Fig.1 Flow of Ocean Knowledge |
A recent article in the Atlantic Magazine asserted that The Oceans We Knew Are Already Gone (review here).
In other words, the relevant data on the oceans 'that once were' is extinct because the oceans are not now what they were in recorded history.
What I mean by "recorded history" is the research measurements stored in various public databases (e.g. WOD, SOCCOM, WHOI, PSMSL, and OMG) which waxes and wanes depending on cultural events such as wars (e.g. see Fig. 1 where WW I and WW II made valleys in the amount of ocean information gathering going on, then the peaks returned ... anyone know what happened to make the circa 2000 valley?).
But like the series Antarctica 2.0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 [& supplements A, B, C, D, E, F], 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, the oceans we didn't know (weren't seriously measuring) are already gone too.
Fig. 2 Ups and Downs |
The mental and physical 'picture' we get of the oceans is made from a list of information ranging from "fantasy" to "feeble", but more recently it is "interesting but incomplete".
Current information about the oceans is presented by surface photos and graphics that use colors to depict where the action is, and when measurements are taken below the surface they are usually at less than half of the average depths of the world's oceans.
These mainstream media methods are not really designed to present or develop a deep understanding of our oceans.
Fig. 3 Side to Side |
This method shows how a very different picture of the ocean emerges in terms of both mental and physical 'pictures' we have of the oceans (cf. Appendices Oceans by Area, Oceans by Latitude, and Oceans by Longitude).
In addition to the excellent WOD zone maps (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3), the WOD manual (PDF) separates the various Ocean Areas according to the graphic at Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 WOD Ocean Areas |
The incredible differences in temperatures at various depths is shown to vary tremendously depending on which graphs are viewed in the appendices.
This is primarily the result of the miscellaneous mixtures of data representing miscellaneous mixtures of types of ocean water depth, width, salinity, marine life, and distance from the shore lines.
For example the horizontal measurements (Fig. 3) come from different geographic regions compared to measurements the vertical geographic regions come from (Fig. 2).
Likewise, the square and rectangular shapes of the WOD Ocean Areas (Fig. 4) contain different combinations of WOD Zones.
The gist of it is that Oceans 1.0 and Oceans 2.0 vary for a lot of reasons that are natural, and also for a lot of reasons that are not natural (human pollution).
The main carrier of heat pollution is infrared photons which work their way down into the ocean depths of the majority of WOD Zones (The Photon Current, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
Stay tuned in.
The next post in this series is here.