Oceanography & Marine Biology

The emphasis is on basic principles that help us to understand the processes that shape life in marine environments. This topic introduces marine organisms and the physical and biological processes that affect them. Initially it begins with an investigation into the geologic processes behind the formation of ocean basins, the causes and maintenance of currents and ocean circulation, and the physical factors influencing primary productivity in marine environments.

Afterwards transits it into an exploration of various marine organisms, as well as the physiological adaptations these organisms must the marine environment. Overall, the prominence is on the physical factors behind the emergence and preservation of marine ecosystems, and the complex biological interactions between them.

Physical oceanographers hire a wide variation of scientific skills and approaches, from the most vivid to the most conceptual, to explain oceanic motions whereas, theoreticians and modelers explains the observed flow and the formation of temperature and salinity distributions in the ocean. This work can involve the construction of the simplest mathematical models as a means of clarifying some new, unexpected process.

The ocean as a dynamic fluid is studied at a broad range of spatial scales, from the centimetre scales admissible to turbulent microstructure through the many thousand kilometre scales of the ocean gyres and global overturning circulation. Approaches include theory, direct observation, and computer simulation. Our research frequently takes place in the context of important multidisciplinary concern including the dynamics and predictability of global climate and the sustainability of human use in coastal and estuarine regions.

For centuries, naturalists also thought that the oldest rocks on Earth were on the ocean floors. They believed that the present-day ocean basins formed at the very beginning of the Earth's history and throughout time they had slowly been filling by a constant rain of sediment from the lands. Data gathered since the 1930's have enabled scientists to view the seafloor as relatively youthful and geologically dynamic, with mountains, canyons, and other topographic forms like those found on land.

The seafloor is no more than 200 million years old a young part of the globe's crust compared to the continents which may contain rocks nearly 20 times that age. Marine geological studies were of extreme importance in providing the analytical evidence for sea floor spreading and plate tectonics during World War II. The ocean floor is the last essentially unknown frontier and the detailed portraying in support of both military objectives and economic objectives which drives the research.

Marine engineering is the discipline of applying engineering sciences, and can include various field as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering, and computer science, to the development, design, operation and maintenance of watercraft impulse and also on-board systems and oceanographic technology, not limited to just power and propulsion plants, machinery, piping, automation and control systems etc. Marine engineers are responsible for machinery and the systems of ships.

The main objective of Marine Science Conferences is to aggregate the eminent scientists, researchers and academicians from every field of  Oceanography, Marine sciences, Marine biology  and specified related areas to build a platform for the consultation and strong exchange of the shared ideas and the recent advancement and technologies towards marine oceanography.

Marine ecology is a part of Biological Oceanology which includes surveillance at cellular, biochemical, community and individual levels as well as it analyses the marine ecosystems and the biosphere as well. The Marine Ecosystem is uninterrupted and it is the system where there is absence of abiotic zones. Marine ecology is an interactive branch of ecology that deals with the structural as well as functional relationships within the marine organisms with their respective physiochemical surroundings, the ecological system is being distributed by human due to the continuous and inexhaustible interference.

Since our existence, we have depended upon the ocean for food, waste dumping etc. due to the involvement today the marine ecology has come to an endangered state killing thousands of species and their habitats. Scientists also revealed that due to increasing carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere result in greater absorption of carbon dioxide in oceans creating acidification to the ocean chemistry because of which the marine ecology is being hampered.

Chemical oceanography involves the processes that takes place on a wide range of spatial scales, from global to regional to local to microscopic dimensions, and the temporal scales, from geological epochs to glacial-interglacial to millennial, decadal, interannual, seasonal, diurnal and all the way to microsecond time scales. The field is very much an interdisciplinary field by its own nature.

Marine Biogeochemistry is committed for the understanding of biogeochemical operation in marine systems, including the marine boundary layer. The main objective is to publish innovative insights into all aspects of marine biogeochemistry in both the open ocean and shelf seas. Marine Biogeochemistry focuses on the ocean's role in the biogeochemical cycling of chosen elements and the influence of humans on the cycling of these elements.

