Introduction
Oceanography is a component of Encyclopedia of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias.
These volumes deal with the oceans as an integrated dynamic system, characterized by a delicate, complex system of interactions among the biota, the ocean boundaries with the solid earth and the atmosphere. This set of volumes is designed to be a very authoritative reference for state-of-the-art knowledge on the various aspects such as: Physical Oceanography, Chemistry of the oceans, Biological Oceanography, Geological oceanography, Coral Reefs as a Life Supporting System, Human Uses of the Oceans, Ocean Engineering, and Modeling the Ocean System from a Sustainable Development perspective.
These volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.
Editor(s) Biography
Chen-Tung Arthur Chen born in Changhwa, Taiwan, on April 22 1949, Professor Chen-Tung Arthur Chen, his wife and two daughters are currently residing in Kaohsiung, where he has been Professor at the Institute of Marine Geology and Chemistry since 1986. After receiving his B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University in 1970, Professor Chen was awarded his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Oceanography from the University of Miami in 1977. In the same year, he was appointed Assistant Professor in the College of Marine Sciences of Oregon State University, where he was later promoted to Associate Professor in 1981. He served as visiting professor at National Sun Yat-Sen University (NSYSU) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and as Chargé de echerché (CNRS), Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris during 1984–5. During this period, he founded the Institute of Marine Geology at NSYSU, and served as its director until 1989 when he was made Dean of the College of Marine Sciences, a position he held until 1992.Professor Chen has sat on numerous international committees, including the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research and the World Ocean Circulation Experiment. He also served as one of the executives of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) between 1992 and 1995. Just prior to that, he had helped to form the Joint JGOFS/LOICZ Marginal Seas Task Team in 1991, and served as its chairman until 1995. Professor Chen is at present one of the editors of Oceanography Journal and associate editor of Marine Chemistry. Besides having more than 150 of his own scientific papers published, Professor Chen was awarded the highly coveted Biowako Prize for Ecology from Japan in 1997.
Jacques C. J. Nihoul born in Ans, Belgium, on June 6 1937, Professor Jacques C. J. Nihoul and his wife are currently residing in St. Severin, Belgium. His son, 36, an architect-engineer is in charge of the maintenance andrenovation of the University of Louvain’s Campus Infrastructure; his daughter, 30, a D.Phil. in Political and Social Science, works at the European Commission (Directorate of Education, AudioVisual, Culture and Sports). He has been Professor of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics in the University of Liège and Louvain since 1965. After receiving his Engineering Degree from Liège University in 1960, Prof. Nihoul was awarded his M.Sc. Degree in Mathematics from MIT University (USA) in 1961 and his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from the University of Cambridge (UK) in 1965. He served as an Air Force Officer during his National Service in 1964–5 at the Royal Military College of Belgium and was elected to full Professorships in Liège and Louvain Universities in 1966.Professor Nihoul has sat on numerous international committees including SCOR, IAPSO, and GLOBEC. He is at present editor of the Journal of Marine Systems, Earth Science Reviews, Oceanography Section and one of the Editors of Mathematical and Computer Modelling. President of the National Committee of Oceanography of the Royal Academy of Belgium, Professor Nihoul is a Member of the Academia Europaea and of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Author of some 200 papers in international journals, he was awarded the Francqui Prize for Medical and Natural Sciences in 1978.
