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384-300 B.C. Aristotle
Aristotle studied the oceans and believed they occupied low regions on the earth's surface. He recognized the cycling of water by the water's evaporation from the sea and then eventually it's return as rain. He also studied marine organisms. -
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350-300 B.C. Pytheas
Pytheas, a greek geographer and explorer made one of the first voyages from the Meditteranean to England and then proceeded north to Scotland, Germany and Norway. Throughout these voyages he recognized the relationship between the tides and the phase of the moon. -
Jan 1, 1002
Leif Eriksson
Leif Eriksson (son of Erik 'the Red' Thorvaldsson who discovered Greenland) sailed to North America. Roughly 500 years before Columbus. -
Jan 1, 1450
Prince Henry of Portugal Established a Naval Observatory
Prince Henry of Portugal, also known as Prince Henry the Navigator, established a naval observatory for the teaching of navigation, astronomy and cartography. -
Jan 1, 1520
Ferdinand Magellan- The First Voyage Around the World
After being killed in the Phillippines by cannibals in 1521, one of Magellan's three ships, Victoria, continued around Africa and across the Indian Ocean to return home. This completed the first succesful navigation around the globe. Magellan is credited with determining the length of a degree of latitude and calculating the circumfrence of the earth. -
Sir Issac Newton
Isaac Newton wrote his Principia in which he presented his law of gravity and his explanation of the forces which create tides -
James Cook
James Cook used John Harrison's Chronometer to chart new regions od the Pacific Ocean. Cook is credidted with some of the earliest mapping of the ocean. Cook compiled data covering things such as ocean depths, prevailing wind directions, characteristics of currents and water temperatures -
The Challenger
The Challenger expedition was organized by the British Royal Society and the British Admiralty and sailed under the direction of Charles Wyville Thompson. The expedition lasted nearly three and a half years where vast discovieries were made. Some of the discoveries included the measurements of ocean depths of 361 locations, analysis' of water samples determining temperatures and chemistry of the seas, further research of deep water currents and the discovery of 4717 new species of marine life. -
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen led a voyage (The Fram) to the Artic to test his theories about surface circulation of the Artic waters. The Fram was frozen into the ice for 35 months so that it would drift with the ice pack under the influence of the surface circulation around the pole. During this time, measurements of weather conditions, water temperatures and chemistry, water depth, and characteristics of the periodic changes in the numbers of plankton in the water were taken. -
International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES)
Germany Russia, Great Britian, Holland, and the Scandinavian countries formed the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) to coordinate and conduct redearch in the oceans and on fisheries. -
the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE)
The International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) was a multi-nation effort to survey seabed resources, improve environmental forecasting, investigate coastal eacosystems, and modernize and standardize the collection, analysis, and use of marine data. -
the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and the Ridge Interdisciplinary Global Experiment (RIDGE)
the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and the Ridge Interdisciplinary Global Experiment (RIDGE) both explore the ocean floor and the margins of continents to better understand the structure of the sea floor and the relationship between geological processes and ocean chemistry. -
TOPEX/Poseidon
The satellite TOPEX/Poseidon was launched to explore ocean circulation and interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere. This satellite is capable of measuring ocean surface elevations with an impressive accuracy of less than 4 inches. -
3200 B.C. First Recorded Sea Voyage
Egyptian Pharaoh Snefru led the first recorded sea voyage. -
Argo
Argo deployed 3000 independent floats all planned to lauch by 2005. Each float is programmed to dive to a depth of 2000 m where it will remain for 10-14 days. As the floats rise to the surface they will measure temperature and salinity. Once it reaches the surface it sends the data to a satelite and then start the process over again. These are very convienent because they're cheap and can be used in vast locations.
