Practical Handbook of Marine Science

Michael J. Kennish

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138068858
• eBook ISBN: 9781351654098
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Biology

The heavily-revised Practical Handbook of Marine Science, Fourth Edition continues its tradition as a state-of-the-art reference that updates the field of marine science to meet the interdisciplinary research needs of physical oceanographers, marine biologists, marine chemists, and marine geologists. This edition adds an entirely new section devoted to Climate Change and Climate Change Effects. It also adds new sections on Estuaries, Beaches, Barrier Islands, Shellfish, Macroalgae, Food Chains, Food Webs, Trophic Dynamics, System Productivity, Physical-Chemical-Biological Alteration, and Coastal Resource Management.

The Handbook assembles an extensive international collection of marine science data throughout, with approximately 1, 000 tables and illustrations. It provides comprehensive coverage of anthropogenic impacts in estuarine and marine ecosystems from local, regional, and global perspectives.

Maintaining its user-friendly, multi-sectional format, this comprehensive resource will also be of value to undergraduate and graduate students, research scientists, administrators, and other professionals who deal with the management of marine resources. Now published in full color, the new edition offers extensive illustrative and tabular reference material covering all the major disciplines related to the sea.

CHAPTER 1

Physiography

I. OCEAN PROVINCES

A. Ocean Dimensions

There are five major oceans of the world. From largest to smallest, these include the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic oceans; together with their adjacent seas, they cover ~71% of the earth’s surface (~3.62 × 10⁸ km²) and have a volume of ~1.34 × 10⁹ km³. The surface area, volume, and average depth of the Pacific Ocean exceed all others, amounting to 1.66 × 10⁸ km², 6.96 × 10⁸ km³, and 4.19 × 10³ m, respectively. The Pacific Ocean constitutes more than 50% of the world’s ocean environment, and it occupies more than one-third of the earth’s surface. The Atlantic Ocean, with dimensions about half of those of the Pacific Ocean, has a surface area, volume, and depth of 8.41 × 10⁷ km², 3.23 × 10⁸ km³, and 3.84 × 10³ m, respectively. Somewhat smaller, the Indian Ocean has a surface area, volume, and depth of 7.34 × 10⁷ km², 2.84 × 10⁸ km³, and 3.87 × 10³ m, respectively. The Southern and Arctic Oceans are much smaller. The surface area, volume and depth of the Southern Ocean are 2.20 × 10⁷ km², 7.18 × 10⁷ km³, and 3.270 × 10³ m, respectively, and those of the Arctic Ocean are 1.56 × 10⁷ km², 1.88 × 10⁷ km³, and 1.21 × 10³ m, respectively.^1,2,3,4,5

The Pacific Ocean comprises 50.1% of the world ocean and occupies more than one-third of the earth’s surface. By comparison, the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean constitute 29.4% and 20.5% of the world ocean, respectively. The oceans range in width from ~5000 km (Atlantic) to ~17,000 km (Pacific).

About 75% of the ocean basins lies within the depth zone between ~3000 and 6000 m. The seas are much shallower, being ~1200 m deep or less. Some of the marginal seas are bounded by land or island chains (e.g., Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Sea of Japan). Others not bounded by land are distinguished by local oceanographic characteristics (e.g., Labrador, Norwegian, and Tasman seas).^1,2 Marginal seas can strongly influence temperature and salinity conditions of the major ocean basins. For example, the warm, saline waters of the Mediterranean Sea can be detected over thousands of kilometers at mid-depths in the Atlantic Ocean.

Temperature and salinity differences are evident in the major oceans. Excluding the Southern Ocean as a separate entity, the Pacific Ocean exhibits the lowest temperatures and salinities with mean values of 3.14°C and 34.6‰, respectively. In contrast, the highest mean temperature (3.99°C) and salinity (34.92‰) exists in the Atlantic Ocean despite its large volume of riverine inflow. This is particularly true in the North Atlantic, where the mean temperature (5.08°C) and salinity (35.09‰) exceed those of all other major ocean basins. The Indian Ocean has intermediate mean temperature (3.88°C) and salinity (34.78‰) values. The mean temperature of the oceans is 3.51°C, and the mean salinity is 34.7‰.

The landmasses and ocean waters are not evenly distri...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Author
• Chapter 1: Physiography
• Chapter 2: Marine Chemistry
• Chapter 3: Physical Oceanography
• Chapter 4: Marine Geology
• Chapter 5: Marine Biology
• Chapter 6: Anthropogenic Effects
• Chapter 7: Climate Change
• Index