- STAFF PICKS
- GIFTS + GIFT CARDS
- SELL BOOKS
- FIND A STORE
Ships in 1 to 3 days
available for shipping or prepaid pickup only
Available for In-store Pickup
in 7 to 12 days
Introductory Oceanography 10TH Editionby Harold V Thurman
To the Student
Welcome! You're about to embark on a journey that is far from ordinary. Over the course of this term, you will discover the central role the oceans play in the vast global system of which you are a part.
The book's content was carefully developed to provide a foundation in science by examining the vast body of oceanic knowledge. This knowledge includes information from a variety of scientific disciplines—geology, chemistry, physics, and biology—as they relate to the oceans. However, no formal background in any of these disciplines is required to master the subject matter contained within this book. Our desire is to have you take away from your oceanography course much more than just a collection of facts. Instead, we want you to develop a fundamental understanding of how the oceans work.
Taken as a whole, the components of the ocean—its sea floor, chemical constituents, physical components, and life forms—comprise one of Earth's largest interacting, interrelated, and interdependent systems. Because humans are beginning to impact Earth systems, it is important to understand not only how the oceans operate, but also how the oceans interact with Earth's other systems (such as its atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere) as part of a larger picture. Thus, this book uses a systems approach to highlight the interdisciplinary relationship among oceanographic phenomena and how those phenomena affect other Earth systems.
To that end—and to help you make the most of your study time—we focused the presentation in this book by organizing the material around three essential components:
Interwoven within these concepts, processes, and principles are hundreds of photographs, illustrations, real-world examples, and applications that make the material relevant and accessible (and maybe sometimes even entertaining) by bringing the science to life.
Ultimately, it is our hope that by understanding how the oceans work, you will develop a new awareness and appreciation of all aspects of the marine environment and its role in Earth systems. So enjoy and immerse yourself! You're in for an exciting ride.
To the Instructor
The tenth edition of Introductory Oceanography is designed to accompany an introductory college-level course in general or physical oceanography taught to students with no formal background in mathematics or science. Like previous editions, the goal of this edition of the textbook is toy present clearly the relationships of scientific principles toy ocean phenomena in an engaging and meaningful way. This edition, like its predecessors, emphasizes fundamental marine processes and the basic issues of interactions among humans, the ocean, and the atmosphere.
The text has benefited from the addition of a new coauthor, Alan Trujillo. As a result, the writing style has been improved, several sections have been reorganized, and material has been updated and refined throughout the text. You'll also notice many new features, which are detailed in the "What's New in this Edition?" section below. This edition has also benefited from extensive review by knowledgeable reviewers.
The 18-chapter format of this textbook is designed for coverage of the material in a 15- or 16-week semester. For courses taught on a 10-week quarter system, the instructor may need to select those chapters that cover the topic and concepts of primary relevance to their course. The text also contains enough depth of material to be used for a yearlong course of study.
Chapters in the text have been designed to be self-contained and thus can be covered in any order. Following the introductory chapters on the history of oceanography (Chapter 1) and the origin of Earth, the atmosphere, the oceans, and life itself (Chapter 2), the four major academic disciplines of oceanography are represented in the following chapters:
We believe that oceanography is at its best when it links together several scientific disciplines and shows how they are interrelated in the oceans. Therefore, this interdisciplinary approach is a key element of every chapter. In addition, the final two chapters on marine resources and marine environmental concerns illustrate human interaction with the oceans.
What's New in This Edition?
Changes in this edition are designed to increase the readability, relevance, and appeal of this book. The major changes include the following:
Additionally, this edition continues to offer some of the previous edition's most popular features, including the following:
What Our Readers Are Saying
Other books you might like