Alfred Wegener was a proficient German natural scientist in the field of Geology, astronomy and meteorology. He first presented his theory of continental drift in 1912. His significant scientific contribution was a unified theory for the continents origin.
Harry Hess was significant in the postwar revolution in the earth sciences. He initially drew up theories utilizing the considerable discoveries on ocean floor nature. He discovered 160 flat-topped summits on the bed of ocean, referred to as guyots.
Phoenicians are commonly known because of oceanography. These were the first individuals to navigate the seas and their civilization was based the life of sea. In their navigation, exploration and discoveries, they used the Mediterranean Sea.
Prince Henry the Navigator recognized the importance of ocean to trade and commerce and set up a center for learning for the marine studies. This has been though as the initial institution of oceanography. Mariners to learn about currents, oceans and making of maps used the center.
Captain James Cook led three expeditions in world encircling and mapped many countries, which included Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, and Australia. Cook was a proficient seaman, scientist and navigator who made crucial observations in all places he visited.
Benjamin Franklin contributed to oceanography by compiling and making noteworthy observations of ocean currents off the US East Coast. Specifically, he was interested in the Gulf Stream. He was the first individual to refer to it as an oceanic river.
Matthew Fontaine Maury made significant contributions on charting winds as well as ocean currents. Through his studies, he proved that through following the winds as well as currents ships were able to cross the ocean within fewer moments as compared to previously.
HMS Challenger (1872-76): Scientists who aboard the HMS Challenger expedition carried out between 1872 to 1876, collected a wide range of natural history materials together with oceanographic data from around the globe. Most of these specimens are held by the Natural History Museums.
Micronesians: Micronesia is a region located between the Mariana Trench in the West and the Line Islands in the East. This name means tiny islands.
Vikings were not only interested in colonization and trade but were also incredible seamen. For instance, a Viking by the name Eric the Red sailed past Iceland and established what is currently known as the Greenland.
The global struggle of World War II, presented a significant need for oceanic data. This demand went on into the cold war when majority of navies around the world undertook various studies on oceanography. Nonetheless, the desire of placing a greater emphasis on civilian control and science applications started changing the oceanography face. There was an establishment of National Science Foundation in 1950, which made this transition useful and offered an essential novel source of funding for ocean related surveys (Committee on Major US Oceanographic Resources & National Research Council, 1999).
Four types of sediments:
Lithogenous Sediments come as a result of weathering process and are composed of small particles of oceanic volcanoes and rocks. They are usually formed together after bonding of silicate and metal ions.
Biogenous Sediments are due to insoluble remains of past forms of life and parts like teeth and bones. In the majority of areas with shallow water, most of these sediments form the remains of fragments or shells from shelled creatures of sea.
Hydrogenous sediments are as a result of mineral precipitation from water of an ocean or can result from a new mineral due to chemical reactions between oceanic water together with already existing sediments.
Cosmogenous sediments are naturally extraterrestrial and usually resemble small meteorites. The sediments are what remained after impact of large bodies of space material like asteroids and comets.
Relative location implies to locate a place in relation to other landmarks while absolute location implies locating a place by use of coordinate system. For instance, the absolute location of St. Louis Missouri is 380 42’, while its relative location is in eastern Missouri along the Mississippi River southeast of St. Charles.
Work Cited
Committee on Major US Oceanographic Resources & National Research Council, (1999). Global Ocean Science: Toward an Integrated Approach, Washington D.C.: National Academies Press
