UCLA EPSS 15: Introduction to

Blue Planet Oceanography

Lecture 1:
Introduction Kira Homola
Lecture 1: Part 1

1. Course Introduction

2. Defining Oceanography
Contact Information

Teaching Assistants
Course Website & Syllabus
• Nicole Echterling
https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/cours • Lab Sections 1B, 1C, 1J
es/192518 • Office Hours Thur 2-3 pm, Slichter 3870
• nechterling@ucla.edu
Instructor • Yang Li
• Lab Sections 1F, 1G, 1I
Dr. Kira Homola • Office Hours Wed 3-4 pm, Geology 3677
• liyangptx@ucla.edu
Office Hours: Wed 2-3 pm ,
• Kyle Webster
Slichter 5873
• Lab Sections 1D, 1E, 1M
Khomola@ucla.edu • Office Hours Tues 2-3 pm, Geology 6705
• kweb@g.ucla.edu
Course Overview

Class Website:
https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/1925
18
Instructor: Dr. Kira Homola
Office: 5873 Slichter
Office Hours: Wednesdays 2-3 pm
khomola@g.ucla.edu
Please reserve email communications for
administrative purposes only, but check
the syllabus first. Use lab sections and
office hours to ask scientific questions.
Required Textbooks
Dorrik Stow "OCEANS - A Very
Short Introduction", Oxford
University Press
Philip V. Mladenov "MARINE
BIOLOGY - A Very Short
Introduction", Oxford
University Press
Both are available through UCLA
Inclusive Access. If you prefer to
purchase this textbook
elsewhere, you must opt out
online. Both books are also in
course reserves at the library.
Please see syllabus for Inclusive
Access details.
Grading

• 20% Homework Quizzes Grade Performance

A+ >98%
(10 total, lowest 2 grades will be dropped) A >93%
• 25% Lab Activities (7 of 9 required) A- >90%
B+ >88%
• 20% Midterm Exam B >83%
• 20% Final Exam B- >80%
C+ >78%
• 15% Group Project C >73%
• (+10% Optional Extra Credit, note total cannot exceed 100%) C >70%
D+ >68%
Missing more than 2 Labs results in an incomplete or failing grade. D >63%

The final grade is not (!) curved. Please see syllabus for more details. D- >60%
F <60%
Labs: Check your section
Missing more than 2 Labs results in an
incomplete or failing grade!
Readings
Will be made available online
(BruinLearn) before the lab. Read
before lab and bring an e- or hard-copy.
In-lab activity
Your TA will bring copies for you.
You may work in groups to complete.
Due before your next lab.
Extra Credit

Voluntary extra credit worth up to 10% of your grade can be obtained by

(1) submitting a signed voluntary activity waiver form before your activity (see
class webpage)
(2) visiting a museum/aquarium or participating in a river or beach clean up, &
(3) documenting your visit (see further instructions on next slide).
For more information see the Syllabus.
?
Lecture 1: Part 2

1. Course Introduction

2. Defining Oceanography
Oceans cover 71 % of Earth’s Surface…

Land,
29.2%

Water,
70.8%
Oceans cover 71 % of Earth’s Surface…
… And only 0.13 % (1/1000th) of her volume
Ocean
~ 3.7 km

Land,
29.2%

Water,
70.8%
5 Connected Oceans
5 Connected Oceans
 5 Connected Oceans
Atlantic Ocean Name Means Why
Pacific Peaceful, Magellan’s 1520
calmness voyage

Indian Atlantic From Greek

mythological
Atlas Mountains
of
Titan who held North/Northeast
up the heavens Africa
Southern
Indian Its south of India Its south of India

Arctic Bear Greek mythology

about a nymph
turned into a
Pacific bear and cast
into the heavens
by Zeus
Southern Opposite of Also referred to
Arctic Arctic as Antarctic
Ocean
Oceans: Where Life Began
Oceans: Where Life Began & Still Thrives Today
What is Modern Oceanography?

Interdisciplinary, collaborative research

On ships or in the field
To collect samples and measure data
Using a variety of instruments.

Then analyze in our home laboratories,

Interpret and model with computers, and
Present results to peers and community.

Four Key Disciplines:

Geological, Chemical, Physical, & Biological
Who’s a Modern Oceanographer?

Your closest example…

• Study deep sea life at and below the seafloor today
and in early earth.
• Sailed on 7 research ships, US and international
• Expertise: biogeochemistry, analytical chemistry,
marine geology, geophysics, thermodynamic
modeling, deep ocean imagery
Major International Ocean
Research Institutions
 Research Vessels
Large
Zodiac Vessel

Small Vessel

Ice Cutter Drill Ship

 Submersibles

Jago Alvin
Shinkai

Mir I & II

Nautile

Johnson Sea-Link
Mapping the seafloor
 Sampling Equipment
Gliders ROVs
(Jason)

Argo Floats

Multi-corers
Buoys

Plankton
nets
 Seawater Properties: CTD Rosette

Measuring properties of seawater & collecting water from specific depths.

CTD stands for Conductivity-Temperature-Depth
Water samplers (Niskin bottles) arranged around the sensors = Rosette
Often, more probes (like oxygen or fluorescence) are added to the system

CTD-Rosette Typical CTD profile in the water column

determined with different probes.
Sampling Plankton: Plankton Net
Sampling organisms from the seafloor:
Agassiz Trawl
 Sediment sampling

Multi-corers

Gravity corers ROV or submersible push corers

Self-contained underwater breathing
apparatus (SCUBA)

Cartoon: Island Divers Hawaii

Ocean models to extrapolate data, understand
the past, and predict the future
Interested in a Marine Career at UCLA?

Visit the IoES Marine Center website and go

to "TEACHING" to find out more about
marine classes offered at UCLA:

https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/marine/
 Introduction Summary
• Oceanography is the science of the oceans including physics, chemistry, biology, and geology.
• Research vessels are important platforms to conduct oceanographic research; there are different
types of vessels for different purposes (small, large, ice cutter, drill ship).
• Submersibles and ROVs help exploring the oceans under water.
• CTD is a collective term in oceanography for an instrument that measures physical (and sometimes
also chemical) parameters in the water column and collects water samples.
• The ocean seafloor is mapped with the help of acoustic systems (sonar etc.)
• Very fine nets are used to collect plankton from the water column; large trawls collect organisms
and rocks from the seafloor
• Different coring devices are used to collect long (gravity corer), surface (multicorer), or selected
(push corer) sediment samples from the seafloor.
• Lander systems and submersibles/ROVs deploy autonomous instrumentation that can measure
parameters at the seafloor (i.e., in situ).
• SCUBA allows highly specialized observation and sampling of shallow ocean habitats.
• Ocean models assimilate field data to extrapolate to global scale, understand processes in the past
and to predict future developments.