Ocean Environment
The sea is the most obvious feature of the earth's surface.
Approximately seventy percent of this surface is covered by water, in one way or
another. Beneath this water are the familiar sands of the beaches, bottoms of
bays, and the inshore ocean. Farther offshore this water covers an amazing
submarine topography of underwater canyons, trenches, mountains, and plains.
Unlike the continents, which are physically separated from one another, the
oceans are continuous and interconnected. Since the "world ocean is
continuous"(M.J. Keen) it has similar characteristics throughout. In the early
1870s oceanographers collected seawater samples from all of the seas of the
world at a variety of depths. When analyzed, the samples were found to have
quite similar characteristics. These findings convinced many that a method of
study was needed. The study of oceans was named oceanography.
Density, salinity, and temperature are very important concepts in the
study of......
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