Module 1: What Is Oceanography?

waterDid you know that water covers 71 percent of our planet? Or that rain clouds formed from volcanic activity billions of years ago? Would you believe that it is possible for rain to fall for thousands of years?

This module begins with a bang — literally! To understand our oceans, you must first travel 13.7 billion of years into the past to learn about the Big Bang theory and the early days of our universe. Then you will move forward a few billion years to visit a glowing ball of molten rock far out in the Milky Way Galaxy (someday, you will call this home!). You will watch this lonely planet slowly cool and gradually turn blue as it fills with water.

When you return from your time traveling adventure, you will meet with professionals in the four branches of oceanography — biological, chemical, geological, and physical — to learn about the importance of oceanography in the modern world. Biologists study life in the oceans, while chemists look for new interesting medicines and technologies. Geologists find new resources and explain how the world changes, and physicists explain the movement of ocean water and can help find quicker ways to travel using the ocean currents.

No matter their chosen branch of study, oceanographers rely on a wide variety of tools and technologies to conduct their research. You will explore some of these tools and technologies, college imagefrom simple sampling bottles and plankton nets to robotic submarines, high-tech satellites, and huge ocean-going research vessels.

After all this, do you think that a career in oceanography sounds rather exciting? Terrific! You will take a sample of college and university programs to learn what is available. Then, you will explore some of the many careers in oceanography such as oil exploration, environmental consulting, teaching, marine biology, marine geology, and even ocean chemists who look for new medicines near deep ocean vents.

Getting Started

Test Your Knowledge InteractivityGetting Stated IconHow much do you already know about oceanography? In this non-graded interactivity, read each statement and decide whether it is true or false. Then click SUBMIT to check your answer. Click the player button to begin.

 

 

 

 

Key Vocabulary

To view the definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.

astronomy geological oceanography seafloor spreading
basin hydrometer Secchi disk
bathymetric maps hydrothermal vents seismometer
Big Bang theory Mid-Atlantic Ridge singularity
biological oceanography mixture Sir Fred Hoyle
bottom corer Nansen bottles solar nebula
bottom sampler Niskin bottles solar nebula theory/nebular hypothesis
buoys ocean-going vessels solute
carbon dioxide oceanography solution
chemical oceanography out gassing solvent
compound Peterson grab submersibles
continental drift physical oceanography succession plates
current plankton net surface sample bottles
deck plankton collector plate tectonics symbiosis
dredge plates tide
Ekman grab quadrats transects
fault refractometer trawling
floating platforms remote sensing Van Dorn bottles
fusion salinity water vapor
geography satellites wave