Oceanography: Subdisciplines, Techniques, and Historical Expeditions

Oceanography

It's the study of physical, chemical, and biological features of the ocean, including the ocean's ancient history, its current condition, and its future.

Chemical Oceanography

One of the four major subdisciplines of oceanography.

Geological Oceanography

One of the four major subdisciplines of oceanography.

Biological Oceanography

One of the four major subdisciplines of oceanography.

Physical Oceanography

One of the four major subdisciplines of oceanography.

Remote Sensing

One of the ten oceanographic techniques or areas of study.

Acoustic Methods (Sonar/Echo Sounding)

One of the ten oceanographic techniques or areas of study.

Buoys and Drifters

One of the ten oceanographic techniques or areas of study.

Submersibles

One of the ten oceanographic techniques or areas of study.

Sediment Cores

One of the ten oceanographic techniques or areas of study.

Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth Profiling (CTD)

One of the ten oceanographic techniques or areas of study.

Lead Line

One of the five instruments used by early oceanographers.

Compass

One of the five instruments used by early oceanographers.

Nansen Bottle

One of the five instruments used by early oceanographers.

Chip Log

One of the five instruments used by early oceanographers.

Sextant

One of the five instruments used by early oceanographers.

Multibeam Sonar

One of the five instruments used by modern oceanographers.

CTD

One of the five instruments used by modern oceanographers.

Satellites (Remote Sensing)

One of the five instruments used by modern oceanographers.

Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)

One of the five instruments used by modern oceanographers.

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP)

One of the five instruments used by modern oceanographers.

Algae

Are simple, nonflowering, and typically aquatic plants of a large group that includes seaweeds and many single-celled forms. It contains chlorophyll but lacks true stems, leaves, roots, and vascular tissue.

Atoll

A ring-shaped reef, island, or chains of islands formed of coral.

Azoic

Having or trace of life or organic remains / another term for Archean (depending on the context).

Bathymetric data

Provides information about the depths and shapes of the land beneath bodies of water such as oceans, rivers, or lakes.

Core sample

Is a long, narrow, cylindrical section of subsurface material, such as rock, ice, or soil that's extracted by drilling.

Indicator species

Is an organism (plant, animal, lichen, etc.) whose presence, absence, or abundance indicates a particular environment condition or change.

Ocean conveyor belt

Also known as thermohaline circulation, is a global system of deep ocean currents driven by differences in water temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline) that transports heat, nutrients, and carbon dioxide around the world.

Phytoplankton

Microscopic organism that lives in the ocean and can convert light energy to chemical energy through photosynthesis.

Seamount

An isolated rise in elevation of 1000 metres (3281 feet) or more from the surrounding seafloor, and with a limited summit area, of conical form.

Zooplankton

Plankton consisting of small animals and the immature stages of larger animals.

Challenger Expedition

The expedition revealed the first broad outline of the shape of the ocean basin, including what we now know as the Mid-Atlantic ridge.

Deepsea Challenger

One of the three deepest diving manned submersibles.

Trie

One of the three deepest diving manned submersibles.

DSV Limiting Factor

One of the three deepest diving manned submersibles.

Admiral Nelson

British naval commander who led the British Navy with 27 ships against the combined French and Spanish fleet of 33 ships.

Battle of Trafalgar

A significant naval battle that occurred on October 20th, where the British caught the French and Spanish off Cape Trafalgar.

British Navy

The naval force of Great Britain that won the Battle of Trafalgar at the cost of 1500 men, without losing a single naval fleet.

Napoleon

French military leader who was unable to invade England and was later banished to St. Helena, where he died in 1821.

Hydrographic Office of Admiralty

Established in 1795 to create reliable charts during the French Revolution, providing the British with their own map department.

Captain Thomas Hurd

Hydrographer from 1808-1823 who prioritized charting South America and recognized the need for qualified officers to create maps.

Corps of Surveying Officers

Established by Hurd on January 7th, 1817, to create accurate charts with a new fleet of survey ships.

H.M.S. Beagle

A survey ship engaged in three missions between 1826 and 1843, with Charles Darwin as a naturalist on the second mission.

H.M.S. Barracouta

Sister ship of H.M.S. Beagle, for which working drawings were sent out on July 16th, 1817.

Launch of H.M.S. Beagle

The ship was launched from the Woolwich Dockyards on May 11th, 1820, at a cost of 7803 pounds.

Refitting of the Beagle

The Beagle was refitted with new timber planking and a copper hull on September 27th, 1825.

First mission of H.M.S. Beagle

On May 22nd, 1826, the Beagle set sail under the command of Pringle Stokes to survey South America.

Robert Fitzroy

A 23-year-old lieutenant on the first mission of H.M.S. Beagle.

Tierra del Fuego

Location where the Beagle was surveying on August 1st, 1828.

Stokes' suicide

On August 12th, 1828, Stokes shot himself under pressure, leading to Fitzroy becoming the new commander of the Beagle.

John Barrow

Second Secretary of the Admiralty who selected Captain Francis Beaufort to lead the Hydrographic Office in May 1829.

Captain Francis Beaufort

Replaced Captain William Parry as head of the Hydrographic Office, bringing a more scientific approach to the office.

