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Oceanography, also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and seabed geology; 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, 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 carbon cycle is that part of the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component of many minerals such as limestone. The carbon cycle comprises a sequence of events that are key to making Earth capable of sustaining life. It describes the movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused throughout the biosphere, as well as long-term processes of carbon sequestration (storage) to and release from carbon sinks.
Phytoplankton are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν, meaning 'plant', and πλαγκτός, meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'.
Downwelling is the downward movement of a fluid parcel and its properties within a larger fluid. It is closely related to upwelling, the upward movement of fluid.
The biological pump (or ocean carbon biological pump or marine biological carbon pump) is the ocean's biologically driven sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere and land runoff to the ocean interior and seafloor sediments. In other words, it is a biologically mediated process which results in the sequestering of carbon in the deep ocean away from the atmosphere and the land. The biological pump is the biological component of the "marine carbon pump" which contains both a physical and biological component. It is the part of the broader oceanic carbon cycle responsible for the cycling of organic matter formed mainly by phytoplankton during photosynthesis (soft-tissue pump), as well as the cycling of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) formed into shells by certain organisms such as plankton and mollusks (carbonate pump).
Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo- referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water. Wind-driven surface currents travel polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, cooling en route, and eventually sinking at high latitudes. This dense water then flows into the ocean basins. While the bulk of it upwells in the Southern Ocean, the oldest waters upwell in the North Pacific. Extensive mixing therefore takes place between the ocean basins, reducing differences between them and making the Earth's oceans a global system. The water in these circuits transport both energy and mass around the globe. As such, the state of the circulation has a large impact on the climate of the Earth.
The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of 1,000 to 4,000 m below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelagic is also known as the midnight zone because of the lack of sunlight; this feature does not allow for photosynthesis-driven primary production, preventing growth of phytoplankton or aquatic plants. Although larger by volume than the photic zone, human knowledge of the bathypelagic zone remains limited by ability to explore the deep ocean.
Sea surface temperature (SST), or ocean surface temperature, is the ocean temperature close to the surface. The exact meaning of surface varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between 1 millimetre (0.04 in) and 20 metres (70 ft) below the sea surface. Sea surface temperatures greatly modify air masses in the Earth's atmosphere within a short distance of the shore. Local areas of heavy snow can form in bands downwind of warm water bodies within an otherwise cold air mass. Warm sea surface temperatures can develop and strengthen cyclones over the ocean. Tropical cyclones can also cause a cool wake. This is due to turbulent mixing of the upper 30 metres (100 ft) of the ocean. Sea surface temperature changes during the day. This is like the air above it, but to a lesser degree. There is less variation in sea surface temperature on breezy days than on calm days. The thermohaline circulation has a major impact on average sea surface temperature throughout most of the world's oceans.
In Earth's atmosphere, carbon dioxide is a trace gas that plays an integral part in the greenhouse effect, carbon cycle, photosynthesis and oceanic carbon cycle. It is one of several greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of Earth. The current global average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is 421 ppm as of May 2022 (0.04%). This is an increase of 50% since the start of the Industrial Revolution, up from 280 ppm during the 10,000 years prior to the mid-18th century. The increase is due to human activity.
Ocean heat content (OHC) or ocean heat uptake (OHU) is the energy absorbed and stored by oceans. To calculate the ocean heat content, it is necessary to measure ocean temperature at many different locations and depths. Integrating the areal density of a change in enthalpic energy over an ocean basin or entire ocean gives the total ocean heat uptake. Between 1971 and 2018, the rise in ocean heat content accounted for over 90% of Earth's excess energy from global heating. The main driver of this increase was anthropogenic forcing via rising greenhouse gas emissions. By 2020, about one third of the added energy had propagated to depths below 700 meters.
The Ross Gyre is one of three gyres that exists within the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, the others being the Weddell Gyre and Balleny Gyre. The Ross Gyre is located north of the Ross Sea, and rotates clockwise. The gyre is formed by interactions between the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Antarctic Continental Shelf. The Ross Gyre is bounded by the Polar Front of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the north, the Antarctic Slope Current to the south, the Balleny Gyre to the west, and a variable boundary to the east from semiannual changes in sea surface height (SSH) in the Amundsen Sea. Circulation in the Ross Gyre has been estimated to be 20 ± 5 Sverdrup (Sv) and plays a large role in heat exchange in this region.
The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approx. 70.8% of Earth. In English, the term ocean also refers to any of the large bodies of water into which the world ocean is conventionally divided. The following names describe five different areas of the ocean: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and Arctic. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of Earth's hydrosphere, thus the ocean is essential to life on Earth. The ocean influences climate and weather patterns, the carbon cycle, and the water cycle by acting as a huge heat reservoir.
Marine chemistry, also known as ocean chemistry or chemical oceanography, is the study of chemical content in marine environments as influenced by plate tectonics and seafloor spreading, turbidity, currents, sediments, pH levels, atmospheric constituents, metamorphic activity, and ecology. Marine life has adapted to the chemistries unique to Earth's oceans, and marine ecosystems are sensitive to changes in ocean chemistry.