A prime example is carbon, the key element for life on Earth, and the planet-encompassing carbon cycle. Photosynthetic plants on land and sea take carbon dioxide (a form of inorganic carbon) from the atmosphere and convert it into the organic forms of carbon they need to live and grow. Animals that consume the plants absorbs the organic carbon into their own bodies. Such knowledge enhances our ability to find ways to adapt to climate change and its impacts, enhance agriculture and food production, manage fisheries, mitigate pollution, develop alternative and renewable energy, prevent diseases and create new drugs, and spur innovations that can drive economic prosperity and improve our quality of life.

The Coastal Oceanography Group targets on the regional place-based research along the north coast zone of California, taking advantage of the unique ocean upwelling zone, as well as in relatable regions worldwide. With new as well as continued collaborations with the biologists and modellers, and with multiple funding for this research, the Coastal Oceanography Group has made a major impact on our understanding of coastal processes at both the basic physical oceanography.

Both physical and biological characteristics are involved in Coastal oceanography. Physical coastal oceanography research at BML focuses on ocean land runoff, upwelling, and the inter-relation between coastal firth and the ocean. Coastal oceanography at the land and sea interface is a unique slot in oceanology.

Pollution arises when toxic or poisonous substances enters the sea. In many cases Marine pollution comes from the land itself. Few ships discharges the waste materials directly into the water, deep sea mining, atmospheric pollution are the causes of marine pollution. Marine pollution will cause a lot of loss of the lives of the marine organisms, because of the polluted area the organisms cannot receive the sufficient amount of oxygen and proper and sufficient food and at last they leads to the damage of the complete marine biodiversity and marine ecosystem.

Pollution can differ depending on the context and the purpose for which seawater is being used. Such as normal sea water has some tiny particles of plants or sand in it, and when the sea is considered as habitat of marine animals, one would not think of these particles as a pollutant, whereas one would define toxic chemicals as pollutants. Still, if somebody wanted to use this brine for cooking, they might see the sand and plants as polluting our cooking water. 

Human gave rise to climate change threatens coastal and marine ecosystems through sea-level rise, acidification, and changes in weather patterns and water temperatures. These changes will also seriously alter coastal development, the reliability of ocean shipping, coastal recreation and marine activities such as oil platforms and aquaculture, thus adding economic risks. Oceans and climate are completely associated and oceans plays a significant role in mitigating climate change by serving as a major heat and carbon sink.

As greenhouse gases trap more energy from the sun, the oceans are absorbing more heat, resulting in an increase in sea surface temperatures and rising sea level. Changes in ocean temperatures and currents brought about by climate change will lead to change in climate patterns around the globe.  Interaction between the ocean and atmosphere occurs slowly over months to years, and so does the movement of water within the ocean, including the mixture of deep and shallow waters.

The measurement of the depth regards the instrument or the sea-floor and is fundamental to reference the location of the measurement. The simplest way to measure the depth of the measurement is to mark the wire or rope to which the instrument is attached and measure the length used. The more accurate way is to calculate the water pressure at the instrument level and convert this to a certain depth.

Oceanographic instruments give important data about tides and currents and the water condition characteristics such as chemical composition and salinity. Oceanographic instruments can be also used to forecast the weather conditions, natural calamities like hurricanes, typhoons, and tsunamis and a myriad of marine life. The data collected from these devices can be shared with scientists all over the globe using satellite communication and computer networks.

It is only in recent times that nations have begun to recognize the size, diversity and complexity of the ocean industries and their importance to all. To many people marine equals shipping, which is indeed an important industry as the world fleet carries over 90% of the world trade by tonnage and shipbuilding is a business worth over U.S. $32 billion per annum.

The Conference will provide an overview on the latest trends and achievements in ocean sciences and technologies applied to oceanography and will explore future needs, developments as well as management and governance. The target audience is intended initially for oceanographers, engineers, researchers, academics, industry leaders, conservation organizations, policy and decision makers that have coastal and marine associated responsibilities.

