A History of Marine Science: Timeline and Questions

Name: ______

A History of Marine Science: Timeline and Questions

Use the Internet to place these major events in the history of Marine Science Exploration in order on a timeline (include years.)

1. Edward Forbes declares that life cannot exist below 300 fathoms in the deep sea, thus starting a 20-year debate on the presence of the lifeless (azoic) zone.
2. April 15, the White Star LinerTitanicsinks with horrendous loss of life after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean. This leads to a concerted effort to devise an acoustic means of discovering objects in the water forward of the bow of a moving vessel.
3. The United States Coast Survey is Formed
4. Wyville Thomson dredges from the HMSLightningandPorcupineand discovers life as deep as 2,400 fathoms, exploding forever Edward Forbes' theory of a lifeless (azoic) zone below 300 fathoms.
5. Challenger Expedition circumnavigates the globe in the first great oceanographic expedition. Research is conducted on salinity, density and temperature of sea water as well as ocean currents, sediment and metrology. Hundreds of new species are discovered and underwater mountain chains documented. Modern oceanography is based on this research.
6. James Alden, commanding officer of the Coast Survey Steamer Active,discovers a deep submarine valley, or "gulch," in the center of Monterey Bay. Alden had discovered the first known sea-floor canyon, now called Monterey Canyon.
7. Darwin publishesThe Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs,in which he suggests that coral atolls are the final stage in the subsidence and erosion of volcanic islands.
8. Declassification of Geosat satellite radar altimetry data leads to worldwide mapping of seafloor from space by Walter Smith and Dave Sandwell with observed data enhancing accuracy over images of the ocean basin drawn by Heezen and Tharpe in earlier years.
9. Accurate, high-density soundings taken by the Coast Survey SteamerBlakein the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea lead to the first modern bathymetric map.
10. Albatross,under Alexander Agassiz, makes a second extended cruise in the south central Pacific, acquiring data in some of the most remote stretches of ocean on Earth. Sir John Murray says of these explorations, "Of all the additions to our knowledge of the depth and deposits of the Pacific Ocean during recent years, the most important are probably those acquired by Dr. Alexander Agassiz during his various cruises in the Pacific."
11. Louis F. de Pourtales, of the U.S. Coast Survey, questions Forbes' theory based on Coast Survey sounding operations that find indications of life in depths over 1,000 fathoms. At the same time, irregularities are discovered in the topography off Charleston, South Carolina, leading to a theory that topography can influence the course and characteristics of the Gulf Stream.
12. September 1, a team led by Dr. Robert Ballard discovers the Titanic, the most famous shipwreck in modern history.
13. The Coast and Geodetic Survey conducts the first RAR (radio acoustic ranging) navigation operations on the West Coast. This is the first navigation system capable of round-the-clock operation in all weather conditions, and does not require a navigator to see either some recognizable landmark or celestial object to position a vessel. It is a major step on the road to modern electronic navigation systems, oceanic seismic refraction and reflection profiling, and the development of telemetering oceanographic instruments.
14. William Beebe is lowered in a tethered bathyscaph to a depth of 3,028 feet marking the advent of manned exploration of the sea.
15. During World War II, electronic navigation systems are developed for precision bombing, including the gee system, which C&GS hydrographers adapt and rename Shoran. In 1945 the C&GS conducts its first hydrographic surveys using Shoran. Other inventions from this period pertinent to ocean exploration include deep-ocean camera systems, early magnetometers, sidescan sonar instruments, and early technology for guiding ROVs (remotely operated vehicles).
16. Bathyscaph Trieste dives to what was believed to be the deepest point in the Mariana Trench. A depth of 10,915 meters was observed. Since that time a Japanese research vessel measured 10,938 meters in the same area in 1998. The trench was first sounded by H.M.S. Challenger in 1875 again by H.M.S. Challenger II in 1951.

Questions:

1. SONAR

1. Who is credited with inventing SONAR?

1. What does SONAR stand for and how is it used?

1. What was the reason for its invention? (What historical event created a “need” for it?)

1. What was the first practical application for its use (c. 1915)?

1. What other uses have scientists found for SONAR technology? (2)

1. Manned Exploration

1. Who is given credit for being the first person to explore the ocean in a manned bathyscape?

1. What is the name of the first deep sea manned submersible?

1. Who is given credit for inventing the aqua lung (The predecessor to SCUBA)?

1. What does SCUBA stand for?

1. What was the name of the first manned submersible to explore the Challenger Deep?

1. Research

1. What was the name of the first US government agency dedicated to surveying the Ocean?

1. He is known as the American father of modern Marine Science?

1. What was the name of the first Marine Institute of Study founded by the answer to number 2?

1. Which world renowned institute was modeled after the answer to number 3?

1. American Marine Biologist who collected more new species on the Albatross than on the Challenger Expedition?