2.1: Definitions

The long history of the study of the ocean has led to the development of various, specialized disciplines each with its own interests and vocabulary. The more important disciplines include:

Oceanography is the study of the ocean, with emphasis on its character as an environment. The goal is to obtain a description sufficiently quantitative to be used for predicting the future with some certainty.

Geophysics is the study of the physics of the earth.

Physical Oceanography is the study of physical properties and dynamics of the ocean. The primary interests are the interaction of the ocean with the atmosphere, the oceanic heat budget, water mass formation, currents, and coastal dynamics. Physical Oceanography is considered by many to be a subdiscipline of geophysics.

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics is the study of the dynamics of fluid motion on scales influenced by the rotation of the earth. Meteorology and oceanography use geophysical fluid dynamics to calculate planetary flow fields.

Hydrography is the preparation of nautical charts, including charts of ocean depths, currents, internal density field of the ocean, and tides.

Earth-system Science is the study of earth as a single system comprising many interacting subsystems including the ocean, atmosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere, and changes in these systems due to human activity.

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