Starred Exam Things Flashcards
Who was Fridjof Nansen (1861-1930)?
A Norwegian Oceanographer, his ship was trapped in the Arctic Ice
Fram was designed to move up and out of frozen ocean
What was the hypothesis and experiment that Fridjof Nansen planned?
Hypothesis: Arctic Currents move over the North Pole
Test: June 24, 1893, Fram +13 men +5 years of provisions
Plan: freeze Fram
What were the results of Fridjof Nansen’s expedition?
Froze Early, missed NP by 500 km, Fram drifted with the ice pack 4 years (1893-1896)
Fram drifted 1650km, proving no Artic continent under the ice
What happened on Aug. 13 1896?
Fram thawed off Spitsbergen
Name 3 of Nansens contributions
- No Arctic continent existed beneath the ice;
- Year-round polar ice;
- Ice = pack ice, not glacial;
- Arctic Ocean >3000m deep;
- Nansen bottle: device designed by Nansen to obtain samples of seawater at a specific depth;
- Warm layer (1.5 0C) between 150-900m = saline Atlantic water under colder less saline Arctic water;
- Plankton bloom;
- Wind direction relative to ice drift – to Ekman = Ekman spiral;
- Nobel prize 1922 humanitarian work in WWI
Who was the great scholar that was the first to calculate the circumference of the earth?
Eratosthenes of Cyrene
Who was Eratosthenes of Cyrene?
The second Librarian at Alexandria, a greek astronomer, philosopher and poet
What grid did Eratosthenes of Cyrene make?
The grid which was the origin of latitude and longitude, and maps and navigational charts of the world
What experiment did Eratosthenes of Cyrene do?
He calculated the circumference of the Earth using the shadow of the pole and the vertical pole at Alexandria, and the Vertical Well at Syene
How was longitude determined?
Longitude was determined using a clock
Accuracy of the estimate of westward position=accuracy of the clock
Why did they need a new clock?
Because other clocks were inaccurate and pendulum clocks were useless in the ship
British Board of Longitude awarded $20,000 pounds for the most accurate clock
Who was John Harrison and when and what did he do?
1728 He worked on a clock, the Chronometer, and was given 500 pounds
By 1760 how many versions of the Chronometer did John Harrison make?
He had built 4 versions
What was trial 4 of John Harrisons clock?
It was the in 1761 on the HM Deptford, Harrison’s son traveled from England to Jamaica,
What Scandal did Captain James Cook do?
He took a copy of Harrison’s 4th Chronometer model in his 2nd and 3rd Voyages, and Harrison was not fully rewarded