GEOG 1000 Lecture 21: Ocean Frontiers
6 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
GEOG 1000
November 29, 2017
Ocean Geographies
1. Ocean as transportation
2. Ocean sovereignties
3. Ocean Ecologies
Are oceans a big empty space?
● Geography is defined as “study of the earth’s surface”
● Leaves out two thirds of the earth’s surface - oceans
● Oceans are not empty space, they are crucial on how we live our lives
● Most landmasses on the earth are located further north, so maps push the
north further down
● Pre Modern maps - oceans are full of life
● Instead of big empty blue maps, there’s a lot going on
Part 1 - Ocean Transportation
● Early trading largely took place through boats (after the silk road)
● The spice trade was by boat
● Early colonial period - Europeans travelled by boats, allowed them to colonize
● Moved people around the world - slavery
● As time went on, colonial powers were able to take more territory, colonialism
was enabled by boats
● 1700s European Trader views world mostly from the ocean
● 1800s colonial powers were taking more and more territory, partly abled since
they were able to move more bulk items cheaply - steamship enabled this
● Combustion engine came around 1900, powered by gas and oil
● Colonial period - wind power
● Today, shipping remains important to globalization
○ Goods move by boat, not airplane
○ Suez Canal, Panama Canal; not a single port in North America is in the
top 5
● Globalization has been enabled by ships - still the cheapest way to move
goods
Part 2 - Ocean Sovereignty
● If a crime is committed at sea, what happens?
○ The nationality of the vessel - British ship, British prosecution
● That nationality is responsible for what happens on that boat
Document Summary
Ocean geographies: ocean as transportation, ocean sovereignties, ocean ecologies. Geography is defined as study of the earth"s surface . Leaves out two thirds of the earth"s surface - oceans. Oceans are not empty space, they are crucial on how we live our lives. Most landmasses on the earth are located further north, so maps push the north further down. Pre modern maps - oceans are full of life. Instead of big empty blue maps, there"s a lot going on. Early trading largely took place through boats (after the silk road) Early colonial period - europeans travelled by boats, allowed them to colonize. Moved people around the world - slavery. As time went on, colonial powers were able to take more territory, colonialism was enabled by boats. 1700s european trader views world mostly from the ocean. 1800s colonial powers were taking more and more territory, partly abled since they were able to move more bulk items cheaply - steamship enabled this.
