Overview

This book provides an introduction to ocean sciences that is engaging, evocative and accessible to non-experts interested in marine geoscience, while sparking readers' interest in important unsolved mysteries in marine science. The scope of the book is quite broad, but focuses on the physical ocean and its geological evolution, including the author's experiences working as an oceanographer over the last thirty years. Across twelve chapters, the book traces the origins of the ocean from its formation 4 billion years ago, reviews the discoveries of the theory of plate tectonics, the ice ages and the great ocean conveyor, and discusses seafloor features (canyons, seamounts, trenches, abyssal plains, etc.), how they formed and their current environmental issues. The book concludes with a prognosis for the future ocean we might expect with global climate change and other human impacts. This second edition provides updated information throughout, adds two new chapters on coral reefs and submarine canyons, and includes study questions at the end of each chapter.

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9783032215420

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Author Information

Peter Townsend Harris graduated from the University of Washington (Seattle, USA) and completed a PhD at the University of Wales (Swansea, UK). He has worked in marine geoscience for over 40 years and published over 130 scientific books and articles on marine geology, environmental assessments, global seafloor geomorphology and oceanography. He was awarded the SEPM Shepard Medal for Marine Geology in 2018.  He taught marine geology at the University of Sydney and conducted research on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the Fly River Delta (Papua New Guinea). From 1994 to 2014 he was a leader of Australia’s Antarctic geoscience programme and a senior manager with Geoscience Australia. Peter was Managing Director of GRID-Arendal, a UNEP collaborating centre, from 2014 to 2023. He is currently an Adjunct Professor with the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania, Hobart.

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