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O C E A N E X P L O RAT I O N :
TIMELINE
ImportantEventsinOceanUnderwaterExploration
Forthecompletetimelinewithmediaresources,visit:
http://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/ocean-exploration-timeline/
1800-1900|1900-1950|1950-1975|1975-2012
Year
Event
U.S.CoastSurvey
1807
PresidentThomasJeffersonsignsabillauthorizingthe
UnitedStatesCoastSurvey.
CoralAtollsExplained
1842
CharlesDarwinpublishesapapersuggestingthatcoral
atollsarethefinalstageinthesubsidenceanderosionof
volcanicislands.
UnderseaCanyons
1857
JamesAldendiscoversthefirstknownsubmarinevalley,
California'sMontereyCanyon.
LifeintheDeepSea
CharlesWyvilleThomson,dredgingfromtheH.M.S
1868
Lightning,findssealifeat4,389meters(14,400feet),
shatteringprevioustheoriesthattheseawaslifelessbelow
549meters(1,800feet).
EarlyMarineSurveyoftheAmericas
1872
NaturalistLouisAgassizsteamsfromtheU.S.EastCoastto
itsWestCoastaroundSouthAmerica,collectingsome
30,000marinespecimens.
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Year
Event
MarineResearchandOceanography
1872-76
H.M.S.Challengercirclestheglobeconductingreseachfor
theRoyalSocietyofLondon,layingthegroundworkfor
modernoceanography.
TheFirstOceanographicResearchVessel
TheU.S.FisheriesCommissionsteamerAlbatrossbegins
1882
operations\u2014thefirstshipbuilttoserveasan
oceanographicresearchvessel.
MarineSurveyoftheSouthPacific
1899-1905
AlexanderAgassizmakeslongresearchvoyagestothe
SouthPacific,collectingdataandspecimensfromremote
oceanregions.
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Year
Event
TheSinkingoftheTitanic
1912
TheTitanicsinksafterhittinganiceberg,killing1,500
people.Thetragedyledtoeffortstodevelopanacoustic
devicetofindobjectsaheadofavessel.
FirstAcousticExplorationoftheSeas
1914
ReginaldFessendenusesanoscillatortobounceasignal
simultaneouslyoffanicebergandtheseafloor\u2014first
acousticexplorationoftheseas.
StudyingtheMid-AtlanticRidge
1925
TheGermanMeteorexpeditionsurveystheSouthAtlantic
withechosounders,provingthecontinuityoftheMidAtlanticRidge.
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Year
Event
TheBathysphere
WilliamBeebeisloweredinatetheredbathysphereto923
1934
meters(3,028feet).HeandpartnerOtisBartonpioneered
mannedexplorationoftheocean.
TheCreationoftheAqua-Lung
JacquesCousteauand\u00c9mileGagnanmodifyademand
1943
breathingregulatortoengineertheAquaLung\u2014foreverchangingthecourseofhuman
interactionwiththesea.
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Year
Event
AnUntetheredSubmersibleDive
TheFrenchresearchsubmersibleFNRS-3descendsto4,041
1954
meters(13,257feet)offthecoastofWestAfrica,pilotedby
GeorgesHouotandPierreWillm,inauguratinguseof
manned,untethered,researchsubmersibles.
DiscoveryofMagneticStripingonOceanFloor
TheU.S.CoastandGeodeticSurveyshipPioneer,inajoint
projectwiththeU.S.NavyandtheScrippsInstitutionof
1955
Oceanography,towsthefirstmarinemagnetometerand
findsmagneticstripingontheseafloorofftheWestCoast.
Thediscoveryaddsakeyelementtothetheoryofplate
tectonics.
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Year
Event
TheTriesteExplorestheMarianaTrench
ThebathyscapheTriestedivestowhatwasbelievedtobe
thedeepestpointintheMarianaTrench,recordingadepth
1960
of10,912meters(35,800feet).Exploringthesameareain
1998,aJapaneseresearchvesselmeasuredadepthof
10,938meters(35,886feet).
DevelopmentoftheDeepTowSystem
TheScrippsInstitutionofOceanographybegins
1961
developmentoftheDeepTowSystem,theforerunnerofall
remotelyoperatedunmannedoceanographicsystems.
SubmersibleDeepDives
TheDeepSubmergenceVehicleAlvinisconstructedbythe
WoodsHoleOceanographicInstitute.Alvinwasthefirst
1964
U.S.-baseddeep-divingsubmersible,andhasnowmade
over4,400descentsandledtonumerousoceanfloor
discoveries.
AnUnderwaterLab
1965
SealabII,anunderwaterhabitat,isloweredoffthecoastof
California.
SylviaEarleLeadsWomenAquanauts
SylviaEarleleadsthefirstteamofwomenaquanautsduring
1970
theTektiteProjectandsetsarecordforsolodivingtoa
depthof1,000meters.
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Year
Event
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Year
Event
RobertBallard'sDiscoveryofHydrothermalVents
Hydrothermalventsarediscovered,alongwithan
1977
ecosystemthatsurviveswithouttheenergyofthesun,bya
teamledbyRobertBallard.Theseecosystemsrelyonbiota
absorbingchemicalenergyfromtheventingmaterialsina
processcalledchemosynthesis.
TheDiscoveryoftheSunkenTitanic
1985
AresearchteamleadbyRobertBallarddiscoverstheTitanic
morethan3,810meters(12,500feet)down,themost
famousshipwreckinmodernhistory.
CreatingSeaSurfaceMaps
1992
TOPEX/Poseidonsatellitebeginsmappingthesurfaceofthe
sea.
CreatingSeafloorMaps
1995
DeclassificationofGEOSATradaraltimetrydatafromaU.S.
NavyEarthobservationsatelliteleadstoworldwidemapping
oftheseafloor.
CatalogingtheBiodiversityoftheOcean
2010
ThefirsteverCensusofMarineLifecatalogsthediversity,
abundance,anddistributionofmarinespeciescollectedin
anonlinedatabase.
FirstSuccessfulSoloDivetotheMarianaTrench
NationalGeographicExplorer-in-ResidenceJamesCameron
successfullytravelstothebottomofthedeepestknown
pointintheocean,ChallengerDeep,intheMarianaTrench
2012
ontheDEEPSEACHALLENGEexpedition.DEEPSEA
CHALLENGEisajointscientificprojectbyJamesCameron,
theNationalGeographicSociety,andRolex.Thisisthefirst
timesomeonehastraveledtothisdepthsince1960,when
theTriestemadeitsdescent,andthefirsttimeithasever
beendoneasasolomission.
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