Chapter 2 scientific exploration Flashcards
Captin James cook
was one of the first to lead such expeditions and managed 3 global voyages in the mid to late 1700s (see the featured image above of the HMS Resolution in Moorea). He mapped a number of major currents throughout the world and wrote the first textbook on oceanography. He was killed in Hawaii on his third expedition.
Benjamin Franklin
was the first to map the Gulf Stream in 1769-70 even though he was not the first to discover this boundary current that was well known to other explorers. That title goes to Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513.
Captin Matthew Maury
of the US Naval Observatory is often considered to be the first oceanographer. He studied global currents, winds and created a number of bathymetric maps.
Sir John Murray
a British scientist, is also considered one of the great founders of oceanography.
H.M.S. Challenger Expedition
Murray conceived the epic 1872 4-year H.M.S. Challenger Expedition around the world
Charles Darwin
went on a 4-year voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle as the ship’s naturalist. Charles Darwin published a number of works on his discoveries, the most notable being the Origin of Species that focussed on the theory of evolution.
Marianas Trench
to a depth of 33,300 feet, a feat that was not repeated until 2012 by James Cameron.
The early years (1807-1865
this time period is characterized by surveys of the American coastline.
The Breakthrough Years (1866-1922)
improvements in acoustic technology enabled the development of better offshore maps as well as the collection and identification of new biological species.
The Electronic Years (1923-1970)
with the advent of electronics, instrumentation became more sophisticated so that mapping more of the seafloor and below became possible. Marine research incorporated more international collaboration and explored the atmosphere-ocean interaction.
