The Challenger expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific programme that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, HMS Challenger.
HMS Challenger under sail, 1874
One of the original boxes containing the photographic negatives brought back from the expedition
Track of HMS Challenger from December 1872 until May 1876. The colour contours represent ocean surface density.
HMS Challenger in the Southern Ocean, drawn by crewman Sub-lieutenant Herbert Swire
Oceanography, also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and seabed geology; and fluxes of various chemical substances and physical properties within the ocean and across its boundaries. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers utilize to glean further knowledge of the world ocean, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology and physics. Paleoceanography studies the history of the oceans in the geologic past. An oceanographer is a person who studies many matters concerned with oceans, including marine geology, physics, chemistry, and biology.
HMS Challenger undertook the first global marine research expedition in 1872.
Ocean currents (1911)
Writer and geographer John Francon Williams FRGS commemorative plaque, Clackmannan Cemetery 2019
The Applied Marine Physics Building at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science on Virginia Key, in September 2007