OceansOceans

Semester 1

A. Vincer

Canada has the longest coastline Canada has the longest coastline of any country. It is 56,453 miles of any country. It is 56,453 miles

long.long.

What country has the longest What country has the longest coastline?coastline?

Which ocean is the deepest?Which ocean is the deepest?

• The Pacific Ocean has the greatest The Pacific Ocean has the greatest average depth of about 4282 meters.average depth of about 4282 meters.

What is the longest coral reef?What is the longest coral reef?

• The Great Barrier Reef, along the The Great Barrier Reef, along the continental shelf of northeastern continental shelf of northeastern Australia, is the longest coral reef Australia, is the longest coral reef measuring about 1,243 miles long.measuring about 1,243 miles long.

Great Barrier ReefGreat Barrier Reef

Where is the deepest point on Where is the deepest point on the ocean floor?the ocean floor?

• The Challenger Deep is the deepest point The Challenger Deep is the deepest point at 35,802 feet deep. It is located off the at 35,802 feet deep. It is located off the coast of Guam in the Marianas Trench. coast of Guam in the Marianas Trench.

• 90% of all volcanic activity90% of all volcanic activity occurs in occurs in the oceans.the oceans.

• Each year, three times as much Each year, three times as much garbage is dumped into the world's garbage is dumped into the world's oceans as the weight of fish caught.oceans as the weight of fish caught.

• A mouthful of seawater may contain A mouthful of seawater may contain millions of bacterial cells, hundreds millions of bacterial cells, hundreds of thousands of phytoplankton and of thousands of phytoplankton and tens of thousands of zooplankton.tens of thousands of zooplankton.

• The Blue whale is the largest The Blue whale is the largest animal on our planet ever animal on our planet ever (exceeding the size of the greatest (exceeding the size of the greatest known dinosaurs) and has a heart is known dinosaurs) and has a heart is the size of a Volkswagen.the size of a Volkswagen.

OceanographyOceanographyFour disciplinesFour disciplines

1)1) Biological Biological Oceanography-Oceanography- studies marine studies marine organisms, their organisms, their interactions with interactions with environment and environment and the controls on the controls on their distributiontheir distribution

*In this unit, we will *In this unit, we will cover “Shark cover “Shark Week”!Week”!

Copepod (zooplankton)

2) Physical 2) Physical Oceanography-Oceanography-

studies ocean studies ocean currents, waves, currents, waves, tides and water tides and water circulationcirculation

3) Chemical 3) Chemical Oceanography-Oceanography- studies sea water studies sea water chemistrychemistry

4) Geological 4) Geological Oceanography-Oceanography- studies the shape studies the shape and structure of and structure of the ocean basins the ocean basins and how they form and how they form and evolveand evolve

Where did the Where did the water come from?water come from?

-Water vapor erupting from Volcanoes

-10 million years of continuous rainfall. Ice from comets (still going on).

- Ocean formed by 4 billion years ago, and is still growing (.01 km3 of water/yr.).

Ninety percent of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans

Life originated in the OceanLife originated in the Ocean

•Earth had very dim light, keeping surface of oceans frozen to 300 m.

•First self-sustaining molecules may haveformed near hydrothermal vents.

Answers: Answers: 1) The oceans cover 71 percent of the

Earth's surface and contain 97 percent of the Earth's water. Less than 1 percent is fresh water, and 2-3 percent is contained in glaciers and ice caps.

Hydrothermal Vents — Where it all Begins?Hydrothermal Vents — Where it all Begins?Currently many scientists think that life may have begun on Currently many scientists think that life may have begun on Earth in the vicinity of deep-oceanic, hydrothermal vents. This Earth in the vicinity of deep-oceanic, hydrothermal vents. This type of environment was anticipated by Charles Darwin, some type of environment was anticipated by Charles Darwin, some 150 years before, who wrote:150 years before, who wrote:'But if we could conceive in some warm little pond, 'But if we could conceive in some warm little pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, light, heat electricity etc, present'light, heat electricity etc, present'

2) Life originated in the ocean

First discovered in 1977, oases of life that include giant, red-plumed tubeworms live on the Pacific Ocean floor near hydrothermal vents. This is deeper than where sunlight can penetrate to provide the energy needed for photosynthesis. At the base of the food chain are bacteria that nourish themselves through a process of chemosynthesis. Drawing their energy from gases dissolved in warm or hot springs, mainly hydrogen sulfide, they are able to manufacture sugars and starches from carbon dioxide and water.                         Photo courtesy The Stephen Low Company

3) The ocean contains 97 percent of the Earth's water.

4) Ocean:Ocean: The vast body of saline water that occupies the depressions of the earth’s surface

5) Water covers 361 million square kilometers

6) Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Indian (although sometimes the Antarctic Ocean or the Southern Ocean is referred to - it's the ocean south of 50° South latitude, surrounding Antarctica).

7) Canada has the longest coastline of any country, at 56,453 miles or around 15 percent of the world's 372,384 miles of coastlines

8) Australia7687000 square km

(is renowned for it’s poisonous sea creatures!)

Hapalochlaena lunulata Blue ringed octopusBlue ringed octopus

“Children who have been stung by the sea wasp have died within minutes of being stung”.

Box Jellyfish

“Sea wasp”

• 9) Although Mount Everest, at 29,028 feet, is often called the tallest mountain on Earth, Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii, is actually taller. Only 13,796 feet of Mauna Kea stands above sea level, yet it is 33,465 feet tall if measured from the ocean floor to its summit

10)1,370,000,000 cubic km of ocean water

1 cubic m

1000m = 1km

1km

1km

1km

11) The highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia. At some times of the year the difference between high and low tide is 53 feet 6 inches, the equivalent of a three-story building

12) At the deepest point in the ocean the pressure is more than 8 tons per square inch, or the equivalent of one person trying to support 50 jumbo jets.

The Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean is 11,033 meters (36,201 feet) below sea level. If Mount Everest were placed inside of this trench, it would disappear

13) At 4 degrees Celsius, the temperature of almost all of the deep ocean is only a few degrees above freezing.

14) If mined, all the gold suspended in the world's seawater would give each person on Earth 20kg.

Mr. T style bling!

15) If the ocean's total salt content were dried, it would cover the continents to a depth of 1.5m.

• Oceanography is the science of Oceanography is the science of understanding the oceans, how they understanding the oceans, how they work, how they came into existence, work, how they came into existence, how they affect our daily lives, the how they affect our daily lives, the creatures that live in them, and how creatures that live in them, and how they may be impacted by changes they may be impacted by changes caused by human influences caused by human influences