Editing Oceanography (section)

=== Modern oceanography ===
Knowledge of the oceans remained confined to the topmost few fathoms of the water and a small amount of the bottom, mainly in shallow areas. Almost nothing was known of the ocean depths. The British [[Royal Navy]]'s efforts to chart all of the world's [[coast]]lines in the mid-19th century reinforced the vague idea that most of the ocean was very deep, although little more was known. As exploration ignited both popular and scientific interest in the polar regions and [[Africa]], so too did the mysteries of the unexplored oceans.

[[File:Challenger.jpg|right|thumb|{{HMS|Challenger|1858|6}} undertook the first global marine research expedition in 1872.]]
The seminal event in the founding of the modern science of oceanography was the 1872–1876 [[Challenger expedition|'' Challenger'' expedition]]. As the first true oceanographic cruise, this expedition laid the groundwork for an entire academic and research discipline.<ref name="NOAA">[http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03mountains/background/challenger/challenger.html Then and Now: The HMS Challenger Expedition and the 'Mountains in the Sea' Expedition], Ocean Explorer website (NOAA), accessed 2 January 2012</ref> In response to a recommendation from the [[Royal Society]], the [[British Government]] announced in 1871 an expedition to explore world's oceans and conduct appropriate scientific investigation. [[Charles Wyville Thomson]] and [[John Murray (oceanographer)|Sir John Murray]] launched the [[Challenger expedition|''Challenger'' expedition]]. {{HMS|Challenger|1858|2}}, leased from the Royal Navy, was modified for scientific work and equipped with separate laboratories for [[natural history]] and [[chemistry]].<ref name="Rice">{{cite book|last=Rice|first=A. L.|title=Understanding the Oceans: Marine Science in the Wake of HMS Challenger|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=1999|pages=27–48|chapter=The Challenger Expedition|isbn=978-1-85728-705-9|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5agn3NSzEoC&pg=PA27}}</ref> Under the scientific supervision of Thomson, ''Challenger'' travelled nearly {{convert|70000|nmi|km}} surveying and exploring. On her journey circumnavigating the globe,<ref name="Rice"/> 492&nbsp;deep sea soundings, 133&nbsp;bottom dredges, 151&nbsp;open water trawls and 263&nbsp;serial water temperature observations were taken.<ref>''Oceanography: an introduction to the marine environment'' (Peter K. Weyl, 1970), p. 49</ref> Around 4,700&nbsp;new species of marine life were discovered. The result was the ''Report Of The Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–76''. Murray, who supervised the publication, described the report as "the greatest advance in the knowledge of our planet since the celebrated discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries". He went on to found the academic discipline of oceanography at the [[University of Edinburgh]], which remained the centre for oceanographic research well into the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/public/JohnMurray.html|title=Sir John Murray (1841–1914) – Founder Of Modern Oceanography|publisher=Science and Engineering at The University of Edinburgh|access-date=7 November 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528123837/http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/public/JohnMurray.html|archive-date=28 May 2013}}</ref> Murray was the first to study marine trenches and in particular the [[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]], and map the sedimentary deposits in the oceans. He tried to map out the world's ocean currents based on salinity and temperature observations, and was the first to correctly understand the nature of [[coral reef]] development.

In the late 19th century, other [[Western culture|Western]] nations also sent out scientific expeditions (as did private individuals and institutions). The first purpose-built oceanographic ship, ''Albatros'', was built in 1882. In 1893, [[Fridtjof Nansen]] allowed his ship, ''Fram'', to be frozen in the Arctic ice. This enabled him to obtain oceanographic, meteorological and astronomical data at a stationary spot over an extended period.
 
[[File:Ocean currents 1911.jpg|thumb|[[Ocean current]]s (1911)]]
[[File:John Francon Williams FRGS commemorative plaque, Clackmannan Cemetery 2019.jpg|thumb|left|Writer and geographer [[John Francon Williams]] FRGS commemorative plaque, [[Clackmannan]] Cemetery 2019]]
In 1881 the geographer [[John Francon Williams]] published a seminal book, ''Geography of the Oceans''.<ref>[[John Francon Williams|Williams, J. Francon]] (1881) [https://books.google.com/books?id=FyMIAQAAIAAJ&q=%22The+Geography+of+the+Oceans%22 ''The Geography of the Oceans: Physical, Historical, and Descriptive''] George Philip & Son.
</ref><ref>''Geography of the Oceans'' by John Francon Williams, 1881, {{OCLC|561275070}}</ref><ref>[[John Francon Williams]] commemorated (article) (''Alloa Advertiser'', retrieved 26 September 2019): https://www.alloaadvertiser.com/news/17928655.long-awaiting-tribute-pioneering-writer-buried-clacks/</ref> Between 1907 and 1911 [[Otto Krümmel]] published the ''Handbuch der Ozeanographie'', which became influential in awakening public interest in oceanography.<ref>{{cite web|author=Otto Krümmel|date=1907|title=Handbuch der Ozeanographie|url=https://archive.org/stream/handbuchderozean02bogu#page/n5/mode/2up <!-- Abstract: http://openlibrary.org/books/OL14010853M/Handbuch_der_ozeanographie -->|publisher=J. Engelhorn}}</ref> The four-month 1910 [[North Atlantic]] expedition headed by [[John Murray (oceanographer)|John Murray]] and [[Johan Hjort]] was the most ambitious research oceanographic and marine zoological project ever mounted until then, and led to the classic 1912 book ''The Depths of the Ocean''.

