marine resources

1. Oceanography (Geo.508)
Title
MARINE RESOURCES

2. Introduction
 marine resources are the things that plants, animals and
humans need for life that originate in the ocean
 Most organisms that require marine resources for survival live
inside the marine ecosystem.
 Transportation and fishing have been the two most important
economic activities carried out on the oceans
 Fishing still continues to be a major sources of food for the
peoples.
 It provides food in the form of fish and shellfish—about 200
billion pounds are caught each year

3. Types of marine resources
1. Fresh water resource
2. Marine mineral resources
3. Marine Energy resources
4. Marine Food resources

4. Fresh water resource
 The oceans comprises about 1,457,000,000 cubic
kilometers of water that is about 97.2 per cent of the
world’s total water resources.
 The water is neither fit for human use nor for agriculture
purpose but with the input of technology saline water can
be converted into fresh water.
 The convention can be done through desalination

5. Marine mineral resources
 Marine mineral resources are found either dissolved in the
seawater or they can be found as deposits
 a) minerals dissolved in seawater:-Each cubic mile of
seawater contains about 165million tons of solids making
the 350millon cubic miles of water the world’s largest
continuous ore body. Sodium and chlorine are the most
abundant accounting for 85 per cent of the sea’s dissolved
salts.
 b) Surface deposits : surface deposit consists of the
deposits found on the continental shelf, the continental
slope and in the deep sea zone

6. Conti.
c) Sub surface Deposits : The most important of the
subsurface deposits are oil and natural gas. These are two
deposits represent 90 per cent of the mineral value
presently taken from the sea.

7. Marine energy resources
 Various renewable energy resources have their source in
the marine waters. The sea is thus an inexhaustible source
of energy
 1). Deuterium:-Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen. It is
the most important raw material for the fusion process.
The oceans contains 25 trillion tonnes of it
 2). OTEC:- OTEC stands for ocean Thermal Energy
Conversion. OTEC system is also called SSPPs or Solar Sea
power Plants. OTEC relies on the natural temperature
differences between the warm surface and the cold deep
waters of the sea

8. Conti.
 3) Osmotic pressure:- the water level on the salty side will rise until the
pressure on the salt water side is equivalent to a column of water 240 m in
height and the increased pressure stops the flow of molecules through
membrane. This pressure difference (called osmotic pressure difference)
could be used to produce electricity by passing the water under pressure
through a turbine
 4).Tidal energy: The rise and fall of tides can be used to generate electricity
.favorable conditions for the generations of tidal energy are found in coastal
areas with a large range or in narrow channels with swift tidal currents

9. Uses of marine resources
 Fisheries:- Oceans contain some of the largest and most
valuable fisheries resource in world. Fishes mostly use for food
 Oil and gas:- Oceans Contain significant oil and gas resource
potential as evidenced by recent discoveries and on-going research.
 Minerals:- Many minerals can be mined from the deep sea, such as
gold, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese and zinc; and with limited
reserves on land, deep-sea mining is an attractive, albeit very
expensive prospect.
 Renewable energy:- Oceans have the richest and most
accessible renewable energy (wind, wave and tidal) resources in the
world

10. Conti.
 Sand and gravel:- Marine aggregates are used mainly in the
construction industry for building, and for the manufacture of
concrete. The UK alone uses 13 million tonnes of sand and gravel each
year for construction!
 Marine tourism:- Humans use the sea for leisure in many different
ways, from scuba diving to whale watching, surfing to sailing, jet-
skiing to fishing
 CO2 capture and storage:- One way that scientists are trying to
mitigate climate change is the capture and storage of carbondioxide
from the atmosphere
 Habitats:- Marine habitats, such as coral reefs, support biodiversity,
which we rely on for food (fish), medicines(from certain marine
species we get painkillers and cancer drugs), tourism (e.g. fishing and
scubadiving).

11. Conti.
 Nutrient cycling:- Nutrients are essential to life - without
them, plants could not grow, and we could not survive.
Nutrient cycling is the storage, cycling and maintenance
of nutrients by living organisms, and microscopic animals

12. Conservation of marine resources
 It is evident that the pressure on marine
resources would increase in future therefore it is
necessary to initiate in necessary suitable steps
for exploitation utilization conservation and
preservation marine resources

13. Measures of management
 1.There should be well regulated exploitation of marine resources. This
requires the accurate of exact quantity of abiotic resources and process
and rate of regeneration of biological resources.
 This may be achieved through proper survey of fishing areas by applying
Eco sounder technic by maintain catch statics determination of their age
on the basis of their study of ring growth on fish scales mapping of
breeding places of fishing and determination of their numbers etc.
 3. Accurate estimate and prediction of future demand of fishes for human
food and animal feed.
 4. Proper arrangement of canning and refrigeration for storage of fishes.
 5. Efficient methods and technics of fishing.

14. Major sources of marine pollution
 1.discharge of waste water, sewerage and toxic chemicals.
 2.dumping of urban and industrial garbage of coastal cities.
 3. Disposal of solid waste materials mainly plastics in the sea
water.
 4. Leakage of enormous quantity of mineral oil from oil
tankers and spreading oils slicks therefrom;
 5. Pollutant from offshore oil wells
 6. Increase in the acidity of sea water due to increase in the
concentration of carbon dioxide consequent upon rapid rate
of deforest

15. References:-
 •Siddhartha K.Oceanography A brief Introduction,(2013) Kisalaya Publication
Pvt. Limited, New Delhi.
 •D.S.Lal.PhysicalGeography(FirstEdition)(2009): ShardaPustakBhawan.
Allahabad, India.
 •I.N.Chawla Physical Geography (2008) Jalandhar: Bharat Prakashan.
 •Singh savindra,oceanography(2014) Pravalika Publication, Allahabad.