The sea is the most obvious feature of the earth's surface.

Approximate ly seventy percent of this surface is covered by water, in one way or another. Beneath this water are the familiar sands of the beaches, bottoms of bays, and t he inshore ocean. Farther offshore this water covers an amazing submarine topog raphy of underwater canyons, trenches, mountains, and plains. Unlike the contine nts, which are physically separated from one another, the oceans are continuous and interconnected. Since the "world ocean is continuous"(M.J. Keen) it has sim ilar characteristics throughout. In the early 1870s oceanographers collected se awater samples from all of the seas of the world at a variety of depths. When an alyzed, the samples were found to have quite similar characteristics. These fin dings convinced many that a method of study was needed. The study of oceans was named oceanography. Density, salinity, and temperature are very important concepts in the st udy of oceanography. The salinity and temperature of the water influence its de nsity, and the differences in density are the major factor in understanding the formation of currents and the positions of water masses in the sea. In addition , temperature and salinity play major roles in influencing the distribution of p lants and animals. The sediments of the sea floor may be divided into lithogenous, hydrogen ous, biogenous, and cosmogenous sediments. Lithogenous sediments are the major sediments on the ocean floor. They are derived from the chemical and mechanical weathering of rocks. Biogenous sediments are composed primarily of the protect ive outter covering of small marine animals and plants. If these remains compri se at least thirty percent of the sediment it is called an "ooze". "Oozes" were named for the types of organisms that formed them. Hydrogenous sediments form as a result of the chemical reactions that occur in the seawater. These reactio ns result in the formation of small particles, which are deposited on the sea fl oor. Currents move these particles and cause them to collide with the other par ticles. If many of these collisions occur they may form nodules. Nodules are f ound on some portions of the deep-sea floor. The sediment type frequently deter mines the type of organisms that will be found in that specific area. "Waves are variable and transitory features of the sea's surface." (Sand ra Smith) All waves, from the smallest ripple to the most destructive tsunami, have common characteristics. They all have crests, troughs, wave heights, lengt hs, and periods. Also, water particles that make up the waves all move in ident ical orbital patterns. The orbital pattern is up and forward in the crest and d own and back in the trough. It is only when the wave becomes unstable that the orbital motion is destroyed. The water particles then begin to move at the same speed as the moving wave form. Breaking waves release a tremendous amount of stored energy on a beach f ace. This energy moves the sand about and changes the configuration of the bott om. As the bottom configuration is changed by the waves, it changes the charact eristics of incoming waves. This interaction between the waves and the bottom r esults in the beach face having an everlasting wave pattern. Everything in the universe is composed of extremely small paritcles call ed atoms, which are often bonded together to form molecules. Molecules are form ed as the result fo the transfer of electrons between atoms. The complete loss and gain of electrons results in the formation of ionic molecules, which have co mpletely positive and negative vegions. Unequal sharing of electrons, on the ot her hand, characterizes the polar covalent molecules, which have only partially positive and negative regions. The equal sharing of electrons result in the for mation of nonpolar covalent molecules, which do not develop charged regions. Due to the development of charges on ionic and polar molecules, intermol ecular attractive forces form between these molecules, intermolecular attractive forces form between these molecules and enable the compounds to exist in the so lid and liquid state. Ionic compounds have long-range order and exist as solids . Polar covalent molecules are liquids because of their short-range order, whil e the nonpolar gases do not develop intermolecular attractions and as a result e

