page: http://alpha.es.umb.edu/faculty/af/frankic.hmlDepartment Website: http://www.es.umb.edu/

Oceanography is an observationally driven field!

What do we measure and why?

Geology: coastlines, bathymetry, movement of tectonic plates

Chemistry: salinity, Carbon, Nitrogen, Iron, Oxygen…

Physics: Temp, pressure, currents, tides

Biology: Chl-a, Productivity, Zooplankton, Phytoplankton, Fish and Egg counts, etc…

(Some) OCEANS’ related FACTS:

Our planet is actually the Ocean Planet - 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans and seas. However, less than 10% has been investigated.

Oceans provide more than 70% of oxygen we breathe

80% of world’s plant and animal species live in oceans

More than 60% of the current human population (5.8 billion) lives in the coastal zones (~60 km wide), the areas representing only 8% of the Earth surface!

‘Poorest of the poor’ - 1.1 billion people ‘survive’ on less than 1$/day 1 billion people rely on fish as the only daily source of protein

Global climate change and the humans’ well being depend on the conditions and health of the oceans;

Poverty, hunger, diseases as well as casualties from natural disasters can be alleviated by improving the health of the environment and by sustainable use and management of the coasts and oceans!

How was the ocean observed so far?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0393317552/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-3317661-1512644#reader-page

Lots of historical account of earlyexplorations – (see book).

HMS Challenger

International Observational Programs

Deep Sea Drilling Project - DSDP

1985, Joides Resolution Replace G. Challenger

1968, Glomar Challenger

Theory of Plate Tectonics and much more…

International Observational Programs

The Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) (launched in 1987 at a planning meeting in Paris)

The Operational Goal of JGOFS :

Spatial Scale: regional to global Temporal Scale: seasonal to interannual

1) Fluxes of carbon between the atmosphere-surface ocean-ocean interior.2) Sensitivity to climate changes

International Observational Programs

The World Ocean Circulation Experiment1990-1998

http://woce.nodc.noaa.gov/wdiu/

International Programme on Climate Variability and Predictability, 1995-present

http://www.clivar.org/index.htm

http://www.wmo.ch/web/wcrp/wcrp-home.html

World Climate Research Programme

http://www.clivar.org/publications/other_pubs/clivar_transp/index.htm

US Programs:

http://www.nsf.gov/

http://www.noaa.gov/

http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/habitats/default.htm

http://science.hq.nasa.gov/oceans/

e.g. GLOBEC http://www.pml.ac.uk/globec/

http://www.whoi.edu/sbl/liteSite.do?litesiteid=7732&articleId=11610

http://www.csc.noaa.gov/coos/

U.S. Coastal Observing Systems

Remote Sensing/Satellite Imagery: Geostationary Server -http://www.goes.noaa.gov/ Satellite significant events: http://www.osei.noaa.gov/ National Geophysical Data Center: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ngdc.html  

Technologies for ocean observing

Floating devices in the ocean: Argo FLoats - http://www.argo.ucsd.edu/ Drifter Programs: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/graphics/pacifictraj.gif

 Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) : Amazing discoveries…http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/subs/rov/rov.html Automated Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) : 

How do we define the science of Oceanography?

WHAT PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OCEAN SCIENCES

• Ways of knowing – “Reflection on how we know what we believe will help our understanding”

• Human interactions – “Currently, the human species is significantly affecting earth systems, but has the ability to choose its relationship with the environment”

• Ecosystems – “The survival and health of individuals and groups of organisms are intimately coupled to their environment”

• Earth system science – “The Earth as a whole acts as a complex set of interacting systems with emergent properties”

• Evolution & Biodiversity – “Evolution explains both the unity and diversity of life”

• Energy flow and transformation – “Energy transformation drive physical, chemical, and biological processes. Total energy is conserved and flows to more diffuse forms”

• Conservation of mass – “Mass is conserved as it is transferred from one pool to another”

• Spatio-temporal relationships – “Choosing the appropriate reference frame is the key to understanding one’s environment”