Growth of Oceanography

Oceanography

Recording and description of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the ocean

Oceanology

More appropriate investigation, interpretation, and modeling of all aspects of ocean processes, using the most modern and sophisticated techniques of scientific and mathematical inquiry

Piloting

Sailing in sight of the coastline, using distinctive landmarks to establish position

1000-600 BCE

Phoenicians explored the Mediterranean, sailed the Atlantic to England, and probably circumnavigated Africa using piloting and the stars

450 BCE

Greek Herodotus compiled a map of the known world centering on the Mediterranean region

325 BCE

Greek Pytheas explored the coasts of England, Norway, and perhaps Iceland determining latitude from the angular distance of the North Star. Greek Aristotle published Meterologica (geography and physical structure of the Greek world) and Historia Animalium (first known treatise of marine biology)

276-192 BCE

Greek Eratosthenes determined the circumference of the earth with remarkable accuracy using trigonometry and the specific angle of sunlight

54 BCE - 30 CE

Roman Seneca devised the hydrologic cycle showing that the ocean remained stable from river flow and evaporation

150 CE

Greek Ptolemy compiled a map of the entire Roman World showing latitudes and longitudes

673-735 CE

English monk Bede published De Temporum Ratione (lunar control of tides, monthly tidal variation, and effect of wind on tidal height)

982 CE

Norseman Eric the Red completed the first transatlantic crossing and discovered Baffin Island in Canadian Arctic

995 CE

Leif Ericson established the North American settlement of Vinland in Newfoundland

1452-1519 CE

Leonardo da Vinci observed, recorded, and interpreted details about currents and waves and noted that fossils in Italy implied a higher sea level in ancient past

1492 CE

Christopher Columbus rediscovered North American in the West Indies

1500 CE

Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered and explored Brazil

1513 CE

Juan Ponce de Leon described the swift and powerful Florida current

1513-1518 CE

Vanco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and sailed in the Pacific

1515 CE

Peter Martyr proposed an origin for the Gulf Stream

1519-1522 CE

Ferdinand Magellan embarked on a circumnavigation of the globe, completed by Sebastian del Cano

1569 CE

Geradus Mercator constructed a map projection of the world that was adapted to navigational charts

1674 CE

Robert Boyle investigated the relation among temperature, salinity, and pressure with depth (reported findings to “Observation and Experiments on the Saltiness of the Sea”)

1725 CE

Luigi Marsigli compiled Histoire Physique de la Mer (first book to deal entirely with the science of the sea)

1740 CE

Leonhard Euler calculated the magnitude of the forces that generate ocean tides and related them to the attractive force of the moon

1769-1770 CE

Ben Franklin published the first ocean chart of the Gulf Stream

1768-1771, 1772-1775, 1778-1779 CE

James Cook commanded three major ocean voyages gathering extensive data on the geography, geology, biota, currents, tides, and water temperatures of all the principal oceans

1802 CE

Nathaniel Bowditch published the New American Practical Navigator - navigational resource

1807 CE

Thomas Jefferson mandated coastal charting of the entire US and established the US Coast and Geodetic Survey

1817-1818 CE

Sir John Ross ventured into the Acrtic Ocean to explore Baffin Island, sounded the bottom and recovered starfish and mudworms from 1.8km

1820 CE

Alexander Marcet noted the proportion of the chemical ingredients in seawater is unvarying in all oceans

1831-1836 CE

Darwin travels the HMS Beagle leading to the creation of the theory of atoll formation and organic evolution by natural selection

1839-1843 CE

Sir James Ross led a scientific expedition to Antarctica, recovering samples of deep sea bottom life down to a maximum depth of 7km

1841, 1854 CE

Sir Edward Forbes published The History of British Star-Fishes and the Distribution of Marine life (argued that sea life cannot exist below ~600m, “azoic zone”)

1855 CE

Matthew Fontaine Maury compiled and standardized the wind and current data recorded in US Naval ship logs and summarized his findings in The Physical Geography of the Sea

1868-1870 CE

Charles Wyville Thomson made the first series of deep-sea temperature measurements and collected ample life from great depths (disproving Forbe’s azoic zone) aboard the HMS Lightning and HMS Porcupine

1871 CE

The US Fish Commission established with modern laboratory at Woods Hole

1872-1876 CE

HMS Challenger (led by Charles Wyville Thomson) conducted worldwide scientific expeditions, collecting data and specimens that were later analyzed in over fifty volumes (Challenger Reports)

