Class Notes

University of California, Santa BarbaraEARTH Earth 4Copy of Earth 4 Lecture Notes

Lecture 1 - 1/7/2020 ● Oceanography, marine science, study of the ocean ● Science related to observations of: ○ Ocean ○ Coasts ○ Marine... [Show More] organisms ● Interdisciplinary, biology, chem, geology, physics, engineering, etc ● ⅔ of earth is covered in oceans ○ High heat capacity, determine the planet's climate and weather ○ Food source, huge % of the population lives by the coast ■ Sea level rise implications? ● Study vs. Knowledge ○ The seas- important to humans for millennia ○ Transport, food source, destructive force ○ Knowledge was gained from experience ○ Study is intentional, using scientific method ● What is science? ○ Systematic process of asking questions about the observable world ○ Science interprets raw info ○ Scientists ■ Collect ● Scientific method ○ Observations > question ● 1,4, or 5 oceans ○ One global ocean ○ The different oceans, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic ocean ● Ocean or Sea? ○ Commonly used interchangeably ○ Technically, seas are smaller and shallowers which results in some interesting properties ● Early Ocean Exploration, lots of Mediterranean history ○ Trade records in Mediterranean are earliest record of voyaging ○ 900-700 BC Greeks ventured outside Mediterranean ○ ~450 BC ● Library of Alexandria, Egypt ○ Kept records of every area of human endeavor, began the first systematic study of ocean ○ Eratosthenes of Cyrene was the 2nd librarian ■ First to calculate the circumference of the earth ■ Later incorrectly improved by Ptolmey ■ Invented a system of latitude and longitude ● Longitude and Latitude ○ Latitude ■ Like rungs of a ladder, lines of latitude are horizontal and parallel ■ Measures angular position north/south relative to the equator ■ Degrees of latitude are evenly spaced in distance: 1 degree latitude always equals 111km ○ Longitude ■ All lines of longitude are equally long, extending from N to S poles ■ Measures position east/west relative to the prime meridian ■ Degrees of longitude are evenly spaced in angle.time zone but NOT DISTANCE ■ Longitude = timezones ■ 360 degrees in a circle/24 hrs in a day = 15 degrees per hour ■ In reality, timezones are political/economic ● Colonization of Polynesia ○ Polynesia, central and eastern Pacific islands ○ Spread from island to island ○ Between 300 and 600 AD successfully colonized nearly every inhabitable island ● Hawaii ○ Colonization of Hawaii ~450-600 AD ○ No islands within >2000 miles to the south of Hawaii ○ Northern stars unknown to southern navigators ○ Lies beyond equatorial doldrums ● Viking raiders ○ Scandinavian adventures ○ Had europe’s fastest, longest-ranging vessels ○ Dark ages were punctuated by the raids of Vikings ○ Swepts down coasts of Europe form Denmark to Norway ● Summary: Early history ○ First boats ~40kya ○ Main focus: sea food ○ Commerce and military: mediterranean Nation-states ○ Exploration: vikings- plundering, polynesia- resettlement ● Middle Ages, food, military, commerce, and limited exploration ○ Chinese ○ Arab ○ European ● Chinese contributions ○ Zheng he commanded 7 voyages (1405-1433) ○ At least 317 ships and 27,500 men ○ Ships laden with gifts to show China’s wealth and degree of civiliation ○ Invented: ■ Compass ■ Central rudder ■ Water tight compartments [Show Less]

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