History of oceanography

• The first contribution was made by fishermen,

merchants and traders as they explored ocean
margins in search of new routes or fishing
grounds
• Some basic principles of oceanography were
understand by ancient scientists
• Aristotle, for instance noted in the fourth century
B.C. that the sea neither dries up nor overflows;
thus the amount of rainfall is equal to
evaporation over the earth
 History of oceanography
• Ptolemy (A. D. 150) developed a scheme of
latitude and longitude for charting the known
world and made surprisingly accurate maps of
the Eastern hemisphere
• The Venerable Bede (673- 735) knew that the
moon controls the tides
• In 15th century, cardinal Nicholas tries to devise
a method of calculating the sea’s depth without
using a line. He suggested the rate of rise of a
buoyant object in, “diverse waters” of known
depth.
 History of oceanography
• During later, the explorers circled the earth and
made charts as they went
• During seventeenth century scientists as Sir
Robert Boyle (1627- 1691) studied ocean
temperatures, water pressure, sea salts and the
effect of storm waves
• Study of oceanic processes were expensive and
time consuming, most major advances have
been sponsored by Governments or by very
wealthy individuals
 History of oceanography
• The voyages of Vasco da Gama, Colombus,
Balboa, Magellan and Captain Cook mapped the
major outlines of land and ocean
• Sir James Clark Ross (1800- 1862), sailed under
his uncle, Sir John Ross and had tried to reach
the North Pole. From 1839 to 1843 his ships
Erebus and Terror made three separate
voyages, circling Antarctica and charting
hundreds of miles of its coastal waters
(biological specimens were collected from great
depths and measured temperature.
 History of oceanography
• Edward Forbes (1815- 1854) claimed to have
proven the absence of life below 600 m and
concluded that most of the ocean was azoic
• Charles Darwin (1809- 1882) given theories
about the origin of species through evolution
• Primitive animals on stalks, called crinoids, had
recently been discovered by Michael Sars
• Royal Society of London and Admirallyprovided
an important source of financial support
 History of oceanography
• Edward Forbes (1815- 1854) claimed to
have proven the absence of life below 600
m. He concluded that most of the ocean
was azoic or devoid of animal life
 World oceans
Oceans Area (m Volume Av. Av. Av.
Km2) (m Km3) depth Temp. Salinity
(m) (0C) (ppt)
Pacific 180. 3940 3.36 34.62

Atlantic 107 3310 3.72 34.76

Indian 74 3840 3.73 34.90

World 361 3730 3.52 34.72

Evaporation, precipitation and river
inflow for oceans
Oceans Evaporation PPT (cm/yr) River inflow
(cm/yr) (cm/yr)
Atlantic 124 89 23

Pacific 132 133 07

Indian 132 117 09

World 126 114 12

Ocean profile
Ocean floor
Ocean floor
Beach profile
Ocean beach