1873 CE

Charles Wyville Thomson publishes The Depths of the Sea on oceanography

1877-1880 CE

Alexander Agassiz extensively sampled life in the deep sea aboard US Coast and Geodetic ship Blake. Founded Museum of Comparative Zoology and the first US marine station, Anderson School of Natural History in MA

1884-1901 CE

The USS Albatross was designed and constructed specifically to conduct scientific research at sea

1888 CE

Marine Biological Laboratory established at Woods Hole

1893 CE

Fridtjof Nansen constructed the From (thick and rounded hull) for use in sea ice. Confirmed the general circulation pattern of Arctic Ocean and absence of a northern continent

1902 CE

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) founded to investigate oceanographic conditions that impact North Atlantic fisheries

1903 CE

Friday Harbor Oceanographic Laboratory established at University of Washington, Scripps Institution of Biological Research

1912 CE

German Alfred Wegener proposed theory of continental drift

1925-1927 CE

German vessel Meteor studied physical oceanography with advanced methods, heralding the modern age of oceanographic investigation

1930 CE

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution founded

1932 CE

International Whaling Comission organized to collect data on whale species and enforce voluntary regulations on the whaling industry

1942 CE

Harald Svedrup, Richard Fleming, and Martin Johnson publish The Oceans

1949 CE

Lamont Geological Observatory at Columbia University

1957-1958 CE

International Geophysical Year organized to coordinate the geophysical investigation of the Earth

1958 CE

Nuclear submarine USS Nautilus (commanded by CDR Andersen) reached the North Pole under ice

1959-1965

International Indian Ocean Expedition established to investigate oceanography of Indian Ocean

1966 CE

US Congress established Sea Grant College and Programs Act, provides nonmilitary funding for education and research in marine science

1968, 1975 CE

Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and International Program of Ocean Drilling established to core through sediments and rocks of oceans

1970 CE

NOAA created to oversee and coordinate government activities regarding coeanography and meteorology

1970s

Decade of Ocean Exploration

1972 CE

Geochemical Ocean Sections Study organized to obtain accurate measurements of seawater chemistry

1978 CE

Seasat-A, first oceanographic satellite launched, remote sensing

1980s-90s CE

Coordinated Ocean Research and Exploration Section program (continues work of IDOE), Ocean Drilling Program continues

Pytheas

Greek geographer, explorer, and astronomer, first to circumnavigate England (may have made it as far west as Iceland)

Herodotus

Mapped the Mediterranean in 450 BCE

Bartholomew Diaz

Portuguese sailor who rounded Cape of Good Hope in 1487 and 1488

Vasco de Gama

Portuguese sailor made it as far eastward as India in 1498

Ferdinand Magellan

Sailed to Brazil and around southern tip of SA (Stait of Magellan), into Pacific, Guam, killed in Philippines, circumnavigation completed by Sebastian del Cano

Sebastian del Cano

Completed Magellan’s circumnavigation in 1522

James Cook

British sailor, explored New Zealand and mapped Australia eastern coast (HMS Endavor 1768), rounded the cape of good hope to circumnavigate the globe (HMS Adventure and HMS Resolution 1772-1775), and explored Pacific including up to Bering Sea and including Hawaii where he was killed by natives (1778-1779)

Matthew Fontaine Maury

Director of US Naval Depot of Charts and Instruments realized the need for international cooperation in ocean measurements and published Wind and Current Charts (1842) and The Physical Geography of the Sea (1855), “father of physical oceanography”

Robert Fitzroy

Captain of HMS Beagle (1831)

Charles Darwin

Naturalist of HMS Beagle (1831), studied biology and geology of South American coastline, developed theory of organic evolution by natural selection

C Wyville Thomson

Director of HMS Challenger (1872-1876), circled the globe, disproved azoic theory of lifeless ocean below 550m (Edward Forbes), measured chemical composition of seawater and distribution of life forms at all depths

Edward Forbes

Theorized azoic ocean below 550m

Fridtjof Nansen

Embarked on journey on Arctic ice to study currents on Fram, established absence of polar continent, water depths along drift path, and water-mass structure of Arctic Ocean

How many people survived Magellan’s circumnavigation?

18 of 230

Three stages of the historical record

Early attempts to describe the geography of the earth’s oceans and landmasses, the first systematic attempts to use a truly scientific approach to investigate the oceans, widespread application of state-of-the-art technology and the international collaboration of scientists