xibit no order. Changes in state are due to a change in the order of compounds. When en ergy is added, molecular motion increases and intermolecular attractive forces a re disrupted. This results in the melting of solidsand the evaporation of liqui ds. When energy is removed, the molecular motion is decreased, which increases the formation of intermolecular attractive forces. This allows vapors to conden se as liquids to freeze. The physical and chemical components of water interact with and affect t he plant and animal life in the sea. The plants, animals, and bacteria that inh abit a given marine area continually react with, change, and are changed by the total biotic and abiotic environment. Light plays a vital role in the sea, sinc e the producers require sunlight as the energy source to convert the low-energy simple plant nutrients into the more complex high-energy molecules that can be u sed by the consumers. The dominant plants of the sea are the microscopic phytop lankton, while copepods. The copepods are important, since they provide the maj or link in the transfer of energy from the phytoplankton to the large animals of the sea. Density exerts profound effects on both the biotic and abiotic component s of the sea. Many marine forms, both animal and plant, have developed unique l ife-styles of seawater. In addition, density barriers are formed in the sea in response to temperature and salinity differences between water masses. In many cases these density barriers trap nutrients below the euphotic zone and make the m spatially unavailable to the plants in these areas. This is the case in the t ropical seas, as well as in all of the world's deep oceans, where the density ba rriers are permanent. Plant nutrients tend to cycle throughout marine systems, from their simp le, low-energy, dissolved forms to plants, animals, and then to bacteria. When considering the cycling of nutrients through any system, it is important to reme mber that metter and energy are inter-changeable. Cycles that encompass both th e biotic and abiotic components of a system are called biogeochemical cycles. Biochemical cycles involve the transfer of the essential, minor, and tra ce elements from the abiotic to the biotic components of a system. The transfer of food is extremely important in marine life. The transfe r of food energy may be depicted by food chains and food webs. Food chains can be and generally are unstable, since the loss of a single link can have drastic effects on the remainder of the chain. Food webs are more stable, since a varie ty of alternate food sources exist at each trophic level. Wind-drift currents are formed by wind moving across the surface of the sea and setting water in motion. Winds are formed by the warning and cooling a ffects the density of the air, causing it to move into adjacent air masses. Onc e in motion, both air and water masses are influenced by the rotation of the ear th. This causes the water masses to appear to deflect to their right in the Nor thern Hemisphere and to their left in the Southern Hemisphere. As a result, the major wind currents appear to travel in large figure eights from the equator no rthward and southward. Density currents involve a large percent of the sea's volume. Since the se currents are the result of temperature and salinity differentials that develo p between adjacent water masses, they are often called thermohaline currents. The thermohaline circulation travels through the subsurface waters of al l of the world's oceans. These currents carry oxygen to the a ysphotic zone, wh ere because of the absence of light, photosynthesis can not occur. They also re move large amounts of nutrients from the euphotic zone and transport them for gr eat distances throughout the deep ocean. The current patterns in estuaries are also generally formed in response to density differentials. Depending on the amount of marine and fresh water tha t enters these systems, estuaries may be highly or moderately stratified, verti cally homogeneous, or hepersaline. The resultant salinity variations in these a reas has a direct influence on the biotic distributions in estuaries. Shorelines are the point of contact between the marine and terrestrial e nvironments and, as such, are flooded at high tide and exposed at low tide. The

y are only a part of the coastline or coastal zone, inland and for hundreds of m iles along a shoreline. Shorelines are constantly changing. Coastal sediments are continually attacked and reworked by the sea. Wav es move these sediments into the surf zone, where they are picked up and transpo rted by the the long-shore current. Those sediments are sorted by this currenta nd eventually deposited to form such major coastal features as barrier islands and sand splits. Inlets form, migrate, close, and reform along barrier beaches. A combination of inlet fromation, closure, and the overwash of a barrier beach during storms causes the barrier island to migrate towards land. Estuaries are also major coastal features. They form in a variety of wa ys. They may form behind a barrier island, sand spit, sea island, or other such feature or be formed by the tectonic movements of isostatic adjustments of the earth's crust. Others are formed directly by glacial activity. Estuaries are c alled a variety of names, including bays, sounds, and lagoons. These are the mo st common, but regardless they are all semi-enclosed bodies of water with one or more free connections with the sea. The construction of groins, jetties and breakwaters is often harmful and tend to cause of increase erosion. All coastlines are extremely dynamic areas that are interrelated by the longshore currnet. Although these areas must be tr eated as units, since what occurs along the way will be reflected by beach condi tions down the current. The coastal zone provides an unrivaled opportunity to observe ecological relationships. The sea, offshore the inner neritic zone, is remarkable in its constancy. In any given area, the salinity and temperature are virtually invari able. Pressure is constant, but no other environment are the organisms sujected to such tremendous pressures. The vast majority of the palagic and benthic realms are in perpetual dar kness, and effective photosynthesis does not occur. All the organisms of the op en ocean are then dependent on the small portion of the sea that is in the eupho tic zone. As a consequence, the animal life is sparce, and different food chain s develop. In the deep ocean much of the initial energy is thought to be provid ed by the bacteria, which like the phytoplankton of the euphotic zone, serves as a food source for the grazers. The second law of thermodynamics, in conjunction with the small area tha t is actuall inhabited by the producers, shows the fallacy of relying on the sea as a food supply. It this becomes a reality due to over-population, it will be necessary to feed at a trophic level much closer to the energy source. Coral reefs are one of the most beautiful and exciting phenomena in the oceans. The coral reef is a biological community consisting of the coral itself and a variey of small animals and plants, of which algae is as abundant as the coral. The framework, or base, of the reef is formed by the skeleton of dead co ral animals, with the living corals and algae at the top of the reef. As the ki nds of reef that grow at sea level have to be solid enough to withstand the batt ering of the waves, framework must be strong. Many fish and other animals and p lants live on or in reefs, and all this life forms a rich, varied and colorful c ommunity. Coral reefs occur in warm, tropical oceans where the temperature is high er than sixty-eight degrees farenhiet. They need sunlight in order to grow, so they only grow in clear shallow water down to depths of not much more than a hundred feet. Reefs also n eed a good circulation of sea water to bring them oxygen and food, so strong wav e action is beneficial to them. Coral is an animal which reproduces very quickly by splitting, to form c olonies of coral. Each animal has a chalky skeleton which is joined to neighbor ing skeletons, forming the strong framework of the reef. In some coral colonies , such as brain coral, it is impossible to see each individual animal; but in ot her colonies, the skeleton of each animal can be seen. Coral feed on zooplankton. However, the microscopic plants that live wi thin the coral also supply it with food and reef-building materials. The plant in return seemed to benefit from the coral, gaining shelter and food materials f

