Welcome to the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) Introduction to Ocean Sciences, 6th Edition. Introduction to Ocean Sciences explores the role of the ocean in the Earth system, with special emphasis on the flow and transformation of water and energy into and out of the ocean, the physical and chemical properties of ocean water, ocean circulation, marine life and habitats, interactions between the ocean and the other components of the Earth system (i.e., hydrosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere), and the human and societal impacts on and responses to those interactions. This book provides the physical, chemical, geological, and biological foundations for understanding Earth's ocean.

This sixth edition is a revision of Introduction to Ocean Sciences, 5th Edition, with updates to content and imagery. New, expanded, or significantly revised topics include metagenomics, the importance of microbes in the ocean, and recent climate science. It is accompanied by AMS Ocean Sciences in Action, a turnkey undergraduate-level curriculum package developed, licensed, and nationally implemented. These investigations engage students in observation, prediction, data analysis, inference, and critical thinking.

Introduction to Ocean Sciences covers the importance of ocean sciences (Chapter 1) and their history (Chapter 2). Ocean sciences are highly interdisciplinary, as demonstrated by the cross-chapter references throughout the text.  Each chapter builds on the framework of Ocean Sciences subdiscipline by subdiscipline. Geological aspects of ocean sciences are covered in Chapters 4 and 6. Chemical aspects are covered in Chapter 5. Physical is covered in Chapters 8 through 11, and Marine biology is covered in Chapters 12 through 15. Chapter 16 brings these subdisciplines together to provide  an overview of the  direct anthropogenic influences on the ocean and a detailed discussion of how climate change, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation are altering the oceans  that draws on the understanding of the interlinked ocean processes discussed in previous chapters. 

Each chapter opens with a list of Critical Concepts. The Critical Concepts—including density, convection, and heat transfer—are essential to understanding the basic processes of the oceans. They are also concepts that students will need to understand before proceeding to more advanced science courses or making sense of many issues they will encounter in the future. Key terms are bolded in each chapter when they are first used and are defined in the glossary. Appendices cover unit conversions and milestones in the history of ocean science. The 6th Edition features many full-color photographs and line drawings that clarify the scientific concepts.

A note on the use of units in Introduction to Ocean Sciences: Generally, the International System of Units (abbreviated SI, for Système International d'Unités) is employed, with equivalent English or other units following in parentheses. Exceptions are units used by convention or convenience in oceanography. The equivalence between units is given in context, where general estimates are provided and approximate values are shown for all units. Conversion factors are in Appendix I.