Survey ships

Ships ordered to be built for the survey service, including the Cherokee class, with six ordered on February 16th, 1817.

Cash flow to South America

Heavy financial transactions from Britain to South America established after diplomatic relations with Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.

Charting strategy

The British strategy for charting South America, which was initially ineffective due to unqualified naval officers.

Mineral wealth

Resources located mainly in South America that were sought after by Britain for industrial development.

Uncharted South America

Region that was largely unexplored at the time, necessitating the British efforts to chart the land.

Beaufort Scale

A means of how to visually determine a wind's speed, developed by Beaufort.

Fitzroy

The commander of the Beagle who made wise use of the Beaufort Scale during the Beagle's 2nd survey.

Beagle

The ship that returned to England at Plymouth on October 14th, 1830, and was later laid in reserve at Devonport Dockyard.

H.M.S. Chanticleer

One of 6 survey ships built in 1817, scheduled for a second survey of South America but ultimately not used due to poor condition.

Chronometric readings

Measurements taken around the world during the Beagle's survey, overseen by Fitzroy.

Fuegans

Native people Fitzroy aimed to return to their homeland after bringing them to England for education.

Charles Darwin

Naturalist invited on the Beagle for a 2-year survey of South America, which later became a 5-year survey.

John Steven Henslow

Professor of Botany at Cambridge who recommended Charles Darwin to Beaufort.

Alexander von Humboldt

Author of the 7-volume 'Personal Narrative' that inspired Darwin's interest in natural history.

John Murray

One of the leaders of the Challenger Expedition.

Charles Wyville Thompson

Scottish naturalist who led the Challenger Expedition and had past experience with deep sea creatures.

Navy corvette

A small warship converted into the first ship dedicated to oceanography during the Challenger Expedition.

Sampling stations

Locations where the crew of the Challenger lowered different samplers, nets, and trawls to collect ocean data.

Mechanical engines

Winches used on the Challenger to hoist up and lower down sounding lines to measure ocean depth.

Specimens of natural history

Samples that Fitzroy aimed to collect during the next Beagle voyage.

Plymouth Dockyards

Location where the Beagle was taken for a major refit under Fitzroy's supervision.

Devonport Dockyard

The place where the Beagle was laid in reserve after being paid off.

Survey of South America

The mission of the Beagle which included charting the region and collecting data.

Crew of 73 men

The number of crew members that set sail with Darwin on the Beagle on December 27th.

Geology

The field of study that Darwin pursued with Adam Sedgwick before joining the Beagle.

Challenger Deep

The deepest part of the ocean, measuring 37,800 ft deep (11,524 m), named after the ship Challenger.

Marianas Trench

A trench in the western Pacific ocean where the seafloor is 26,850 ft deep, more than 4 miles deep, and 8,200 m.

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The long rise in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, revealed during the Challenger expedition.

Atmospheric Diving Suit (ADS)

A suit designed to allow a diver to operate at great depths while maintaining normal atmospheric pressure inside the suit.

Polarity of Water

Water creates a slightly positive charge on the hydrogen molecule and a slightly negative charge on the oxygen molecule, contributing to its properties of attraction.

Heat Capacity of Water

Water has a high heat capacity, allowing it to absorb a lot of heat without changing its chemical state.

Boiling Point of Water

Water's boiling point is close to 100 degrees Celsius, requiring a high input of energy to transform 1g of water into water vapor.

Solvency of Water

Water is called the universal solvent because most substances dissolve in it, allowing chemical reactions to occur more frequently.

Cohesion in Water

Hydrogen bonds in water cause water molecules to stick together.

Adhesion in Water

Polar bonds give water molecules the ability to cling to other polar surfaces.

Surface Tension of Water

Water has a high surface tension because water molecules at the surface are more strongly attracted to each other than to the air above.

Darwin's Departure

Darwin departed from Plymouth, England, aboard the Beagle on December 27, 1831.

Cape Verde Islands

The first major landfall of the Beagle, where Darwin studied volcanic rock formations.

South America Exploration

Darwin collected plants, animals, and fossils in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay during the Beagle's journey.

Giant Fossil Mammals

Evidence of extinct species found by Darwin while exploring the Pampas and Andes in Argentina.

Earthquake in Chile

Darwin experienced an earthquake in Chile and noticed land rising afterward, supporting ideas of gradual geological change.

Galápagos Islands

Darwin reached the Galápagos Islands in 1835 and observed variations in finches, tortoises, and mockingbirds between islands.

Return to England

Darwin returned to England on October 2, 1836, after nearly 5 years aboard the Beagle.

Cohesion Importance

Cohesion in water is important for the internal transport systems of plants and animals.

Adhesion Importance

Adhesion allows water to transport nutrients within an organism.

Evaporation

Occurs when a liquid becomes a gas.

Condensation

Occurs when evaporation cools and leaves small particles of water in the atmosphere, and clouds may form. When you get enough, the particles of water become bigger, turning into rain or snow.

Sublimation

Snowfall that's converted to ice in glaciers that may run off through melting, but it can also transform directly from a solid (ice) to a gas (water vapour).