Oceanography (or Marine Science), is the branch of Earth Sciences that studies the Earth’s oceans and seas.

The study of Oceanography covers a wide range of topics, including; Tides; Currents; Waves; Temperature; Plate Tectonics; the Geology of the Sea Floor and Salinity (or Chemical Properties of the ocean).

Salt Water covers over 70% of our planet’s surface. Organisms inhabit our Oceans from the surface, all the way to the deepest parts of the ocean floor. More than 60% of the earth’s surface is covered with water deeper than 1000m. But people know less about the depths of the ocean than the surface of the moon.

We are interested in the fundamental forces driving our oceans like temperature, salinity, climate and geography. Which factors cause currents? What is the ‘El Nino’ effect?

Our oceans are vital to life on Earth. 97% of all the water on Earth, and 99% of the habitable space on this planet, is in the ocean.

The atmosphere we breathe, and which controls the weather and climate, is intimately connected to the oceans. Half of all the oxygen produced by plants is produced in the ocean, and the oceans are also responsible for absorbing 50% of the carbon dioxide humans have released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels for energy.

Phytoplankton (commonly known as algae) are the building blocks of ocean life. It is their ability to convert sunlight into organic matter (the process of photosynthesis) that makes them so important.