HISTORY OF OCEAN EXPLORATIONInto the Wide Blue Yonder

3 MAIN REASONS FOR SEAFARING

Food Trade Discovery

of new land

ANCIENT SEAFARING

Biblically – Noah’s Ark and similar stories of floods: Not really out to Sea

1st Recorded – 3200 BCE Egyptian reed boats to Phoenicia for Trade

1st Exploration – 2750 BCE Egyptians to southern tip of Arabian Peninsula

Phoenicians – established trade routes in Mediterranean and as far north as Great Britain. All routes within sight of land.

ANCIENT SEAFARING CONT.

Polynesians 2000 – 500 BCE Traveled thousands of miles across Pacific

Ocean Settled most habitable islands of the

Pacific including Hawaii Used basic maps made

from sticks, shells, ropes, knots & rocks.

TOOLS OF ANCIENT SEAFARING

Reference points on land Use sun, constellations,

stars Cloud patterns that

develop near islands and coastlines

Shore birds

ANCIENT GREEK MATHEMATICIANS

Developed knowledge lost during middle ages

Knew Earth was round not flat. Calculated Circumference of the Earth Developed sophisticated maps with

latitude and longitude Ptolemy developed coordinate system

still used today.

PTOLEMY Astronomer,

mathematician, geographer circa 87 – 150 AD

First map of a spherical earth projected on to a FLAT map Introduced latitude and

longitude

LATITUDE

Easy to figure out while at sea, even long ago

Not so much…

LONGITUDE

Latitude: Measures the angular distance north

or south of the equator expressed in degrees

Longitude: Measures the angular distance east or

west expressed in degrees.

Equator – Great Circle 1/2way between North and South Poles 0⁰ latitude Circles are different sizes Circles Never intersect & run

parallel to each other 90⁰ N

90⁰ S

0⁰

Prime Meridian – Great Circle

Passes through Greenwich England 0⁰ longitude Circles are equal sizes Each intersect at Poles

West East

TRAVELING AT SEALatitude

sextant - used to calculate the degree of difference between observer and equator (incredible accuracy)

Longitude

Longitude is the degree of difference between an observer and the prime meridian – How do you do that?????

CHRONOMETERS

You needed a clock to determine longitude

1 hour from the prime meridian = 15°

1° = 30 nautical milesNot so simple really –

Degree lengths along meridian aren’t

constant (earth is not a perfect sphere:

69 miles/degree at equator 17 miles/degree at 80° N

0 at the poles

IMAGINE 1714

Clocks? nope

England offers 20,000 pounds

John Harrison 1726 – the first semi-

accurate “regulators” 1759 – “H4” is

completed (it’s a clock)

Weighs 3 lbs 5” diameter

A FEW FACTS

Earth’s diameter at equator – 24,902 miles

Earth’s diameter at poles – 24,818 miles

Distance on Earth’s surface for 1⁰ of latitude OR longitude ~ 70 miles

END OF PART I

MIDDLE AGES – 500 TO 1500 AD

Suppression of science and geography caused loss of knowledge

Vikings – 790 to 1100 AD Explored from central Asia west to New Foundland, Canada and throughout Europe to North Africa

Chinese – developed magnetic compass; two technological innovations of ships: central rudders and watertight compartments

EUROPEAN VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY 1400 – 1700 AD

3 motives Economics Politics Religion

Asia to the East Prince Henry – Western Africa Bartholomeu Dias – Cape of Good Hope

(1487) Vasco de Gama – Through Cape to India

(1497)

EUROPEAN VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY 1400 – 1700 AD

Asia to the West Christopher Columbus (1492) - Landed on

Caribbean Islands Vespucci – First to recognize South America as

new continent (1499-1504) Vasco Nunez de Balboa – 1st European to sail in Pacific; Crossed over Panama Peninsula (1513) Ferdinand Magellan

Circumnavigated globe Left: 5 ships, 200 men (some say 270) Returned: 1 ship, 18 men, no Magellan

AGE OF EXPLORATION (1700 – 1900)

James Cook- 1st major expedition launched with Science and Exploration as only goal Chronometer

Developed by John Harrison Clock not affected by motion of sea Determined longitude accurately

Discovered New Zealand and Australia

3rd Voyage discovered Hawaii

AGE OF EXPLORATION (1700 – 1900) Charles Wilkes

Early U.S. expedition Proved existence of Antartica

Matthew Maury Father of Physical Oceanography Knowledge of prevailing winds and surface

currents Produced 1st modern oceanography textbook

AGE OF EXPLORATION (1700 – 1900)

Charles Darwin Gathered scientific data aboard HMS Beagle Later wrote The Origin of Species describing

evolution through natural selection Challenger Expedition (1872 – 1876)

1st expedition devoted specifically to marine science

Discovered Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Marianas Trench

Most new species ever discovered on one expedition until deep-sea vents in 1970s

MODERN OCEANOGRAPHY

Mapping sea floor using echo-sounding Meteor, Atlantis, and Challenger II

DEVELOPMENT OF SUBMERSIBLES AND SELF-CONTAINED DIVING

Bathyscaphe Trieste – 1st and only manned submersible to bottom of Challenger Deep

Research Submersibles allow for direct observations of abyssal plain and limited specimen collecting

Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnon develop SCUBA that allows direct manipulation during underwater research (limited depth)

ROV, AUV, ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION, AND SATELLITES

Remotely Operated Vehicles – Tethered/unmanned

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles – Untethered/Computer controlled

LORAN and GPS – Allow for accurate coordinate measurements

Satellites – track large scale weather and ocean phenomena

SOMEONE ASKED: HOW MANY GALLONS OF WATER ARE IN THE OCEAN?

1 cubic kilometer of water =1 trillion liters of water Therefore - ~ 1,300,000,000,000,000,000,000 liters of water (1.3 sextillion

liters)

Gallons? 3.78541178 liters = 1 gallon =343,423,668,428,484,681,262 gallons = 343 quintillion gallons or --- 343 billion BILLION gallons.

That's a lot of water.

The Oceans have around 1.3 billion cubic kilometers of water

SO… You tell me.

You may not ask Siri, Cortana, or Google…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_KKMC7fjuw&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7REEnwKOQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvE22AUl-_w