Reference
- oceanContinuous body of salt water that surrounds the continents and fills the Earth's great depressions. Oceans cover c.71% of the Earth's surface (more than 80% of the Southern Hemisphere), and represent c.98% of all the water on the face of the Earth. There are five main oceans, the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic. The oceans are constantly moving in currents, tides, and waves, and they form an integral part of the Earth's hydrological cycle and climate. They are a rich source of fossils and minerals, such as oil and gas. Marine fauna, such as fish and plankton, are a vital part of the food chain. Total area: 360 million sq km (138 million sq mi). Total volume: c.1.4 billion cu km (322 million cu mi). Average depth: 3,500m (12,000ft). Average temperature: 3.9°C (39°F).
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Credo Reference is an easy-to-use tool for starting research. Gather background information on your topic from hundreds of full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and subject-specific titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos.
Perspectives
Deep
An Amazon Best Book of 2014 While on assignment in Greece, journalist James Nestor witnessed something that confounded him: a man diving 300 feet below the ocean's surface on a single breath of air and returning four minutes later, unharmed and smiling. This man was a freediver, and his amphibious abilities inspired Nestor to seek out the secrets of this little-known discipline. In Deep, Nestor embeds with a gang of extreme athletes and renegade researchers who are transforming not only our knowledge of the planet and its creatures, but also our understanding of the human body and mind. Along the way, he takes us from the surface to the Atlantic's greatest depths, some 28,000 feet below sea level. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and seals who dive to depths below 2,400 feet for up to eighty minutes--deeper and longer than scientists ever thought possible. As strange as these phenomena are, they are reflections of our own species' remarkable, and often hidden, potential--including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound physiological changes we undergo when underwater. Most illuminating of all, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.
Guide to the Oceans
An authoritative and richly illustrated guide to the many facets of the world's oceans and seas. The first five sections describe the genesis and evolution of the oceans, the history of exploration, leisure on the oceans, sealife, and ocean resources. The Atlas section maps the ocean basins, their circulation patterns and unique features. An Encyclopedia of Marine Life catalogues the main groups of flora and fauna.
Frozen Oceans
Discover and explore worlds containing unexpected life. As some scientists search for life on the frozen planet of Mars, others are discovering life in unexpected places here on Earth. Frozen Oceans follows the expeditions of polar scientists in the Arctic and Antarctic as they investigate the life found in and around the ice caps, which cover up to 13 percent of the Earth's surface. Every year during the harsh polar winter, the surface of the ocean freezes, forming a temporary ice layer called pack ice, or sea ice. The Antarctic is the site of the greatest seasonal event on Earth. In March, the air temperatures drop to as low as -40°F, the ocean, which turns to ice at 28.7°F, starts freezing at the incredible average rate of 2.22 square miles per minute! This is the first book to explain in non-technical terms and show with color photography the abundance of life on, in and under the ice. Topics include: The nature of pack ice Pack ice regions of the world Life within a block of ice Microbiology inside the ice Mammals, birds and ice. Scientists are continually being surprised by the abundance of life where no life was expected. For many years, ice was seen as an obstacle to exploration and a threat to life. The ice is now perceived as central to global ocean circulation as well as global climate patterns. Frozen Oceans is a must for anyone with an interest in the polar regions, marine biology and the Earth's environment.
Oceans
Earth's seas play a tremendous role in the planet's systems: Ocean currents transfer water and heat around the globe, and ocean ecosystems are among the most biologically productive anywhere. But the oceans are being abused. Wild fisheries are harvested to the point of collapse, and some aquaculture damages life and the environment. People intentionally or inadvertently dump wastes - sewage, oil, toxic chemicals, detergents, fertilizers, and invasive species - and all have an impact on ocean ecosystems. Offering full-color photographs and illustrations and captivating text, ""Oceans"" introduces young science students to these urgent issues. This important new work shows how protecting the oceans requires protecting the entire planet, and describes the importance of setting aside marine reserves to save vital ecosystems.
