Chapter 12MARINE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY

I. Early DevicesA. John Harrison’s marine chronometer (1700s): early timing device that accurately kept

time on ships and allowed explorers to navigate betterII. Instruments and Methods of Obtaining Information

A. Secchi disk: black and white circular disk lowered into water to measure water transparency, which indirectly reveals turbidity, clarity, and attenuation

B. coring device [corer]: obtains cylinders of sediment

C. Nansen bottle: early device used to obtain seawater samples at specific depths; takes sample when it flips over; named after Fridjtof Nansen, the Arctic explorer

D. Niskin bottle: modification of the Nansen bottle that does not have to flip over

E. Ekman grab: device used to obtain samples of sediment from the bottom of a body of water; Peterson grab is similar

F. hydrocast: the process of putting bottles on a wire and getting them to take samples of water at certain depths and then retrieving them

G. pressure gauge: measures pressureH. acoustic tomography: the use of sound waves to map seawater propertiesI. depth recorder [echo sounder]: beams sound down through water and measures time it

took for sound to travel, which reveals depthJ. CTD [conductivity, temperature, depth] device: the name explains its usesK. barometer: measures air pressureL. plankton net: fine, cone-shaped, mesh net used to catch planktonM. drogue: free-floating instrument that tracks currentsN. dredge: container connected to a mesh net that is dragged over the sea floor

1. epibenthic sled: modified dredge designed to capture small organismsIII. Diving

A. free diving: diving without airB. scuba [self-contained underwater breathing apparatus]: allows people to dive underwater

for prolonged periods; developed in 1943 by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan1. Aqualung: first form of scuba developed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau2. heliox (helium, oxygen, hydrogen): gas mixture used for deep dives3. record ocean dive was 534 m

C. atmospheric diving suit [ADS]: maintains atmospheric pressure for diver; famous example is the Jim Suit, a particular model of the ADS

IV. SubmersiblesA. classifications

1. deep submergence vehicle [DSV]2. remotely operated vehicle [ROV]: robotic vessel3. bathysphere: small, spherical vessel usually made of steel lowered into the ocean by a

cable; earliest form of submersible; Barton and Beebe pioneered its use4. bathyscaphe [“deep boat”] (ex: Trieste): deep-diving submersible that uses a float

filled with an incompressible fluid to remain buoyantB. Skinkai (6500 m): deepest-diving manned submersible in operationC. Argo: unmanned vessel; discovered RMS Titanic in 1985; Robert Ballard led the searchD. Alvin (4500 m): manned submersible; found the first hydrothermal vents in 1977,

discovered a missing hydrogen bomb, and was the first manned submersible to visit RMS Titanic

E. Jason/Medea: Jason is a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) attached to Medea, his baseV. Navigational Technologies

A. loran [long range navigation]: requires use of two radio broadcast stationsB. lidar [light detecting and ranging]C. radar [radio detecting and ranging]: shows shoreline and surrounding vessels by

reflecting radio signals off of themD. sonar [sound navigating and ranging] (similar to echolocation, which is the term for what

cetaceans use to communicate)1. active: emitting sounds from an echo sounder in order to obtain picture of

surroundings; better than using light to look at surroundings in the ocean2. passive: receiving sound from environment in order to make a picture of surroundings

VI. Renewable Ocean Energy SourcesA. ocean heat

1. ocean thermal energy conversion [OTEC]: utilizes the prominent thermocline of warm tropical waters to heat fluid, which powers a turbine, then condense it

B. wave energy: up-and-down motion is harnessed by buoys, which move pistons1. Limpet 500: world's first wave power plant that began operating in 2000 off the west

coast of Scotland on the island of IslayC. tidal energy

1. the amount of useful tidal energy available to a power plant is based on the basin area enclosed and the tidal range

2. Annapolis River estuary, Bay of Fundy: home of the only tidal power plant in North America

D. current energyE. wind energy

1. offshore windpower systems [OWPS]: capture wind energy on the seaVII. Geochemical Ocean Sections [GEOSECS]: systematic program designed to increase

understanding of circulation patterns and mixing processes in the oceans; use rosettes to capture seawater samples at different depths; this program measures temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pressure, and particulate content

VIII. SatellitesA. Seasat (1978): first truly oceanographic satellite; mission was a failure because it only

yielded 42 hours of dataB. TOPEX/Poseidon (1992-2006): first satellite to measure sea surface height, which

revealed ocean circulation patternsC. Jason-1: measured sea surface height later on

D. SeaStar: holds the SeaWiFS instrument, which measures ocean surface productivity by detecting the amount of chlorophyll in the ocean; this measurement is not always an accurate measure of productivity because there are different efficiencies, and zooplankton eat phytoplankton, causing a decrease in chlorophyll concentrations

IX. OtherA. Floating Instrument Platform [FLIP]: stable platform for instruments; designed by

Scripps Institution of OceanographyB. icebreaker: any ship designed to navigate through ice; modern icebreakers can advance

through ice up to 1.8 m thick