An introductory-level oceanography textbook 

• Comprehensive and open-access
• 19 Critical Concepts referenced throughout
• Chapters summaries at the end of each chapter provide insightful overview
• Review and Critical Thinking questions at the end of each chapter
• Expansive collection of full-color photographs

The textbook is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. 

The textbook is hosted at LibreTexts, which hosts thousands of free, accessible textbooks. They are in the process of updating the PDF maker to meet accessibility standards. You can create an instructor account to get started (please use your school email address). 

Table of Contents

Full Text
Front Matter
Chapter 1: The Ocean Planet (PDF)
Chapter 2: History and Importance of Ocean Studies (PDF)
Chapter 3: Studying the Oceans (PDF)
Chapter 4: Plate Tectonics - Evolution of the Ocean Floor (PDF)
Chapter 5: Water and Seawater (PDF)
Chapter 6: Ocean Sediments (PDF)
Chapter 7: Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions (PDF)
Chapter 8: Ocean Circulation (PDF)
Chapter 9: Waves (PDF)
Chapter 10: Tides (PDF)
Chapter 11: Coasts (PDF)
Chapter 12: Foundations of Life in the Oceans (PDF)
Chapter 13: Coastal Ocean and Estuaries (PDF)
Chapter 14: Marine Ecology (PDF)
Chapter 15: Ocean Ecosystems (PDF)
Chapter 16: Impacts of Humans on Oceans (PDF)
Critical Concepts (PDF)
Index, Glossary & Appendixes (PDF)

We have double column chapters available in the same format as Dr. Segar's earlier editions, designed for printing. However, they will not pass accessibility standards.

About the Textbook

The Introduction to Ocean Sciences, 6th edition, authored by Douglas A. Segar (Ph.D., Oceanography), offers 16 chapters of in-depth exploration of the world's oceans.  After Chapter 1 introduces the Ocean Planet, Chapters 2 and 3 explore our history with the oceans and how we have studied it through the years, which branches into Chapter 4 about plate tectonics and the evolution of the ocean. We then study the principles of water and seawater, as well as ocean sediments in Chapters 5 and 6. The motion of the oceans' water is explored in Chapters 7 through 10, which look into the ocean-atmosphere interaction, ocean circulation, waves, and tides, which have created our coasts, seen in Chapter 11. We explore life in the oceans for Chapters 12 to 15, with the foundations of life, coasts and estuaries, marine ecology and ocean ecosystems. The last chapter reviews human impacts on the oceans.

The AMS offers the companion Ocean Sciences in Action Manual. Combined with the textbook, lecture slides, test bank, and quizzes, all ready to be uploaded to your LMS, it includes everything you need to teach an introductory ocean science course. If you have used the Ocean Studies textbook in the past, we prepared a Transition Guide to make the change seamless.