Today: Maps! Navigation! History! Navigation by Piloting & Dead Reckoning Celestial Navigation Using the North Star to Deter
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Today: maps! navigation! history! Navigation by Piloting & Dead Reckoning Maps: Map projections, types, Piloting , earliest method of navigation, meanings, etc. judging location by landmarks within sight of coastline – Egyptians, 4000 B.C. Navigation: Piloting, dead reckoning, sailing by the stars, finding latitude/longitude, modern navigation Later mariners also used direction and speed of travel to determine approximate History: Brief history of ocean position: Dead Reckoning exploration and study had to rely on visibility, instincts, luck Using the North Star to Celestial Navigation Determine Latitude to Polaris to ("North ("North Star") In 325 B.C., Pytheas (Greek astronomer- 90 °°° geographer), worked out simple method for 60 °°° determining latitude : Here in Noho North Pole the angle is 10 °°° 42 o19’ determine the angle between the horizon and the North Star (Polaris) 0° (equator) altitude of Polaris = latitude relative to the horizon note : can only determine North-South position 1 Sextant – for measuring angles The Longitude Problem Prior to the late 18th century, explorers had problem locating East-West position (longitude) Solution: invention of the chronometer John Harrison (read Dava Sobel’s Longitude ) Need to measure time accurately at sea Earth rotates from West to East (counter- clockwise when looking down on N. Pole) 360 o/24 hours = 15 o/hour record time at noon (Sun at highest point) compare ship time with Greenwich time (how many hours ahead or behind Greenwich time?) History of Oceanography Navigation Today ancient explorers Polynesians 2000 B.C. – 500 B.C. Method Accuracy settled Pacific islands 1. Celestial navigation 2-10 km covering an ocean position of sun, moon, stars area the size of a continent. 2. Radio navigation systems 0.3-1.0 km land-based signals: Omega, Loran C 3. Satellite navigation 0.1-200m GPS - Global Positioning System GPS Used crude but receiver & amazing navigation satellite tools, simple canoes. No written language! 2 History of Oceanography History of Oceanography ancient explorers Viking discoveries Phoenicians Greeks and Romans Erik the Red Viking longship Leif Erikson 1000B.C. - 600 B.C. 450 B.C. – 150 A.D. circa 1000 AD 982 A.D. Oslo, Norway 995 A.D. Explored the Herodotus – mapped Discovered Established Mediterranean Sea the Mediterranean Greenland, Baffin settlement of Island in Canada Vinland, now part Major routes of longship of Newfoundland expeditions Ancient anchor, Sicily Navigated by piloting Pytheas – sailed to England, and celestial bodies Norway, maybe Iceland History of Oceanography History of Oceanography Viking discoveries The “Age of Discovery” Christopher Columbus Vasco Nunez de Balboa 1492 A.D. 1513 A.D. Italian but Spanish and sailed for sailed for Spain Spain “Discovered” Discovered the the Pacific West Indies, Ocean (though founded Santo Polynesians had Domingo been there for thousands of Went to his years) grave thinking he had sailed Columbus statue, Balboa statue - Panama Crossed the to Asia Santo Domingo, DR City, Panama isthmus of Panama 3 History of Oceanography History of Oceanography The “Age of Discovery” early scientific expeditions Ferdinand Magellan Captain James Cook 1519-1522 A.D. 1768, 1772, 1778 A.D. First circumnavigation of the globe Sailed for England, 3 voyages Started out with 5 ships, to the Pacific Ocean about 250 officers and Took a natural scientist on crew board; laid groundwork for Returned with 1 ship, future scientific expeditions grand total of 18 Discovered Australia, New crewmen, Magellan not Zealand, Hawaii among them Killed in Hawaii while Sebastian del Cano attempting to recover a large Captain James Cook statue, completed voyage boat Christchurch, New Zealand History of Oceanography History of Oceanography early scientific expeditions beginnings of modern oceanography Charles Darwin C. Wyville Thomson 1831-1836 on HMS Beagle 1868, 1869 on HMS Porcupine and HMS Lightning 1872-1876 on HMS Challenger Original mission was to First major cruises chart coast of South specific to scientific America ocean research, Conducted commissioned through groundbreaking research British Navy on the biology of the Disproved Forbes’s Galapagos Islands hypothesis that ocean is Led to the theory of lifeless (azoic) below evolution and natural 550 m depth selection Also found deepest Published On the Origin water colder than 4 oC of Species in 1859 Challenger expedition a resounding success 4 History of Oceanography History of Oceanography beginnings of modern oceanography beginnings of modern oceanography Fridtjof Nansen 1893-1897 on R/V Fram Designed research vessel (R/V Fram) to withstand pressure of polar sea ice Deliberately froze the Fram in Arctic ice in an effort to attain North Pole The HMS Challenger, 1872 Confirmed circulation patterns in Arctic Ocean and absence of polar continent Farthest North latitude achieved was 86 o14 ’ History of Oceanography History of Oceanography beginnings of modern oceanography beginnings of modern oceanography The R/V Fram Fridtjof Nansen 5.