The Challenger Deep is the deepest known point of the seabed in the Earth's hydrosphere, with a depth of 10,902 to 10,929 m by direct measurement from deep-diving submersibles, remotely operated underwater vehicles, and benthic landers and (sometimes) slightly more by sonar bathymetry.
Oceanography, also known as oceanology, is the scientific study of the ocean. It is an important Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and the geology of the sea floor; and fluxes of various chemical substances and physical properties within the ocean and across its boundaries. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers utilize to glean further knowledge of the world ocean, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, climatology, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology and physics. Paleoceanography studies the history of the oceans in the geologic past. An oceanographer is a person who studies many matters concerned with oceans including marine geology, physics, chemistry and biology.
The Challenger expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, HMS Challenger.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and Earth science research, public service, undergraduate and graduate training in the world. Hundreds of ocean and Earth scientists conduct research with the aid of oceanographic research vessels and shorebased laboratories. Its Old Scripps Building is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. SIO is a division of the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The public explorations center of the institution is the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Since becoming part of the University of California in 1912, the institution has expanded its scope to include studies of the physics, chemistry, geology, biology, and climate of Earth.
The Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) is a global and multidisciplinary research project dedicated to understanding the key biogeochemical-physical interactions and feedbacks between the ocean and the atmosphere. Further, SOLAS seeks to link ocean-atmosphere interactions with climate and people. Achievements of these goals are essential in order to understand and quantify the role that ocean-atmosphere interactions play in the regulation of climate and global change.
A research vessel is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated vessel. Due to the demanding nature of the work, research vessels are often constructed around an icebreaker hull, allowing them to operate in polar waters.
HMS Challenger was a steam-assisted Royal Navy Pearl-class corvette launched on 13 February 1858 at the Woolwich Dockyard. She was the flagship of the Australia Station between 1866 and 1870.
Sir John Murray was a pioneering Scots-Canadian oceanographer, marine biologist and limnologist. He is considered to be the father of modern oceanography.
The National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) is a centre for research, teaching, and technology development in Ocean and Earth science. NOCS was created in 1995 jointly between the University of Southampton and the UK Natural Environment Research Council and is located within the port of Southampton at a purpose-built dockside campus with modern facilities. In 2010 the University and NERC components demerged, and the NERC-managed component became the National Oceanography Centre. The two components of NOCS continue close collaboration through the jointly run Graduate School, shared research facilities and laboratories, complementary research groups, and many joint research grants and publications. The University component “Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton” (OES) is part of the Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, (FELS). It was ranked 46th in the world for Earth and Marine Sciences by the QS World University Rankings in 2019.
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is a marine science research and technology institution based on two sites in Southampton and Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the UK’s largest institution for integrated sea level science, coastal and deep ocean research and technology development.
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) is the international membership body and learned society for marine professionals operating in the spheres of marine engineering, science, or technology. It has registered charity status in the UK. It has a worldwide membership of 21,000 individuals based in over 128 countries. The institute is a member of the UK Science Council and a licensed body of the Engineering Council UK.
Matthew England is a physical oceanographer and climate scientist. He is currently Scientia Professor of Ocean & Climate Dynamics at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
The Oceanography Society (TOS) is a nonprofit society founded in 1988, based in Rockville, Maryland, U.S. and incorporated in the District of Columbia. It is an oceanographical organization that aims to promote communication among oceanographers, spread knowledge through research and education, and to provide a constituency for building consensus amongst the sub-disciplines of the field. The society publishes the scientific journal Oceanography, which publishes articles on all oceanic disciplines.
The Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO), which was founded in 1999, is a consortium of major oceanographic institutions around the world, represented by their Directors. POGO's goal is to promote global operational oceanography, the implementation of a Global Ocean Observing System, and the importance of ocean observations for society. In 2020, POGO had 51 Members. The current Chairman (2019-2022) is Prof. Nick Owens.
John Graham Shepherd CBE FRS is a British Earth system scientist, Emeritus Professor at University of Southampton, and a former director of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. He has worked on a wide range of environment-related topics, including the transport of chemical tracers in the atmospheric boundary layer and in the deep ocean, the management of marine fish stocks, and the dynamics of the Earth system. More recently he led a comprehensive review of geoengineering for the Royal Society.
The British Mid-Ocean Ridge Initiative was a multidisciplinary scientific investigation of the creation of the Earth’s crust in the deep oceans. It was funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) from 1993 to 1999.
Karen Joy Heywood is a British Antarctic oceanographer and Professor of Physical Oceanography at the University of East Anglia (UEA). She is best known for her work developing autonomous measurements of the Southern Ocean.
Trevor John McDougallFAGU is a physical oceanographer specialising in ocean mixing and the thermodynamics of seawater. He is Scientia Professor of Ocean Physics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He is President of the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics.
Trevor Charles Platt was a British and Canadian biological oceanographer who was distinguished for his fundamental contributions to quantifying primary production by phytoplankton at various scales of space and time in the ocean.