rom it. There are three main types of coral reefs: the fringing reef, the barrie r reef, and the atoll. Conditions on reefs vary from the breaking surf of the s ea edge to the quieter lagoon. The fringing reef grows out from an island, or ot her land form, but is still attached to it. An example of fringing reefs are th e reefs bordering the Florida Keys. A barrier reef is separated from the island or mainland, and may be a few miles distant. The Great Barrier reef is over a thousand miles long, forming an off-shore break-water for the east coast of Aust ralia. An atoll is a circular surrounding a lagoon, often not associated with a ny obvious land. Atolls occur mainly in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, rising a bruptly from the deep seas. A few centuries ago scientist were puzzled to find coral atolls in the d eep oceans with no land visible because they knew that the corals could only gro w in shallow. The naturalist Charles Darwin during his voyage on HMS Begal from 1831 to 1836, examined the number of atolls and put forth a theory for their fo rmation. He suggested that a volcanic or seamount provided a shallow water base for the growth of the fringing reef. This island would be eroded by the waves and would sink slowly under its own weight. To remain in shallow water, the cor als of the reef would grow upward as the island sank until the reef became separ ated from the island by a donut-shaped lagoon, forming a kind of barrier reef. Further sinking of the island below the sea surface would leave only the reef as an atoll, the island being no longer visible. Darwin's theory was not proven correct until 1952, when holes were drill ed into Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. After drilling through almost a mi le of coral, the scientist reached the old volcano. It had been sinking for som e 60 million years and all this time the coral had been growing upward keeping p ace with the sinking island. The reproduction of coral is very interesting. During the reproduction s tage of the coral, the animal itself is stationed. First and foremost, the part of the coral that is actually doing the reproducting is called the polyp. Poly ps reproduce in two different ways. One is by eggs, and the other is by a proce ss called budding. When the egg is fertilezed by sperm, the egg develops into a tiny larcal organism called a planulae. The planulae settles on the ocean bott om. The planule lands on whatever the currents allow it to. It will most likely end up on a rock, or on another coral. Eventually the planulae develops into a polyp. Each polyp builds a limestone skeleton which is attached to the surfa ce of which the poyp has landed on, which can be either a rock or another coral. After the coral establishes itself, the upper part of the body becomes dome-sh apes and develops a stomach and a mouth. Tentacles form around the mouth. The tentacles are used to draw food in from the surrounding waters of the oceans. the tentacles of teh coral are arme d with special stinging structures. Those special stinging structures are calle d nematosysts. The tentacle's nematocysts paralyzes th etiny prey that the cora l eats. The coral's major food are small marine organisms. In recent years, outbreaks of cholera, typhoid, and viral hepatitis in L atin America, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia have all been traced to conta minated seafood. It is because of the discharge of sewage and polution directly into coastal waters. Industrial wastes have been dumped in the oceans of our w orld. They contain a mixture of chemicals, such lubricating oils, zinc, copper, bleaching agents, and strong acids & alkalis. These chemicals are extremely to xic to marine organisms. There is strong need for international action to control marine contamin ation and pollution. Pollution is now the subject of numerous regional and inte rnational agreements. Conventions regulating the discarge of oil from ships, an d the development of emergency response systems to oil pollution accidents have contributed to the decline of ship-based souces of oil pollution over the last t wo decades. The moratorium on dumping of radioactive waste at sea under the Lon don Dumping Convention also represents another response to concerns about the ri sks posed by such diposal. Some regions have concluded agreement which ban dump ing of any radioactive waste at sea. In the Mediterranean and Red Sea, all disc

harge of oily wasted from ships is also banned. The differences between terrestial regions are well known. Less well kn own are the features that distingush the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean, or the coast of South America from those of Southern Africa. Regardless of this, the various regions of the world's oceans are all affected by human activity, with p ollution and harvesting of resouces of resouces being common to all seas and oce ans. The various marine resources, as well as the extent of human impacts on th em, are examined region by region, illustrating hos stresses on the marine envir onmet treatened the very resistance of some habitats and species.