Austin Brennan

Oceanography: An Earth Science Perspective Austin Brennan

Oceanography is a fundamental study of physical and biological aspects of ocean. It is an important branch of earth science. It covers a range of topics such as ocean currents, ecosystem dynamics, waves, plate tectonics, fluxes of physical properties and chemical substances within the ocean and across its boundaries, etc. The four main branches of oceanography are biological, chemical, geological and physical oceanography. Biological oceanography deals with the investigation of the ecology of marine organisms. It involves the physical, chemical and geological characteristics of their ocean environment and the biology of individual marine organisms. Chemical oceanography studies the chemistry of ocean which includes the study and understanding of seawater properties and its changes. Geological oceanography deals with in-depth study of geology of ocean floor which also includes study of plate tectonics and paleoceanography. The study of ocean's physical attributes fall under physical oceanography, which involves the studies of temperature-salinity structure, surface waves, internal waves, etc. This book brings forth some of the most innovative concepts and elucidates the unexplored aspects of oceanography. It also traces the progress of this field and highlights some of its key concepts and applications. This book is a resource guide for experts as well as students.