Our World Ocean: Understanding the Most Important Ecosystem on Earth

by W. Sean Chamberlin, Nicki Shaw, and Martha Rich

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This book offers an alternative to the traditional, dry-as-bones, hohum approach of the standard textbook. Sure, it covers all the topics you’ll find in a traditional oceanography textbook. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We go broader and deeper. We write the way people talk— conversationally. We encourage folks to interact with the text, to click through to full-size images, to view video and hear audio, and to quickly access the reference materials.

Description from LibreTexts.

Publisher
Fullerton College
Subjects
Geosciences, Oceanography
Licence
CC BY 4.0, as LibreTexts states it
Who can read
Tweens profiles and older, judged from its title and subjects

Contents

LibreTexts writes equations in TeX, and here they show as TeX; the PDF has them typeset.

  1. Front Matter
  2. TitlePage
  3. InfoPage
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Licensing
  6. About the Book
  7. About the Authors
  8. Foreword
  9. Preface
  10. Voyage I Ocean Science
  11. 1: The World Ocean System
  12. 1.1: A World Ocean Perspective
  13. 1.2: An Interdisciplinary Science
  14. 1.3: An Earth Systems View
  15. 1.4: Earth’s Seven Spheres
  16. 1.5: The World Ocean System
  17. 1.6: Keeping an Eye on Climate Change
  18. 1.7: Ocean Literacy
  19. 1.8: Your Mission
  20. 1.9: Chapter References
  21. 2: Team Oceanography
  22. 2.1: Channel Your Inner Scientist
  23. 2.2: Investigate the Natural World
  24. 2.3: Ask a Good Question
  25. 2.4: Propose an Idea or Model
  26. 2.5: Test Your Hypotheses
  27. 2.6: Conduct an Investigation
  28. 2.7: Analyze Your Results
  29. 2.8: Form Your Conclusions
  30. 2.9: Communicate Your Science
  31. 2.10: Chapter References
  32. 3: Science Aboard Ships
  33. 3.1: The Birth of Oceanography
  34. 3.2: Sampling over Space
  35. 3.3: Sampling over Time
  36. 3.4: The Challenge of Pressure
  37. 3.5: The Undersampling Problem
  38. 3.6: Modern Oceanographic Vessels
  39. 3.7: Beneath the Surface
  40. 3.8: Chapter References
  41. 4: Robots, Satellites, and Observatories
  42. 4.1: Bottles, Drifters, and Floats
  43. 4.2: Gliders
  44. 4.3: Towfish
  45. 4.4: Remotely Operated Vehicles
  46. 4.5: Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
  47. 4.6: Hybrid Platforms
  48. 4.7: Benthic Landers
  49. 4.8: Mini-Autonomous Underwater Explorers
  50. 4.9: Ocean Moorings
  51. 4.10: Uncrewed Aerial Platforms
  52. 4.11: Satellite Oceanography
  53. 4.12: Ocean Observatories
  54. 4.13: Chapter References
  55. Voyage II Ocean Geology and Chemistry
  56. 5: The Beach
  57. 5.1: What Is a Beach?
  58. 5.2: Anatomy of a Beach
  59. 5.3: The Origins of Beach Sand
  60. 5.4: From the Mountains to the Sea
  61. 5.5: Wave-Driven Sediment Transport
  62. 5.6: The Littoral Cell
  63. 5.7: Human Impacts on Beaches
  64. 5.8: The Last Beach?
  65. 5.9: Chapter References
  66. 6: The Seafloor
  67. 6.1: Planet Earth vs. Planet Ocean
  68. 6.2: A Few Words About “Seafloor”
  69. 6.3: Marine Geomorphometry
  70. 6.4: Seafloor Provinces
  71. 6.5: Deep-Sea Mining
  72. 6.6: Chapter References
  73. 7: Seawater and Its Elements
  74. 7.1: Anatomy of a Molecule
  75. 7.2: The Periodic Table of the Elements
  76. 7.3: The Name’s Bond, Chemical Bond
  77. 7.4: Chemical Formulas
  78. 7.5: The Water Molecule
  79. 7.6: What Are Salts?
  80. 7.7: Seawater Constituents
  81. 7.8: Chapter References
  82. 8: The Water Cycle and Ocean Salinity
  83. 8.1: A Useful and Simple Model
  84. 8.2: The Global Water Cycle
  85. 8.3: The Three States of Water
  86. 8.4: Water, the Dissolver of Rocks
