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Humaira Batool Kayani
December 2023
Introduction
The ocean is 70% of our Earth and holds about 97% of Earth’s water, an incredible volume of 321 million cubic miles. Life on Earth would not be possible without the ocean, covering our earth so much that it appears blue from outer space. The Earth formed an estimated 4.6 billion years ago and the rocks within the newly formed Earth provided the water for the oceans. Water vapor and other gasses were released from the cooling molten rocks, later condensing and covering the crust with the Ocean. New water is still produced from the depths of the ocean till this day. Oceanographers have separated it into 5 fundamental areas, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Oceans.
Importance
The ocean has the power to affect the climate and weather - evaporation, condensation, all in the process of the water cycle. The ocean is the source of much of the heat in the atmosphere; the ocean receives its warmth from the sun, which is subsequently transported to the atmosphere and dispersed across the globe. Global temperatures are balanced with the help of the ocean, retaining heat during the hot summers and releasing it during the cold winters. All in all, Earth’s climate would be chaos without the ocean.
Other than that, it houses millions of Earth’s plants and animals from microscopic single-celled creatures to the enormous blue whale, which is the biggest organism on the planet. Phytoplankton are primarily tiny organisms (visible only when billions of them become combined to form algal blooms, showing up in the ocean as green or blue splotches) that float at the top layer of the ocean and produce roughly half of the world's oxygen through photosynthesis, are essential to marine life.
Discoveries
Since light cannot reach depths of more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet), it was once believed that life could not exist in the deepest parts of the ocean. Of course, it was debunked when hydrothermal vents were discovered. These chimney-like structures allow organisms to survive not through photosynthesis, but via chemosynthesis, the process by which microorganisms turn substances emitted by the vents into energy.
The ocean remains a mystery despite its regular discoveries. Over 80% of the ocean is uncharted and unexplored, which maintains the mystery of how many species are yet to be known.
Here are other discoveries made this year (links of articles stated at the end):
November 1, 2023 (Milwaukee Independent)
The first in-depth look at three World War II aircraft carriers that sank during the decisive Battle of Midway has been provided by footage captured deep inside the Pacific Ocean, and it may hold the key to unlocking the mysteries surrounding the days-long bombardment that signaled the transfer of power from Japanese to American forces in the Pacific theater. In September, intensive archeological studies of the U.S.S. Yorktown and two of the four Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers sunk during the June 1942 fight, the Akagi and the Kaga, were carried out by remote submersibles operating three miles below the surface.
October 20, 2023 (The Cool Down)
Unsettling information about the ocean floor is revealed by a study - ‘This is the first time we’ve been able to dive deeper’. Although it is well known that marine heat waves have been warming our seas and upsetting marine ecosystems, further research has successfully expanded our knowledge of this phenomenon. Although surface-level research on marine heat waves has been conducted for over ten years, this is the first very first chance to investigate the effects of the waves on deeper seas.
October 11, 2023 (Live Science)
Beneath the Pacific Floor lies a sea’s worth of water locked away, engulfed by the Earth’s crust. Porous rock generated during one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded, absorbed so much water as it degraded, it formed a massive reservoir that is now deeply buried in the crust of the Earth.
May 25, 2023 (The Guardian)
More than 5,000 new species have been discovered dwelling on the bottom in an unexplored region of the Pacific Ocean that has been highlighted as a potential hotspot for deep-sea mining that was revealed by an assessment of environmental studies conducted in the area.
References
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