Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean ScienceW. W. Norton & Company, 2000 - 345 páginas The sea covers seven-tenths of the Earth, but we have mapped only a small percentage of it. The sea contains millions of species of animals and plants, but we have identified only a few thousand of them. The sea controls our planet's climate, but we do not really understand how. The sea is still the frontier, and yet it seems so familiar that we sometimes forget how little we know about it. Just as we are poised on the verge of exploiting the sea on an unprecedented scale—mining it, fertilizing it, fishing it out—this book reminds us of how much we have yet to learn. More than that, it chronicles the knowledge explosion that has transformed our view of the sea in just the past few decades, and made it a far more interesting and accessible place. From the Big Bang to that far-off future time, two billion years from now, when our planet will be a waterless rock; from the lush crowds of life at seafloor hot springs to the invisible, jewel-like plants that float at the sea surface; from the restless shifting of the tectonic plates to the majestic sweep of the ocean currents, Kunzig's clear and lyrical prose transports us to the ends of the Earth. Originally published in hardcover as The Restless Sea. "Robert Kunzig is a creator of what oceanographer Harry Hess once referred to as 'geopoetry.' He covers vast tracts of time and space and makes his subjects electrifying."—Richard Ellis, The Times [London] "The Restless Sea immediately surfaces at the top of the list of journalistic treatments of oceanography. . . .The book opened my eyes to numerous wonders."—Richard Strickland, American Scientist "When you head for the coast this summer, leave that trashy beach novel at home. Instead, pack Robert Kunzig's book. Because just beyond your rental cottage lies the restless sea, where three-mile-tall mountain ranges criss-cross the ocean floor, and deep trenches harbor mysterious creatures. . . . The book is easy to read, and will bring you up to date on the startling discoveries oceanographers have made during the past few decades."—Phillip Manning, The News and Observer [Raleigh, North Carolina] ] "Anyone who loves the sea should read this book."—Sebastian Junger |
Índice
Space and the Ocean | 10 |
Sounding the Depths | 28 |
The Rift in the Atlantic | 43 |
A Map of the World | 56 |
The Seafloor at Birth | 70 |
Kingdom of the Holothurians | 86 |
Islands in the Deep | 108 |
Life on a Volcano | 131 |
Greening the Ocean | 200 |
Twilight of the Cod | 235 |
Where the Water Goes | 268 |
The Climate Switch | 293 |
Time and the Ocean | 320 |
Selected References | 326 |
Picture Credits | 332 |
Acknowledgments | 333 |
Otras ediciones - Ver todo
Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science Robert Kunzig Vista previa restringida - 2000 |
Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science Robert Kunzig No hay ninguna vista previa disponible - 2000 |
Términos y frases comunes
abyssal hills abyssal plain Alvin animals Antarctic atmosphere bacteria biologists bloom bottom Broecker carbon dioxide catch century clams climate cold continents core ctenophores currents decades deep deep-sea depth discovered dive dredge drift Earth East Pacific Rise feet fish fishermen fishery float Galápagos geologists Georges Bank Grassle Greenland Gulf Stream Hamner happened Harbison heat Heezen Hensen holothurians hot springs hydrogen ice age ice sheet iron iron fertilization jellies land larvae layer live look Madin magma Martin Mid-Atlantic Ridge mid-ocean ridge miles million molecules mountain Newfoundland North Atlantic ocean floor oceanographers organisms oxygen patch percent phytoplankton planet plankton researchers rift Riftia rock salps seafloor seamounts seawater sediment ship slope sonar sound Southern Ocean species spread Stommel sulphide surface Tharp thermohaline thermohaline circulation things trenches tube worms vent volcanoes vorticity warm Woods Hole Younger Dryas zone
Referencias a este libro
International Law and the Genetic Resources of the Deep Sea David Kenneth Leary No hay ninguna vista previa disponible - 2007 |