  87. 8.5: Salinity over Long Timescales
  88. 8.6: Salinity over Short Timescales
  89. 8.7: Airborne Sources of Salts
  90. 8.8: Biological Sources and Sinks
  91. 8.9: Residence Time
  92. 8.10: Measuring Salinity
  93. 8.11: The Global Water Crisis
  94. 8.12: Chapter References
  95. Voyage III Ocean Physics
  96. 9: The Sun and the Earth
  97. 9.1: Interesting Facts About the Sun
  98. 9.2: Electromagnetic Radiation
  99. 9.3: How the Sun Warms the Earth
  100. 9.4: Earth’s Energy Imbalance
  101. 9.5: Chapter References
  102. 10: The Surface Circulation
  103. 10.1: Main Features
  104. 10.2: Boundary Currents
  105. 10.3: West Wind Drift Currents
  106. 10.4: Polar Ocean Currents
  107. 10.5: Understanding Ocean Motions
  108. 10.6: Ocean Currents Up Close
  109. 10.7: Monsoonal Circulation
  110. 10.8: Final Thoughts
  111. 10.9: Chapter References
  112. 11: The Seasons of the Sea
  113. 11.1: Sunrise, Sunset
  114. 11.2: Why Do Seasons Occur?
  115. 11.3: How Does Earth’s Tilt Affect Surface Warming?
  116. 11.4: The Ocean Layer Cake
  117. 11.5: Measuring the Ocean’s Layers
  118. 11.6: Visualizing Layers- The XZ Graph
  119. 11.7: The Seasons and the Thermoclines
  120. 11.8: The Importance of the Ocean’s Seasonal Cycle
  121. 11.9: Chapter References
  122. 12: Atmospheric Circulation
  123. 12.1: Earth’s Atmosphere
  124. 12.2: What Causes Winds?
  125. 12.3: Local and Regional Winds
  126. 12.4: Global Atmospheric Circulation
  127. 12.5: Final Thoughts
  128. 12.6: Chapter References
  129. 13: Ocean Waves
  130. 13.1: Energy in Motion
  131. 13.2: The Source of a Wave’s Energy
  132. 13.3: The Geometry of Waves
  133. 13.4: Types of Waves
  134. 13.5: The Timing of Waves
  135. 13.6: The Speed of Waves
  136. 13.7: Wave Orbitals
  137. 13.8: Wind Stress- A Transfer of Energy
  138. 13.9: The Wind-Stressed Sea Surface
  139. 13.10: Factors Affecting Wave “Size”
  140. 13.11: The Beaufort Wind Force Scale
  141. 13.12: Dispersion of Waves
  142. 13.13: Deep- and Shallow-Water Waves
  143. 13.14: The Making of Surf
  144. 13.15: Chapter References
  145. 14: Ocean Tides and Sea Level Rise
  146. 14.1: The Tide-Causing Forces
  147. 14.2: The Tides Follow the Moon
  148. 14.3: Measuring and Predicting Tides
  149. 14.4: Classification of Tides
  150. 14.5: Tidal Height
  151. 14.6: Spring and Neap Tides
  152. 14.7: Practical Applications of Tide Knowledge
  153. 14.8: An Ever-Changing Sea Level
  154. 14.9: How Do We Measure Sea Level?
  155. 14.10: What Causes Sea Level Change
  156. 14.11: What Have We Learned About Global Sea Level Rise?
  157. 14.12: What Have We Learned About Local Sea Level Rise?
  158. 14.13: It’s Not Just Sea Level Rise
  159. 14.14: Chapter References
  160. Voyage IV Ocean Biology
  161. 15: The Living Sea
  162. 15.1: Systems of Classification
  163. 15.2: A Quick Lesson in Classification
  164. 15.3: Two or Three Domains?
  165. 15.4: A Brief History of Life on Earth
  166. 15.5: Life and Earth as One?
  167. 15.6: Chapter References
  168. 16: Ocean Depth Zones
  169. 16.1: Defining an Organism’s Habitat
  170. 16.2: Marine Biogeography
  171. 16.3: Oceanic Environments
  172. 16.4: Pelagic Depth Zones
  173. 16.5: Benthic Depth Zones
  174. 16.6: Ocean Depth Zoning Out
  175. 16.7: Chapter References
  176. Appendices
  177. 17: Appendix A—Common Abbreviations
  178. 18: Appendix B- Ocean Science Abbreviations
  179. 19: Appendix C—Abbreviations for Ocean Currents*
  180. 20: Appendix D—Metric Prefixes
  181. 21: Appendix E—Useful Formulas
  182. 22: Appendix F—Estimating Water Pressure
  183. 23: In the Periscope- Tiny Treasures by Colleen Chamberlin
  184. Back Matter
  185. Glossary
  186. Detailed Licensing
  187. Glossary
  188. Detailed Licensing