Clathrate hydrates, or Gas Clathrates are crystalline water-based solids physically taking after ice, in which little non-polar particles or polar atoms with considerable hydrophobic moieties are gotten inside "nooks" of hydrogen strengthened, solidified water particles. As it were, clathrate hydrates are clathrate blends in which the host molecule is water and the visitor atoms is customarily a gas or liquid.

The open ocean is an Enormous place. More than 90% of the space on earth is in the open ocean. For better understanding of this huge ecosystem, scientists had divided it into different zones; the epipelagic zone, the mesopelagic zone and the bathypelagic zone. There is a special zone called the hadopelagic that only exists in certain places around the world. Where deep, wide excavation occur in the flat seafloor, the open water that fills them is the hadopelagic zone. 

In open ocean there are many types of creatures including fish, whales, and sharks. Some animals have other ways of moving besides swimming. Such as squid propel themselves throughout the sea with a jet of water and flying fish can glide just above the water surface using fins shaped like wings. In some parts of the open ocean below where light can penetrate, there are fish and other animals such as giant squid. But as there is no sunlight, there are no algae to start food chains.

The function and behaviour of this community will determine how the global ocean responds to broader environmental changes. The marine environment supplies many kinds of habitats that support marine life. Marine life is somehow depended on the saltwater that is present in the sea. A habitat is an environmental or ecological  area inhabited by one or more living species.

Oceans and seas represent a public good for society and, a specific ecosystem - the marine ecosystem. Human activities such as pollutant discharge and fishing, influences the health and marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs. Conversely, human health depends upon the functions, products and services of the marine ecosystem. The study of oceans, seas and human health is in part a social and economic problem because it commits scarce resources to improve social well-being.

Coral reefs are made of huge amounts of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), or limestone, that is deposited by organisms. Of the thousands of species in coral reef communities, only a fraction produce the limestone reef. The most important of these reef building organisms, as you might guess, are corals.

Coral is a general term for several different groups of cnidarians, only some of which help build reefs. In reef-building, or hermatypic, corals the polyps produce calcium carbonate skeletons. Billions of these tiny skeletons form a massive reef. The most important reef builders are a group known as scleractinian corals, sometimes called the stony or “true” corals.

The goal of reproduction for any organism is to pass its hereditary characteristics on to a new generation. There is a nearly endless variety of ways to achieve this. Some species release millions of eggs and sperm into the water, where fertilization occurs, and have no further interaction with their offspring. This is called broadcast spawning. Others issue only a few offspring and invest a lot of time and energy in caring for them. Some species have many different larval stages, whereas others develop directly from egg to adult. Some reproduce asexually, some reproduce sexually, and some do both.

Dispersal is the mean for organisms that depend on being the first to occupy new patches of open space must be good at getting themselves or their offspring from place to place. Most rocky intertidal species disperse via larvae or spores, which settle on the rocks to colonize open space. Another fascinating aspect of the behaviour of marine fishes is Migration, regular mass movements from one place to another once a day, once a year, or once in a lifetime. Schools of parrot fishes and other fishes migrate onshore and offshore to feed. Many open-water fishes migrate several hundred meters up and down the water column every day.

The pelagic environment is the water column itself, away from the bottom or the shore. Pelagic organisms live suspended in their liquid medium. With few oddity, the pelagic lacks the solid physical structure provided either by the bottom and other geological attribute or by large organisms like corals and kelps. There is no place for attachment, no bottom for burrowing, nothing to hide behind.

Like nearly all ecosystems, the pelagic realm is fuelled by solar energy captured in photosynthesis. Epipelagic ecosystems differ from many shallow-water ones in that nearly all the primary production takes place within the epipelagic system itself. Coastal ecosystems often receive large amounts of food from elsewhere. The intertidal zone, for example, gets plankton and drifting seaweeds from offshore, and rivers carry organic material into estuaries.

