Measuring the sea: the first oceanographic cruise (1679-1680) and the roots of oceanography (original) (raw)

Measuring the Sea: Marsili’s Oceanographic Cruise (1679–80) and the Roots of Oceanography

Journal of Physical Oceanography

The first in situ measurements of seawater density that referred to a geographical position at sea and time of the year were carried out by Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsili between 1679 and 1680 in the Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Marmara Sea, and the Bosporus. Not only was this the first investigation with documented oceanographic measurements carried out at stations, but the measurements were described in such an accurate way that the authors were able to reconstruct the observations in modern units. These first measurements concern the “specific gravity” of seawaters (i.e., the ratio between fluid densities). The data reported in the historical oceanographic treatise Osservazioni intorno al Bosforo Tracio (Marsili) allowed the reconstruction of the seawater density at different geographic locations between 1679 and 1680. Marsili’s experimental methodology included the collection of surface and deep water samples, the analysis of the samples with a hydrostatic ampoule, and the use of a...