oceanography
(əʊʃɪəˈnɒgrəfɪ)
[A mod. formation (Ger. oceanographie), f. Gr. ὠκεανός ocean, on the pattern of geography, hydrography, etc. (Océanographie was used in Fr. in 1584 (Godefroy Compl.), but did not then survive.)]
The science dealing with the physical and biological properties and phenomena of the ocean. Cf. oceanology.
| 1859 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (rev. ed.) xx. 330 ‘Text-book of Oceanography for the Use of the Imperial Naval Academy’, by Dr. August Jilek, Vienna, 1857. 1883 Dittmar in Proc. Philos. Soc. Glasgow XVI. 56 An interesting German book on Oceanography, which has lately come out. 1884 Athenæum 23 Aug. 242/3 Prof. Dittmar contrives to discuss incidentally a number of questions of the deepest interest in connexion with oceanography. 1900 Dublin Rev. Jan. 158 Oceanography dates only from the commencement of the Challenger investigations. 1931 H. B. Bigelow Oceanogr. i. 8 The other [factor] is the growth of an economic demand that oceanography afford practical assistance to the sea fisheries. 1955 Sci. News Let. 27 Aug. 142/1 Explorers of the ocean depths have been turning up so many new peaks, ridges, basins, sea⁓mounts and other underwater landmarks that naming them all has become a major problem in the flourishing science of oceanography. 1970 D. A. Ross Introd. Oceanogr. i. 3 Most oceanographers have divided oceanography into four main parts: (1) chemical oceanography; (2) biological oceanography; (3) physical oceanography; and (4) marine geology and geophysics. 1977 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Nov. 1348/3 The only basic research programmes in which he was closely involved were..for high-energy physics, materials research and oceanography. |