The benthic region of the ocean initiates from the shore line and extends downward along with the surface of the continental shelf out to the sea. The continental shelf is a mildly inclining benthic region that extends away from the land mass. At the continental shelf edge, it is usually around 200 meters deep, the gradient considerably increases and is known as the continental slope. This continental slope drops down to the deep-sea floor.

As the benthic system controls energy in the aquatic ecosystems, studies have been made of the mechanisms of the benthic zone to a better understanding of the ecosystem. Initial research is being made on benthic assemblages to see whether they can be used as indicators of healthy aquatic ecosystems. Benthic accumulations in urbanized coastal regions are not functionally equivalent to benthic accumulations in untouched regions.

Climate change, fishing, climate change and pollution have left a permanent mark on virtually all the world's oceans, according to a huge study that has mapped the entire human impact on the sea for the first time. Scientists found that almost no areas have been left spotless and that more than 40% of the world's oceans have been heavily affected. Throughout human existence we have depended on the oceans – for food, for recreation, as a waste dump, for economic opportunities and so on.

Oceans around the world are becoming degraded. Evidences displays that human activities, including the enormous fishing around the world, are changing the ocean ecosystems beyond their natural state. According to several scientific studies, fish, shellfish, and other important species are becoming endangered at many places. These alterations are decreasing the ocean’s capacity to provide food, maintain clean water, protect subsistence, and recover from environmental stresses like heavy storms.

Aquaculture implies cultivating of oceanic living beings including fish, mollusks, and amphibian plants. It alludes to breading, raising and gathering in a wide range of water situations. Fisheries allude to demonstration of refined, safeguarding, showcasing, creating and dealing with the amphibian asset. The principle impact of aquaculture on water quality is to expand the suspended substances and the wholesome salts in water.

In Europe, aquaculture represents around 20% of fish creation and specifically utilizes somewhere in the range of 85 000 individuals. The part is fundamentally made from SMEs or small-scale ventures in beach front and country regions. EU aquaculture is eminent for its top notch, supportability and customer assurance measures.

The deep-Sea floor speaks to the biggest living space on earth. It ranges from the edge of the mainland rack at 200m to the base of the sea. At the edge of the mainland rack is the rack break, where the angle of the floor increments down the mainland slant. Underneath the mainland slant lies the mainland rise, which has a more delicately slant. At around 4,000 meters profundity, the sea floor is come to and stretches out finished the sea bowls at profundities of 5,000 meters by and large. This is known as the “abyssal plain’’. The zone between the mainland rack and the deep plain is the bathyal zone. In a few places, the ocean depths drop again into prolonged trenches with profundities of 10 to 11 kilometers. This district is the hadal locale. The sea floor is hindered by mountain chain known as the mid-maritime edge framework. Different highlights on the sea depths are seamounts and aqueous vents.

Genetic investigations have much to offer marine supervisors, particularly in the arrangement of devices empowering unequivocal example recognizable proof and evaluation of stock structure. Biotechnology gives ground-breaking devices to the supportable advancement of marine, aquaculture, fisheries, and the food business. The development of overall marine has been maintained and fast, and the blast of research in genetic biotechnology has had huge effect on Marine Biology.

Fishery is the sort of industry which incorporates getting and offering of fishes for nourishment, pharmaceutical and research. Other than marine water fisheries there are fresh water fisheries too. There are two sorts of waters the fresh and the brackish. The fresh water sources are water system waterways, repositories, lakes, tanks, lakes. The estuaries, tidal ponds and mangrove swamps constitute the brackish sort of water.

Plastic is the most predominant kind of marine refuse found in our ocean and Great Lakes. Plastic refuse can come in all shapes and sizes, however those that are under five millimeters are called "microplastics."

Microplastics can originate from an assortment of sources including bigger plastic pieces that have broken separated, sap pellets utilized for plastic assembling, or as microbeads, which are little, fabricated plastic dots utilized as a part of wellbeing and excellence items, for example, a few chemicals and toothpastes. These little particles effortlessly go through water filtration frameworks and wind up in the sea and Great Lakes, representing a potential risk to oceanic life.