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Marine Geology 415
Dr. Najeeb Aladwani
Introduction
Overview
• The world ocean is the most prominent
feature on Earth.
• Oceans cover 70.8% of Earth’s surface.
• The origin and development of life on
Earth are connected to the ocean.
• The oceans have a long history on Earth.
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Earth’s Oceans
• Earth has one ocean.
• It is divided into four
principle oceans and
one other.
– Pacific Ocean
– Atlantic Ocean
– Indian Ocean
– Arctic Ocean
– Southern, or Antarctic,
Ocean
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Ocean Size and Depth
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Earth’s Oceans
• Pacific Ocean
– World’s largest ocean
• Accounts for more than half of Earth’s ocean
space
– World’s deepest ocean
– Earth’s largest geographic feature
– Named in 1520 by Ferdinand Magellan
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Earth’s Oceans
• Atlantic Ocean
– Half the size of the Pacific Ocean
– Shallower than the Pacific Ocean
– Separates the Old World from the New World
• Indian Ocean
– Smaller than the Atlantic Ocean
– Similar depth as the Atlantic Ocean
– Primarily in the Southern Hemisphere
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Earth’s Oceans
• Arctic Ocean
– Seven percent the size of the Pacific Ocean
– Shallowest world ocean
– Permanent layer of sea ice a few meters thick
• Southern Ocean or Antarctic Ocean
– Circumnavigates Antarctica
– Is really the parts of the Pacific, Atlantic, and
Indian Oceans that lie south of 50° S latitude
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The Seven Seas
• Smaller and shallower than oceans
• Salt water
• Usually enclosed by land
– Sargasso Sea defined by surrounding ocean
currents
• Directly connected to the ocean
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Sargasso Sea
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Sargasso Sea
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The Seven Seas
• Before the 15th century, Europeans
considered the seven seas to be the
following:
1. Red Sea
2. Mediterranean Sea
3. Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf)
4. Black Sea
5. Adriatic Sea
6. Caspian Sea
7. Indian Ocean
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The Seven Seas
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The Seven Seas
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The Seven Seas
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Comparing Oceans to Continents
• Average ocean depth is 3682
meters (12, 080 feet)
• Average continental elevation is
840 meters (2756 feet)
• Deepest ocean trench is the
Mariana Trench at 11,022 meters
(36,161 feet)
• Highest continental mountain is
Mt. Everest at 8850 meters
(29,035 feet)
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Early Exploration of the Oceans
• Early “explorers” used boats to seek new
fishing grounds for food.
• The ocean facilitated trade and interaction
between cultures.
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Pacific Navigators
• The peopling of the
Pacific Islands
required extensive
travel in open boats
and exceptional
navigation skills.
• It was difficult
because islands are
widely scattered.
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Pacific People
• No written records exist of Pacific human
history before the 16th century.
• Archeological evidence suggests island
occupation by people from New Guinea as
early as 4000–5000 B.C.
• Thor Heyerdahl sailed on a balsa raft – the
Kon Tiki – to demonstrate migration of
South Americans to Pacific Ocean islands.
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European Navigators
• Phoenecians – first from Western
Hemisphere to develop navigation arts
– Navigated circa 2000 B.C.
– Explored Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and
Indian Ocean
– First circumnavigation of Africa
– Reached the British Isles
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European Navigators
• Greek Pytheas
– Sailed northward using a simple method to
determine latitude in 325 B.C.
– Navigated using the North Star
• Eratosthenes determined Earth’s
circumference fairly accurately.
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Europeans
• Herodotus produced
inaccurate world map
around 450 B.C.
• Claudius Ptolemy
produced fairly
accurate world map
around 150 A.D.
– Erroneously updated
Eratosthenes’ original
circumference
estimation, later
causing Christopher
Columbus
to believe he had
reached Asia
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The Middle Ages
• Arabs dominant navigators in the
Mediterranean Sea
• Traded extensively with East Africa, India,
and Southeast Asia
• Learned to use Indian Ocean monsoon
winds for travel
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The Middle Ages
• Vikings explored North Atlantic Ocean
– Settled Iceland and Greenland in 9th and 10th
centuries A.D.
– Leif Eriksson designated part of eastern
Canada Vinland (now Newfoundland) in 995 A.D.
– Greenland, Vinland settlements abandoned by
1450 A.D. due to climatic cooling
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Viking Routes and Colonies
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The Age of Discovery in Europe
1492–1522
• Search for new Eastern trade routes by sea
– Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal sought
trade routes around Africa.
– Europeans explore North and South America.
• Christopher Columbus was financed by
the Spanish to find new trade routes to
Asia.
• Englishman John Cabot arrived in
northeast North America in 1497.
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The Age of Discovery in Europe
1492–1522
• Spaniard Ferdinand Magellan
circumnavigated the globe.
– Was killed on a Pacific Island in 1521
• Juan Sebastian del Caño completed the
circumnavigation in 1522.
• Voyages paved the way for the Spanish to
take gold from the Incas and Mayas.
• Spain’s maritime dominance ended when
England defeated the Spanish Armada in
1588.
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Voyages of Columbus and
Magellan
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Voyaging for Science
• The English wanted to retain maritime
superiority.
• Captain James Cook (1728–1779)
undertook three scientific voyages.
