![]() The history of deep-sea exploration began with practical applications of oceanography, such as the laying of undersea cables, and was extended by natural and scientific curiosity. Oceanography is literally the science of mapping the floor, geometry, and configuration of large bodies of water. Tuscarora cruised the North Pacific to make soundings for the trans-Pacific cable line and recorded many other scientific observations along with the soundings. Gazelle made observations of southern waters including the South Atlantic, South Pacific, and Indian Oceans. At about the same time, the German ship the S.M.S. The crew is credited with discovering 715 new genera and 4,417 new species of marine organisms. The ship ’s crew was under the command of Sir George Nares, and Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (1830 –1882) was the chief scientist on board. Challenger expedition left England in December 1872 and spent four years conducting oceanographic studies in the oceans of the world, returning to England in May 1876. ![]() In 1870, the British began the first expedition strictly to explore the deep ocean. In the mid-1800s, Norwegian scientists proved life exists in the deep sea when they recovered a stalked crinoid from a depth of 10,200 ft (3,109 m). The expeditions of Captain James Cook (1728 –1779) and the polar explorers (notably Sir James Ross who explored the North Pole with Sir William Edward Parry as well as the Antarctic Region and his uncle Sir John Ross who was also an explorer of the North Pole) added more information about oceanic surfaces. These records were compiled by Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806 –1873), who set documentation standards later followed by many international congresses on oceanography and other sciences of the sea. The captains of sailing vessels made precise ships ’ logs in the early nineteenth century that proved valuable in early oceanography. Nineteenth and twentieth century technology caused an explosion in the exact sciences. Investigations of the sea bottom were begun when submarines were manufactured, and soundings were used to lay submarine cables. He estimated this average to be 13,000 ft (3,962 m), which scientists later proved with soundings over the ocean to be relatively accurate. Scientific study of the physics of the deep sea began when French mathematician, astronomer, and scientist Pierre Simon de Laplace (1749 –1827) used only tidal motions along the shores of West Africa and Brazil to calculate the average depth of the Atlantic Ocean. The women who dive for pearls in and near Japan and the Greeks who dive for sponges have achieved phenomenal endurance records (presumably in ancient as well as modern times) for holding their breath, but diving for pearl-bearing oysters or for sponges requires perseverance for searching not for depth. The Polynesians dived from their sea-going outrigger canoes, but the depth they could explore was limited to relatively shallow water. Ancient human ancestors certainly explored the near shore. The very earliest explorations of the sea depended on human endurance, that is, the depth a person could sustain a dive. Alternatively, these developments have eliminated the need for humans to journey to these depths. ![]() Underwater exploration near the surface and near the shore is an ancient form of earning a livelihood and enjoying the pleasures of the water but deep-sea exploration is a recent phenomenon (compared to many other sciences) because technological developments have been essential to the survival of human beings in deeper water. Underwater exploration is the relatively recent process of investigating the depths of the sea to understand its physical and chemical characteristics and to learn about the life forms that inhabit this realm. ![]()
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