Preface

Fundamentals of Oceanography is intended for professors and students who need a more basic oceanography text to better serve less intensive college oceanography courses, courses tailored for nonscience majors interested in learning more about the fascinating, and often mysterious, marine world that covers 71% of the Earth's surface and yet is more poorly mapped than the surface of the Moon. This fourth edition is an extensive revision in response to the suggestions and ideas of instructors as well as advances in the ocean sciences. Our goal in this edition is to provide students with up-to-date information, and to make each chapter as clear and readable as possible without sacrificing scientific accuracy. This fourth edition continues to emphasize principles, processes, and properties of the oceans.

Because oceanography embraces immense amounts of geological, physical, chemical, biological, and engineering information related to the marine environment, and because of the interdependency among these subject areas, the choice of topics to be included in a fundamentals text presents a complex challenge. We have endeavored to choose those topics that best illustrate basic processes and at the same time answer students' questions about the oceans while encouraging their interest. We invite instructors to change the sequence of material to best fit their own presentations and to elaborate on subjects as desired. Six new Items of Interest have been added to this edition for a total of twelve topics designed to cover issues that are not addressed directly in the text. The new topics include the recovery of black smokers from the seafloor, the use of sound to measure ocean temperature, tsunami warning systems, national marine sanctuaries, whale falls, and biodiversity in the oceans. The discussion of plate tectonics and plate boundaries in chapter 3 has been extensively revised. In chapter 4 the material concerning marine sediments has been reorganized to emphasize sediment classification and characteristics. New measurement techniques and new instruments used by oceanographers are discussed and illustrated in chapter 7. The environmental problems presented by "dead zones" and the toxic Pfiesteria organism are new to chapter 9, and chapter 10 has a new section on extremophiles, microorganisms that live under conditions of extreme temperature. Chapter 12 provides new data on the world's coral reefs, and all fisheries catch data has been updated in chapters 11 and 12. Short essays on the responsibilities of a chief scientist and ship's Captain in planning and executing a successful oceanographic expedition have been included in the middle of the text.

Fundamentals of Oceanography continues to present students with numerous aids to facilitate their study of oceanography. Each chapter opens with learning objectives, and review questions are presented as self-checks for the student at the end of each section. Throughout this text, information is presented in table form to help the student organize, summarize, and compare. Chapters end with a concise summary to aid in review, critical thinking questions to encourage reflection about chapter topics, suggested readings to explore subjects in more detail, and internet references related to topics of discusssion. Internet references have also been added to figure captions in the text where appropriate. Three appendices are included: (1) methods of deriving latitude and longitude, (2) taxonomic classifications of plankton, nekton, and benthos, and (3) scientific notation and units. All quantities in the text are given in both metric and traditional units.

We acknowledge that this book is a product of many experiences, in the field, at sea, and in the classroom. We extend our thanks to many friends and colleagues who have graciously answered our questions, helped us with current information, and provided access to their photo files. We particularly thank:
Marcia McNutt, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Ian Young, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Steve Nathan, University of Massachusetts

We also wish to extend a special thanks to the instructors who used and reviewed the first three editions of this text and to those who contributed to the development of this fourth edition: Christopher T. Baldwin, Sam Houston State University; Heather Gallacher, Cleveland State University; Lawrence A. Krissek, Ohio State University; Donald W. Lovejoy, Palm Beach Atlantic College; Leslie A. Melim, Western Illinois University; Donald F. Palmer, Kent State University; Keith Simmons, Hartnell College. Finally, we express our sincere gratitude to McGraw-Hill and the outstanding staff members working with us to bring you this textbook.