| Description |
xix, 314 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of color plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
Foreword: The Oceans: Cornerstones of Life / Sylvia A. Earle -- Oceans of the Past. Evolution's Drama. The Earth and the Ocean Are Born. Life Begins. The Paleozoic Era: Life Blooms in the Sea. The Mesozoic Era: A Midlife Crisis. The Cenozoic Era: Modern Life -- The Seas of Today. The Science of the Sea Begins. The Physical and Chemical Ocean. Oceans and Climate. The Geological Ocean. The Biological Ocean. A Once-Bountiful Sea -- Waves of the Future. Frontiers of Ocean Science. Looking Back to Look Ahead / Sylvia A. Earle |
| Summary |
"Approaching this vast and multifaceted subject with profound passion and a refreshing approach, ocean scientist and diver Ellen Prager, along with internationally renowned underwater explorer Sylvia Earle, crafts a comprehensive and understandable survey of the ocean's past, present, and future. Leading readers on a fantastic undersea voyage spanning 4.5 billion years of natural history - from the Precambrian through the present - The Oceans reveals the nature and science of everything from waves, tides and sea level change, to hurricanes, El Nino, and global warming, along with marine sediments, plate tectonics, and the astonishing myriad of life that populates the ocean. In a discussion of the very latest discoveries in marine science - a field that combines oceanography, biology, geology, chemistry, physics, meteorology, and trailblazing underwater exploration - we are led into the interworkings of the sea and the increasingly complex relationship between humans and the ocean."--BOOK JACKET |
| Notes |
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-305) and index |
| Subject |
Ocean.
|
|
Oceanography.
|
|
Marine biology.
|
| Author |
Earle, Sylvia A., 1935-
|
| LC no. |
00021141 |
| ISBN |
0071352538 acid-free paper |
|