The ocean temperature plays a crucial role in the global climate system, ocean currents and for marine habitats. It varies depending on depth, geographical location and season. Not only the temperature differs in seawater but also the salinity. Warm surface water is generally saltier than the cooler deep or polar waters. In polar regions, the upper layers of ocean water are cold and fresh. Deep ocean water is cold, salty water found deep below the surface of Earth's oceans. This water has a uniform temperature of around 0-3 °C. The ocean temperature also depends on the amount of solar radiation falling on its surface. In the tropics, with the Sun nearly overhead, the temperature of the surface layers can rise to over 30 °C (86 °F). Near the poles the temperature in equilibrium with the sea ice is about −2 °C (28 °F).
There are many effects of climate change on oceans. One of the main ones is an increase in ocean temperatures. More frequent marine heatwaves are linked to this. The rising temperature contributes to a rise in sea levels due to melting ice sheets. Other effects on oceans include sea ice decline, reducing pH values and oxygen levels, as well as increased ocean stratification. All this can lead to changes of ocean currents, for example a weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The main root cause of these changes are the emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities, mainly burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide and methane are examples of greenhouse gases. The additional greenhouse effect leads to ocean warming because the ocean takes up most of the additional heat in the climate system. The ocean also absorbs some of the extra carbon dioxide that is in the atmosphere. This causes the pH value of the seawater to drop. Scientists estimate that the ocean absorbs about 25% of all human-caused CO2 emissions.
The oceanic carbon cycle is composed of processes that exchange carbon between various pools within the ocean as well as between the atmosphere, Earth interior, and the seafloor. The carbon cycle is a result of many interacting forces across multiple time and space scales that circulates carbon around the planet, ensuring that carbon is available globally. The Oceanic carbon cycle is a central process to the global carbon cycle and contains both inorganic carbon and organic carbon. Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter.
Ralph Franklin Keeling is a professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He is the Principal Investigator for the Atmospheric Oxygen Research Group at Scripps and is the director of the Scripps CO2 Program, the measurement program behind the Keeling curve, which was started by his father Charles David Keeling in 1958. Ralph Keeling has developed precise instruments and techniques for the measurement of atmospheric oxygen and anthropogenic CO2 in the ocean, and for the analysis of land and ocean carbon sinks.
The Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) project is a large scale National Science Foundation funded research project based at Princeton University that started in September 2014. The project aims to increase the understanding of the Southern Ocean and the role it plays in factors such as climate, as well as educate new scientists with oceanic observation.
Human activities affect marine life and marine habitats through overfishing, habitat loss, the introduction of invasive species, ocean pollution, ocean acidification and ocean warming. These impact marine ecosystems and food webs and may result in consequences as yet unrecognised for the biodiversity and continuation of marine life forms.
The Great Calcite Belt (GCB) refers to a region of the ocean where there are high concentrations of calcite, a mineral form of calcium carbonate. The belt extends over a large area of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. The calcite in the Great Calcite Belt is formed by tiny marine organisms called coccolithophores, which build their shells out of calcium carbonate. When these organisms die, their shells sink to the bottom of the ocean, and over time, they accumulate to form a thick layer of calcite sediment.
References
- ↑ "GO-SHIP HOME Page".
- ↑ "JCOMMOPS GO-SHIP theme".
- ↑ Apsley Cherry-Garrard, '[The Worst Journey in the World, Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1922, p. xxii
- ↑ "Depth finder | measurement device". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
- ↑ Alexander Hellemans and Brian Bunch, 1989, Timeline of Science, Sidgwick and Jackson, London
- ↑ Edgar W. Spencer, 1977, Introduction to the Structure of the Earth, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, Tokyo
- ↑ Degroot, Dagomar; Anchukaitis, Kelvin (2021). "Towards a rigorous understanding of societal responses to climate change". Nature. 591 (7851): 539–550. Bibcode:2021Natur.591..539D. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03190-2. PMID 33762769. S2CID 232354348.
- ↑ "NPOCE (Northwestern Pacific Ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment)". npoce.org.cn. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
- ↑ Purkey, S.G.; Johnson, G.C. (2010). "Warming of global abyssal and deep Southern Ocean waters between the 1990s and 2000s: contributions to global heat and sea level rise budgets". J. Clim. 23 (23): 6336–6351. Bibcode:2010JCli...23.6336P. doi: 10.1175/2010jcli3682.1 . S2CID 15995408.
- ↑ Sloyan, B.M.; Wijffels, S.E. (2013). "Deep ocean changes near the western boundary of the South Pacific Ocean". J. Phys. Oceanogr. 43 (10): 2132–2141. Bibcode:2013JPO....43.2132S. doi:10.1175/jpo-d-12-0182.1. hdl: 1912/6304 .
Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. - ↑ Gruber, N; Clement, D (2019). "The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO2 rom 1994 to 2007". Science. 363 (6432): 1193–1199. Bibcode:2019Sci...363.1193G. doi: 10.1126/science.aau5153 . PMID 30872519. S2CID 78092321.
- ↑ Kouketsu, S; Murata, A.M. (2014). "Detecting decadal scale increases in anthropogenic CO2 in the ocean". Geophys. Res. Lett. 41 (13): 4594–4600. Bibcode:2014GeoRL..41.4594K. doi:10.1002/2014gl060516. S2CID 140537280.
- ↑ Khatiwala, S; Tanhua, T (2013). "Global ocean storage of anthropogenic carbon". Biogeosciences. 10 (4): 2169–2191. Bibcode:2013BGeo...10.2169K. doi: 10.5194/bg-10-2169-2013 . hdl: 20.500.11850/67385 . S2CID 3705597.
- ↑ "JCOMMOPS GO-SHIP theme".
