History and advancement of biological oceanography: Global and national perspectives
Author: Dr Nandini Menon
Language: English
Format: PDF/PowerPoint Lecture
Update: 05 Dec 2014
NANO Research Themes: Biological Oceanography
Abstract:
Today, Biological oceanography is a highly advanced subject that deals with isolation of drugs from the sea, molecular barcoding of life, ecosystem modelling etc. A new student of oceanography may be well versed with the modern techniques, but he/she has to understand that its roots extend back several tens of thousands of years when people began to venture from their coastlines in rafts. Their experiences during voyages and their efforts which have transformed biological oceanography from natural history to one that encompasses all complexities of marine environment are listed in the presentation. The inquisitiveness of first seafaring explorers and oceanographers who observed the movement of waves, storms, tides, and currents that carried their rafts in different directions at different times have led to important discoveries in oceanography. How the expeditions led by naturalists have resulted in finding out the shape of the ocean basin, depth of the ocean and the uniqueness of life found in different parts of the world oceans. Their experiences and understanding of the oceans were passed down over thousands of years from generation to generation through which biological oceanography evolved and separated from marine biology. The ppt is a compilation of the information available in legends and myths, passing through the early voyages to the complex expeditions and the application of modern technology in deciphering the oceanographic issues. It will show you how important early studies were and how far we have come since then in understanding the oceans and seafloor.
The development of oceanography in India has been outlined in this presentation, from its early stages of plankton sorting and identification to well established marine research institutions in various parts of the country.