Ocean : reflections on a century of exploration / Wolf H. Berger with contributions by E. N. Shor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berger, Wolfgang H.

Contributor:

Shor, Elizabeth Noble.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Underwater exploration--History.

Underwater exploration.

Ocean--History.

Ocean.

Oceanography--History.

Oceanography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (533 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The past one hundred years of ocean science have been distinguished by dramatic milestones, remarkable discoveries, and major revelations. This book is a clear and lively survey of many of these amazing findings. Beginning with a brief review of the elements that define what the ocean is and how it works-from plate tectonics to the thermocline and the life within it-Wolf H. Berger places current understanding in the context of history. Essays treat such topics as beach processes and coral reefs, the great ocean currents off the East and West Coasts, the productivity of the sea, and the geologic revolution that changed all knowledge of the earth in the twentieth century.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

Introduction. Coping with a Sea of Change

1. Discovering the Ocean: Of Fish and Ships and People

2. A Portrait of the Ocean Planet: Elements of Ocean Literacy

3. Life at the Edge of a Fertile Sea: The Birthplace of Marine Science

4. Of Coral Reefs and Atolls: Stone Gardens of Tropical Seas

5. The Zen of the Beach: Musings on a River of Sand

6. Unraveling the Gulf Stream Puzzle: On a Warm Current Running North

7. Sardines and the California Current: On a Cold Current Running South

8. Meadows and Deserts of the Sea: On the Elusive Concept of Ocean Productivity

9. Of Whales and Sharks and Giant Squid: Reflections on the Big, the Strange, and the Powerful

10. The Deep, the Cold, the Dark: Life at the End of the Line

11. Seeing in the Dark: A Sound Approach to Exploration

12. Mountains, Trenches, Sunken Islands: The Great Revolution in Earth Science

13. The Ocean's Memory of the Ice Ages: The Endless Cycles of Climate Change

14. Abyssal Memories: A Thousand Holes in the Bottom of the Sea

15. Global Warming and the Ocean: Human Impact on a Greenhouse Planet

Epilogue: The Great Trends in Exploration and the Challenges Ahead

Appendix 1. Units Used in the Ocean Sciences

Appendix 2. Aspects of Ocean Chemistry

Appendix 3: Overview of Major Groups of Important Marine Organisms

Appendix 4: Geologic Time Scale

Appendix 5: Topographic Statistics

Figure Sources and References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786612360763

9781282360761

1282360760

9780520942547

052094254X

OCLC:

567911666