Understanding the Oceans: A Century of Ocean Exploration

by Deacon; Margaret

• ISBN13: 9781857287066
• ISBN10: 1857287061
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-12-21
• Publisher: CRC PRESS

Summary

Understanding the Oceans brings together an internationally distinguished group of authors to consider the enormous advances in marine science that have been achieved since the voyages of HMS Challenger a century ago. The whole book draws inspiration from the seminal contribution made by the research conducted on those voyages, and each contributor considers the significance of the findings, relating them to the exciting developments of today and tomorrow.Covering the whole spectrum of the marine sciences, the book has been written and edited very much with the non-specialist reader in mind. Marine scientists, whether students or researchers, will welcome this authoritative sweep through the history of their subject through to the present day; other scientists will find the book to be an accessible and informative introduction to marine science and its historical roots.

Author Biography

Harold L. Burstyn is Patent Attorney, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Information Directorate, US Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, USA, and Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. During the 1950s and 1960s Dr Burstyn carried out pioneering work on the history of oceanography, concentrating on the Challenger Expedition J. Dennis Burton is a chemical oceanographer, now Emeritus Professor in the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Southampton Oceanography Centre, Southampton University. He was previously for many years on the staff of the University's Department of Oceanography. Jacqueline Carpine-Lancre was for many years Librarian of the Musee oceanographique at Monaco (Fondation Albert I[superscript er]). Trained originally as a historian, she has also written numerous books and articles on historical topics, in particular on the life and work of Prince Albert I. Peter G. Challenor is on the staff of the James Rennell Division for Ocean Circulation and Climate, Southampton Oceanography Centre. Margaret B. Deacon is an honorary visiting fellow in the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Southampton University, at the Southampton Oceanography Centre. She has written extensively on the history of oceanography. Robert Marc Friedman is a member of the Department of History, University of Oslo, where he specializes in Scandinavian science of the early twentieth century, in particular geophysical and polar research. Brian M. Funnell (died April 2000) was a founder Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, and more recently Emeritus Professor, following his early retirement in 1989. Christopher R. German is a member of the Challenger Division for Seafloor Processes at the Southampton Oceanography Centre. W. John Gould is head of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) International Project Office and Climate Variability and Predictability Study (CLIVAR), based at the James Rennell Division for Ocean Circulation and Climate, Southampton Oceanography Centre. Trevor H. Guymer is head of the James Rennell Division for Ocean Circulation and Climate at the Southampton Oceanography Centre. Sir Anthony Laughton FRS joined the staff of the National Institute of Oceanography (later renamed Institute of Oceanographic Sciences) in 1955, and served as director from 1978 until his retirement in 1988. Rosalind Gunther Marsden, a retired teacher of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, is engaged on a history of the origins and work of the Discovery Committee. Eric L. Mills is Professor of the History of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he is also Professor of Oceanography. A. L. (Tony) Rice is a marine biologist and author. Until his retirement in 1998 he was head of benthic biology in the Challenger Division for Seafloor Processes at the Southampton Oceanography Centre, and was previously at the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences. He has a long-term interest in the work of the Challenger Expedition Meric A. Srokosz is on the staff of the James Rennell Division for Ocean Circulation and Climate, Southampton Oceanography Centre. Dorrik A. V. Stow is a Professor and marine geologist in the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Southampton Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton. Colin Summerhayes was Director of the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences from 1988 to 1995. He was subsequently deputy director of the Southampton Oceanography Centre and head of the Challenger Division for Seafloor Processes. Since 1997 he has been director of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) project office, based at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO, Paris. Paul Tyler is a marine biologist and was in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Wales (Swansea) before moving to Southampton in 1986. He is currently Head of Academic Studies at the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Southampton Oceanography Centre, Southampton University. Andrew Watson is a Professor and marine scientist at the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich. He was formerly at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, where he developed and first applied the techniques of ocean tracer release experiments. T. Roger S. Wilson is a marine chemist, formerly head of the chemistry section at the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Deacon Laboratory, Wormley. John D. Woods CBE was director of marine and atmospheric sciences at the Natural Environment Research Council from 1986 to 1994. He is now Professor of Oceanography in the T. H. Huxley School of Environment, Earth Science and Engineering, at Imperial College, London University. C. M. Young is on the faculty of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, Florida, USA.

Table of Contents

List of figures	ix
List of tables	xiii
Notes on contributors	xv
Foreword	xvii
Acknowledgements	xix
Introduction	1	(24)
Margaret Deacon
Colin Summerhayes
PART 1 The historical context	25	(62)
The Challenger Expedition: the end of an era or a new beginning?	27	(22)
A. L. Rice
`Big science' in Victorian Britain: the Challenger Expedition (1872-6) and its Report (1881-95)	49	(7)
Harold L. Burstyn
Oceanographic sovereigns: Prince Albert I of Monaco and King Carlos I of Portugal	56	(13)
Jacqueline Carpine-Lancre
Expedition to investigation: the work of the Discovery Committee	69	(18)
Rosalind Marsden
PART 2 Ocean basins	87	(66)
Introduction: the exploration of the sea floor	89	(3)
Colin Summerhayes
Shape as a key to understanding the geology of the oceans	92	(16)
A. S. Laughton
Silent, strong and deep: the mystery of how basins fill	108	(16)
Dorrik A. V. Stow
Palaeoceanography: tapping the ocean's long-term memory	124	(14)
Brian M. Funnell
Hydrothermal activity at mid-ocean ridges	138	(15)
Christopher R. German
PART 3 Ocean circulation	153	(70)
Introduction: ocean circulation	155	(3)
Henry Charnock
Margaret Deacon
Polar dreams and California sardines: Harald Ulrik Sverdrup and the study of ocean circulation prior to World War II	158	(15)
Robert Marc Friedman
Direct measurement of subsurface ocean currents: a success story	173	(20)
W. John Gould
Oceanography from space: past success, future challenge	193	(19)
T. H. Guymer
P. G. Challenor
M. A. Srokosz
Transient tracers and tracer release experiments: new tools for the oceanographer	212	(11)
Andrew Watson
PART 4 The ocean ecosystem	223	(59)
Introduction	225	(3)
Tony Rice
`Problem children of analytical chemistry': elucidating the seasonal cycle of marine plankton production through nutrient analysis	228	(23)
Eric L. Mills
Why is the sea salty? - What controls the composition of ocean water?	251	(10)
T. Roger S. Wilson
J. Dennis Burton
Deep-sea biology in the 1990s: a legacy of the Challenger Expedition	261	(11)
P. A. Tyler
A. L. Rice
C. M. Young
The Challenger legacy: the next twenty years	272	(10)
John Woods
Postscript: the Challenger Expedition on postage stamps	282	(7)
A. L. Rice
Index	289