Ocean
The past one hundred years of ocean science have been distinguished by dramatic milestones, remarkable discoveries, and major revelations. This book is a clear and lively survey of many of these amazing findings. Beginning with a brief review of the elements that define what the ocean is and how it works--from plate tectonics to the thermocline and the life within it--Wolf H. Berger places current understanding in the context of history. Essays treat such topics as beach processes and coral reefs, the great ocean currents off the East and West Coasts, the productivity of the sea, and the geologic revolution that changed all knowledge of the earth in the twentieth century.
Oceans
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Parts of the ocean are six miles deep. Animals and microorganisms thrive in the oceans. The ocean landscape often mimics the land. Oceans act as huge heat reserves and absorb carbon dioxide.
Life in the Oceans
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowAt least 2 million species live in the ocean. Bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, and zooplankton are protozoans. Jellyfish are pelagic organisms. Benthic organisms live on the sea bed. Nekton are strong swimming marine organisms.
Oceans: Introduction
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowThis segment orients viewers to Dr. Sanjayan's exploration of Earth's last wild frontier.
Online Resources
- Networking in Oceans: A SurveyThe ocean is a huge saltwater body that is different from terrestrial environments in terms of deployment circumstance, weather conditions, and user distributions. Therefore, it is difficult to apply terrestrial networking technologies directly in oceans. The cost-effectiveness of satellites is still an issue to be addressed to increase their popularity due to their high cost in construction, launching, and maintenance and high deployment risks. Such situations stimulate many research efforts on networking technologies in the ocean space consisting of coastline, water surface, sky, and underwater. This article conducts a comprehensive survey on the related issues through reviewing the networking environments and communication networks already operating in the ocean space as well as ongoing R8D activities and results reported in the literature. These systems include coastal networks, water surface networks, sky networks, and underwater networks, which are reviewed and discussed along with summaries on the related topics and research issues necessary for further studies. This article, taking into account maritime communication networks and underwater networking together, aims to provide the reader with an overview on the state of the art and corresponding challenging issues for networking in the ocean space.
- Ocean AerobiologyOcean aerobiology is defined here as the study of biological particles of marine origin, including living organisms, present in the atmosphere and their role in ecological, biogeochemical, and climate processes. Hundreds of trillions of microorganisms are exchanged between ocean and atmosphere daily. Within a few days, tropospheric transport potentially disperses microorganisms over continents and between oceans. There is a need to better identify and quantify marine aerobiota, characterize the time spans and distances of marine microorganisms’ atmospheric transport, and determine whether microorganisms acclimate to atmospheric conditions and remain viable, or even grow. Exploring the atmosphere as a microbial habitat is fundamental for understanding the consequences of dispersal and will expand our knowledge of biodiversity, biogeography, and ecosystem connectivity across different marine environments. Marine organic matter is chemically transformed in the atmosphere, including remineralization back to CO2. The magnitude of these transformations is insignificant in the context of the annual marine carbon cycle, but may be a significant sink for marine recalcitrant organic matter over long (∼104 years) timescales. In addition, organic matter in sea spray aerosol plays a significant role in the Earth’s radiative budget by scattering solar radiation, and indirectly by affecting cloud properties. Marine organic matter is generally a poor source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), but a significant source of ice nucleating particles (INPs), affecting the formation of mixed-phase and ice clouds. This review will show that marine biogenic aerosol plays an impactful, but poorly constrained, role in marine ecosystems, biogeochemical processes, and the Earth’s climate system. Further work is needed to characterize the connectivity and feedbacks between the atmosphere and ocean ecosystems in order to integrate this complexity into Earth System models, facilitating future climate and biogeochemical predictions.
Beauty and Diversity of the Oceans
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowStunning photography and music inspire an appreciation of the ocean's natural beauty and the diversity of creatures that live within the seas.