– Ships HMS Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure
– Mapped many islands in Pacific
– Systematically measured ocean
characteristics
– Marine chronograph (longitude)
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Cook’s Voyages
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Oceanography Continues
• More high-technology tools available today
– Sonar
– Robotics
– Computers
– Satellites
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Nature of Scientific Inquiry
• Natural phenomena governed by physical
processes
• Physical processes similar today as in the
past
• Scientists discover these processes and
make predictions.
• Called the scientific method
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The Scientific Method
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Theories and Truth
• Science never reaches absolute truth.
• Truth is probable and based on available
observations.
• New observations yield scientific progress.
• In reality, scientists have no formal
method.
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Formation of Earth and the Solar
System
• Nebular
hypothesis – all
bodies in the solar
system formed
from nebula
– Nebula = cloud of
gases and space
dust
• Mainly hydrogen
and helium
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Nebular Hypothesis
• Gravity concentrates material at center
of cloud (Sun).
• Protoplanets form from smaller
concentrations of matter (eddies).
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Protoearth
• Larger than Earth
today
• Homogeneous
composition
• Bombarded by
meteorites
– Moon formed
from collision
with large
asteroid.
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Protoearth
• Radioactive heat
– Spontaneous disintegration of atoms
– Fusion reactions
• Heat from contraction (protoplanet shrinks
due to gravity)
• Protoearth partially melts
• Density stratification (layered Earth)
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Density Stratification
• High density = heavy for its size
• Early Earth experienced gravitational
separation.
– High-density materials (iron and nickel)
settled in core.
– Less dense materials formed concentric
spheres around core.
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Earth’s Internal Structure
Layers defined by
• Chemical composition
• Physical properties
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Layers by Chemical Composition
• Crust
– Low-density, mainly silicate minerals
• Mantle
– Mainly iron (Fe) and magnesium (Mg)
silicate minerals
• Core
– High-density, mainly iron (Fe) and
nickel (Ni)
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Layers by Physical Properties
• Lithosphere
• Asthenosphere
• Mesosphere
• Outer core
• Inner core
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Lithosphere
• Cool, rigid shell
• Includes crust and
upper mantle
• About 100 km
(60 miles) thick
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Continental vs. Oceanic Crust
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Asthenosphere
• Relatively hot, plastic
• Flows with high viscosity
– Important for movement of lithospheric plates
• Base of lithosphere to about 700 km
(430 miles) deep
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Isostatic Adjustment
• Vertical movement of Earth’s crust
• Buoyancy of lithosphere on asthenosphere
– Less dense continental crust floats higher
than denser oceanic crust.
• Isostatic rebound – rising of crust formerly
weighed down by glacier ice
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Isostatic Adjustment
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Origin of Earth’s Atmosphere
• Outgassing – occurred during density
stratification
– Water vapor
– Carbon dioxide
– Hydrogen
– Other gases
• Earth’s early atmosphere different from
today
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Origin of Earth’s Oceans
• Outgassed water vapor fell as rain.
• The first permanent oceans formed 4 billion
years ago.
• Salinity developed from dissolved rock
elements.
– Early acidic rain dissolved more crustal minerals
than today.
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Development of Earth’s Oceans
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Life’s Possible Ocean Origins
• Earth’s earliest known life forms are
3.5-billion-year-old bacteria fossilized in
ocean rocks.
• These are the building blocks for life on
early Earth.
• There is no direct evidence of early
Earth’s environment.
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Oxygen
• Humans require O2.
• Ozone (O3) protects from ultraviolet radiation.
• Early Earth had little free oxygen.
• The lack of ozone may have helped
originate life.
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Stanley Miller’s Experiment
• Organic molecules formed by ultraviolet
light, electrical spark (lightning), and a
mixture of water, carbon dioxide,
hydrogen, methane, and ammonia
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Stanley Miller and His Experiment
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Evolution and Natural Selection
• Organisms adapt and change through time.
• Advantageous traits are naturally selected.
• Traits are passed to the next generation.
• Organisms adapt to environments.
• Organisms can modify environments.
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Plants and Animals Evolve
• Heterotrophs
– Very earliest life
– Require external food supply
• Autotrophs
– Evolved later
– Manufacture own food supply
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First Autotrophs
• Probably similar to modern anaerobic
bacteria
– Survive without oxygen
• Chemosynthesis from chemicals at deep
hydrothermal vents
• Supports idea of life’s origins on deep
ocean floor in absence of light
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Photosynthesis and Respiration
• Complex autotrophs developed chlorophyll.
• This allowed the use of the Sun for
photosynthesis.
• Cellular respiration
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Photosynthesis and Respiration
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Great Oxidation Event
• 2.45 billion years ago
• Increased oxygen and ozone eliminated
the anaerobe food supply.
• Light and oxygen kill anaerobes.
• Cyanobacteria adapted and thrived.
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Changes to Earth’s Atmosphere
• Photosynthetic
organisms are
responsible for life as
we know it today.
• Reduce CO2, increase O2
to 21%
• High oxygen =
biodiversity increase
• Low oxygen associated
with extinction events
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Plants and Earth’s Environment
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Age of Earth
• Radiometric age dating
– Spontaneous change/decay
– Half-life
• Earth is about 4.6 billion years old.
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Radioactive Decay
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Geologic Time Scale
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