 Matthew
Fontaine Maury published the first
popular textbook on marine science, Physical
Geography of the Sea, in 1855. During the
Civil War, his work for the Confederacy led to a
$3,000 price being put on his head, second only
to the price put on the head of Confederate
President Jefferson Davis. |
 What Is In
Seawater? Salt is, of
course, the most common substance found in sea
water, but it is far from being the only one. One
hundred pounds of sea water, if boiled away, will
leave behind close to 3.5 pounds of solids. |
 The Gulf Stream
is the second largest ocean current. At its greatest the Gulf Stream is
approximately 100 miles wide and several hundred
feet deep -- far larger than any river on earth.
It also flows faster than any known river, up to
138 miles (222 kilometers) a day. |
 The Sargasso
Sea is so different
from any other place on earth that it may well be
considered a definite geographic region. The
Sargasso is a creation of the great currents of
the North Atlantic that encircle it and bring
into it the millions of tons of floating
sargassum weed, from which the place takes its
name. |
