Oceanography Final Exam

     Oceanography is the branch of science that deals with the physical and biological properties and phenomena of the sea.Oceanography was an interesting and fun class (except the lectures). It even has a historical side because it had to be explored by someone. I did a project on Christopher Columbus who is the most famous ocean explorer of all time. I also did a project on the start of scuba diving equipment. 
     Everything that we learned this semester we learned in a creative, fun and hands-on manner. Each unit that we learned had a corresponding lab in which we got to experiment with whatever topic we were learning about at that time. At the end of each week, we produced a blog to go along with what we had learned. This was fun and proved to be helpful to remember what we had learned.  Going over our knowledge at the end of each week by writing down what we learned made that information stick in our minds that much more.
     Everything we learned about was connected in one way or another. The moon and the tides, currents, heat, salinity, minerals.  
     A project I really liked was the Loggerhead Island one. I thought it was fun because we had so much flexibility in our groups. This is different from many of the labs that required us to follow directions step-by-step and not go down a different route. 

Which Way the Wind Blows

A Study of Bathymetric Mapping

1. 
How can ocean floor features be measured and mapped using current acoustical technology? Sonar. we send sound waves to the ocean floor and see how long it takes them to bounce and come back. Once we have how long it took and how fast the sound waves traveled we can find the distance. How can ocean floor maps be used in the commercial, military, and/or private sectors? For commercial use, water depth, finding fish, and determining ocean sediments. In the military, every peice of the ocean floor needs to be known to the military. 

2. 
Flat Abyssal Plain: instead of being rugged, like along the mid-ocean ridges, sediments fall almost like snow, creating a flat plain on the ocean floor

ishtarc.wikispaces.com

Underwater Seamount: An underwater mountain rising from the ocean floor and having a peaked or flat-topped summit below the surface of the sea.

www.noaanews.noaa.gov

Continental Shelf: A submerged border of a continent that slopes gradually and extends to a point of steeper descent to the ocean bottom. 

Submarine Canyon: any of a class of narrow, steep-sided valleys that originate on the continental shelf and cut into continental slopes and continental rises of the oceans

Mid-Ocean Ridge: A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics.

Island Arc System: an arc-shaped chain of islands, such as the Aleutian Islands or the Japanese Islands, usually lying at the edge of a Benioff zone, indicating volcanic activity where the oceanic lithosphere is descending into the earth's interior

3. 

Dancing of the Continents Activity

     I had previous knowledge of Pangea, without knowing the name, but I knew that all of the continents were once in a big jumble. I did not know where the continents were placed though, which I learned through this activity. I learned of how the continents moved with the theory's of Wegner, Hess, and whoever else came up with the last one.
     I assume scientists publish their findings, and if a scientists of a different nature disagrees with their findings then they show the proof to disprove it. For instance, Wegner's idea of Continental Drift was based on his scientific studying, but Hess had a different scientific expertise and had proof to disprove Wegner's theory.

Experimental Design

This trip would be about three weeks round trip, so I would need about three weeks worth of food and clothing. A lot of underwater divign equipment and since the clms breed at night, underwater flash lights. Submersibles in case the water is too deep to dive. The procedure would be hour long shifts by 1 scientist at a time. collecting samples and also watching the clams in there natural habitat.

Underwater Observatory

     When thinking about building an underwater observatory, there is a lot more than one would think about. What does one need to use to complete their research? Things such as labs or collecting bottles need to be brought. If one needs scuba equipment, there is a lot of stuff. The essentials need to be thought of, such as food, water, electricity, etc. Does one need internet connection underwater? That could be a tough process. Do you need people above your station to help out in emergency, or are you leaving an unmanned buoy?
   

     

         Photo by Scott Dixon

Why Explore the Oceans?

     The ocean takes up a huge part of the Earth's surface, helping support life by making Earth habitable. By studying the ocean and its mysteries, we can unlock secrets about many things. It supports life for an extremely diverse amount of life and ecosystems. Another thing we may learn from studying the ocean is the change in weather and climate, something controlled entirely by ocean.
     The ocean can be compared to space, both are extremely unexplored for many reasons. The main reason is that we don't have the technology developed yet that humans need. For instance we know the Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the ocean, at around six miles, yet it is largely unexplored with only three visits. Could there possibly be undiscovered species living at such depths?  We have come a long way since the Egyptians first sailed the seas 5200 years ago. Since those days, humans and the ocean have been inextricably interconnected.

Why I Study Science.

I chose to take this course because I am very interested in science. This was one of the few science courses offered, so I took it. I am interested in gaining a greater knowledge of the ocean. 70% of the Earth is ocean and I know almost nothing about it. 

There are a lot of mysteries in this world and science solves all.