The first acoustic measurement of sea depth was made in 1914. Between 1925 and 1927 the "Meteor" expedition gathered 70,000 ocean depth measurements using an echo sounder, surveying the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

In 1934, [[Easter Ellen Cupp]], the first woman to have earned a PhD (at Scripps) in the United States, completed a major work on [[diatoms]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=1934-05-10 |title=Women passes test; become oceanographer |pages=13 |work=The Whittier News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118426106/women-passes-test-become-oceanographer/ |access-date=2023-02-11}}</ref> that remained the standard taxonomy in the field until well after her death in 1999. In 1940, Cupp was let go from her position at Scripps. Sverdrup specifically commended Cupp as a conscientious and industrious worker and commented that his decision was no reflection on her ability as a scientist. Sverdrup used the instructor billet vacated by Cupp to employ Marston Sargent, a biologist studying marine algae, which was not a new research program at Scripps. Financial pressures did not prevent Sverdrup from retaining the services of two other young post-doctoral students, [[Walter Munk]] and [[Roger Revelle]]. Cupp's partner, Dorothy Rosenbury, found her a position teaching high school, where she remained for the rest of her career. (Russell, 2000)

Sverdrup, Johnson and Fleming published ''[[The oceans|The Oceans]]'' in 1942,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sverdrup|first1=Harald Ulrik|author-link1=Harald Sverdrup (oceanographer)|last2=Johnson|first2=Martin Wiggo|author-link2=Martin W. Johnson|last3=Fleming|first3=Richard H.|title=The Oceans, Their Physics, Chemistry, and General Biology|date=1942|publisher=[[Prentice-Hall]]|location=New York|url=http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt167nb66r/}}</ref> which was a major landmark. ''The Sea'' (in three volumes, covering physical oceanography, seawater and geology) edited by M.N. Hill was published in 1962, while [[Rhodes Fairbridge]]'s ''Encyclopedia of Oceanography'' was published in 1966.

The Great Global Rift, running along the Mid Atlantic Ridge, was discovered by [[Maurice Ewing]] and [[Bruce Heezen]] in 1953 and mapped by Heezen and [[Marie Tharp]] using bathymetric data; in 1954 a mountain range under the Arctic Ocean was found by the Arctic Institute of the USSR. The theory of seafloor spreading was developed in 1960 by [[Harry Hammond Hess]]. The [[Ocean Drilling Program]] started in 1966. Deep-sea vents were discovered in 1977 by [[Jack Corliss]] and [[Robert Ballard]] in the submersible {{ship|DSV|Alvin}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bathyscaphe {{!}} Definition, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/bathyscaphe |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

In the 1950s, [[Auguste Piccard]] invented the [[bathyscaphe]] and used the [[bathyscaphe]] {{ship|Bathyscaphe|Trieste||2}} to investigate the ocean's depths. The United States [[nuclear submarine]] {{USS|Nautilus|SSN-571|2}} made the first journey under the ice to the North Pole in 1958. In 1962 the FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform), a {{convert|355|ft|m|adj=on|0}} spar buoy, was first deployed.

In 1968, [[Tanya Atwater]] led the first all-woman oceanographic expedition. Until that time, gender policies restricted women oceanographers from participating in voyages to a significant extent.

From the 1970s, there has been much emphasis on the application of large scale computers to oceanography to allow numerical predictions of ocean conditions and as a part of overall environmental change prediction. Early techniques included analog computers (such as the [[Ishiguro Storm Surge Computer]]) generally now replaced by numerical methods (e.g. [[Sea, Lake, and Overland Surge from Hurricanes|SLOSH]].) An oceanographic buoy array was established in the Pacific to allow prediction of [[El Niño]] events.

1990 saw the start of the [[World Ocean Circulation Experiment]] (WOCE) which continued until 2002. [[Geosat]] seafloor mapping data became available in 1995.

Study of the oceans is critical to understanding shifts in [[Earth's energy balance]] along with related global and regional changes in [[climate]], the [[Biosphere#Origin and use of the term|biosphere]] and [[biogeochemistry]]. The atmosphere and ocean are linked because of [[evaporation]] and [[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]] as well as [[thermal flux]] (and solar [[insolation]]). Recent studies have advanced knowledge on [[ocean acidification]], [[ocean heat content]], [[ocean currents]], [[sea level rise]], the [[oceanic carbon cycle]], the [[water cycle]], [[Arctic sea ice decline]], [[coral bleaching]], [[marine heatwave]]s, [[extreme weather]], [[coastal erosion]] and many other phenomena in regards to ongoing [[climate change (general concept)|climate change]] and [[climate feedback]]s.

In general, understanding the world ocean through further scientific study enables better [[stewardship]] and sustainable utilization of Earth's resources.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/oceanography|title=Oceanography {{!}} science|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> The [[Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission]] reports that 1.7% of the total national research expenditure of its members is focused on ocean science.<ref>Isensee, Kirsten. editor. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. (2020). ''Global ocean science report 2020: charting capacity for ocean sustainability.'' Executive summary. {{ISBN|978-92-3-100424-7}}. [https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375147.locale=en UNESCO Digital Library website] p. 16. Retrieved 21 September 2022.</ref>