Intro and Ocean Exploration Flashcards
who were the first to navigate the Pacific Ocean?
Polynesian explorers who used the stars and currents
- used currents bc the wind is consistent meaning currents were also consistent
who made the first map we know of?
Ptolemy
- made lines of longitude and latitude on maps
- equator was 0 latitude and Canary Islands was the meridian for longitude
what is longitude- how to determine?
how much W or E
- accurate knowledge of time travelled - 1/2 degree longitude = 2 min
what is latitude - how to determine?
how much N or S
- 1 degree latitude = 60 min = 60 nautical miles
- 1 min = 60 secs = 1 nautical mile
sighting of sun or stars - 1 degree latitude = 60 min
why was it difficult for early explorers to determine longitude?
lack of visible reference points in the sky or land - no physical or consistent reference point
what is the Azoic theory, who created it?
no life is deeper than 300 fathoms
- Edward Forbes
- first major marine scientific hypothesis
who disapproved the Azoic theory, what was the discovery?
Michael Sars
- describes species that were found deeper than 300 fathoms in Norway’s fjords
what hypothesis did Darwin create about coral reefs?
theory of coral reef subsidence
- reefs as a balance of growth of reef and sinking of seafloor
- starts out as a rocky isalnd that sinks creating a barrier reef and eventually fully sinks creating an atoll
what is the deepest part of the world’s oceans?
Mariann’s Trench - 8200m
what was Haeckel’s Bathybius theory?
life arose from primordial slime in the ocean - the slime was actually a product of an inorganic chemical process
what is Ocean Network Canada?
- company located in Victoria that runs the Cable Undersea Observatory that uses 6 stations connected by cable to allow for communication b/w stations that collect diff types of data from the ocean floor and connected to a power source on land
what are some locations that have old fossils?
Mystic Beach - Victoria
Kagbeni Jonsom, Nepal
Burgess Pass - AB
what is the oldest biological event?
first unicellular eukaryotes - stromatolites 1.8 bya
Cambrian Explosion fossils (5)
first multicellular animals
- Rugose corals found in Cambrian Explosion- horn corals, Devonian period, growth lines that show each stage shows extant coral represented
- Wiwaxia - found in the Middle/Early Cambrian during intermediate stages of evolution, related to worms/snails
- Marrella
- Halucigenia- spikes for protection not locomotion
- Anomalocaris - misidentified at first but more complex than originally thought
what are Ediacara fossils?
first multicellular animals
where are Ediacara fossils found?
australia- first evidence of life found
mistaken point - oldest life found
what is the history of Earth?
- stromatolites
- ediacara fossils
- cambrian explosion
- uplift of rocky mtn
- uplift of himalayas
- antarctica freezes
where are the early fossils found in mountains?
higher up in the mountains bc the uplift of the mountains was after the first fossils formed
what is Antarctica critically about?
wind
who created the birth of natural history observation?
aristotle
who created the first systematic classification?
Linnaeus
- naming scheme (genus and species)
who proposed the system of phyla?
Cuvier
- organized living and fossil species into groups
what did Cuvier also do?
established first system of describing benthic habitats by biology (biostratigraphy) - sea floor
what are the 4 groups created by Cuvier?
articulata
vertebrata
mollusca
radiata
what was Harrison’s Chronometers?
run by springs to measure longitude
- gravity has no effect
what does a sextant do?
gives the angle of the sun above the horizon
- uses the almanac’s known position of stars to find latitude
what is GEE?
generalized estimating equation
- uses high frequency radio signals
- short range 560 km
what is Loran?
low frequency radio signals from fixed beacons
- uses long range navigation
2400 km
what is GPS?
global positioning system and GPS map
- satellite based
- accurate, high range and global
what was used to travel the world?
HMS Challenger
- 4 yr circumnavigation
- led by Thomson and Murray to all seas but Arctic
what did the Challenger expedition do?
gathered data on ocean temp, currents, geology, marine life
what are the changes in technology?
- vessels: diesel machine, uses systematic measurements- Knorr, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- submersibles - Bathyspheres, reached Mariana’s Trench bc able to withstand the pressure, Alvin, ROV- Kaiko, Jason
- aquarius underwater sea lab- 6 week underwater research stays
- autonomous underwater vehicles - AUV, Glider - roams free, not attached, balancing systems, imploded
