timeline

By michael caldon

  • U.S. Coast Survey

    President Thomas Jefferson signs a bill authorizing the United States Coast Survey.

  • Coral Atolls Explained

    Charles Darwin publishes a paper suggesting that coral atolls are the final stage in the subsidence and erosion of volcanic islands.

  • Undersea Canyons

    James Alden discovers the first known submarine valley, California's Monterey Canyon.

  • Life in the Deep Sea

    Charles Wyville Thomson, dredging from the H.M.S Lightning, finds sea life at 4,389 meters

  • Early Marine Survey of the Americas:

    Naturalist Louis Agassiz steams from the U.S. East Coast to its West Coast around South America, collecting some 30,000 marine specimens.

  • Marine Research and Oceanography

    H.M.S. Challenger circles the globe conducting research for the Royal Society of London, laying the groundwork for modern oceanography.

  • The First Oceanographic Research Vessel

    The U.S. Fisheries Commission steamer Albatross begins operations as the first ship built to serve as an oceanographic research vessel.

  • Marine Survey of the South Pacific

    Alexander Agassiz makes long research voyages to the South Pacific, collecting data and specimens from remote ocean regions.

  • The Sinking of the Titanic

    he Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg, killing 1,500 people. The tragedy led to efforts to develop an acoustic device to find objects ahead of a vessel.

  • First Acoustic Exploration of the Seas

    Reginald Fessenden uses an oscillator to bounce a signal simultaneously off an iceberg and the seafloor, the first acoustic exploration of the seas.