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Invitation to Oceanography, Eighth Edition introduces students to the key concepts from geology, chemistry, physics, and biology as they relate to ocean environments and processes. This comprehensive text helps students learn how scientists interpret data, taking raw knowledge and transforming it into real understanding. As concepts are explained and described with words and numbers, students can apply their learning using questions at the end of each chapter, including the Review of Basic Concepts, Critical-Thinking Essays, and Discovering with Numbers.
A unique aspect of this edition is the introduction of Complexity Theory. This recent approach in science takes into consideration the cross-scale complexity of Earth's ocean systems, notably the applications of panarchy and stability landscapes to unpack cross-scale (spatial as well as temporal) processes and expected outcomes in the future state of ocean systems. Complexity strategies provide students with tools to understand how people need to adapt to change, as well as to uncover feedback loops, self-organization, and emergence. An understanding of Complexity Theory promotes growth in adaptability, flexibility, and change.
Chapter 1 The Growth of Oceanography
Chapter 2 The Planet Oceanus
Chapter 3 The Origin of Ocean Basins
Chapter 4 Marine Sedimentation
Chapter 5 The Properties of Seawater
Chapter 6 Wind and Ocean Circulation
Chapter 7 Waves in the Ocean
Chapter 8 Tides
Chapter 9 Marine Ecology
Chapter 10 Biological Productivity in the Ocean
Chapter 11 The Dynamic Shoreline
Chapter 12 Coastal Habitats
Chapter 13 Ocean Habitats and Their Biota
Chapter 14 The Ocean's Resources
Chapter 15 The Human Presence in the Ocean
Chapter 16 Global Climate Change and the Oceans
Paul Pinet teaches geology, oceanography, and environmental studies courses at Colgate University, located in central New York State. He earned B.A. and M.S. degrees in geology from the University of New Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts, respectively, and a PhD in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. His research has been focused on the geology of continental margins, coastal bluff erosion, estuarine sedimentation, and more recently on the philosophical dimensions of deep time. At the moment, he is developing long-term (millennia) conservation strategies for barrier islands in response to rising sea level and for mitigating the ongoing extinction event in New England and its ocean. Pinet spent summers during much of his adult life either climbing mountains around the world or cruising on his small, gaff-headed catboat (Taillefer) off the New England coast. Though an oceanographer, Pinet admits that he fears water more than high, avalanche-prone moutains. At the moment, he is working on a book of essays entitled Shadowed by Deep Time.
