Introduction to Ocean Sciences

5th edition (ver 5.11), Published 2024

ISBN: 978-0-9857859-2-5

The 5th edition of Introduction to Ocean Sciences is an open source textbook that is free for anyone to download, read and print for personal use only (Donations are welcome - scroll down to find how). The textbook is available only as a pdf file that can be read and printed using any Adobe or other pdf software viewer. You can read the full TABLE OF CONTENTS here. The online version of the textbook is a fully peer reviewed publication that has been adopted for classes in well over 150 colleges located in 19 countries and 29 US States. The textbook has now been used by over 250,000 students. For Instructor support information scroll down.

Last edited date March 10th 2025 (Ver 5.11). Minor update, Fixed page number issue, updated images using recently available AI tools plus minor corrections --- Please clear your browser cache to ensure download of most recent versions (ver 5.11 .

ANNOUNCEMENT: The author has been retired for some time. An agreement has been reached for my two textbooks (the second textbook is published by AMS - the American Meteorological Society) to be merged, and the new merged text to be published as a free OEM text by AMS, projected to be released in May or June this year. Doug Segar will remain the prime author during the transition and for a year or two thereafter. Funding to enable this transition and continue publishing the text as OEM into the future will be provided by AMS and the Douglas A Segar and Elaine Stamman Trust. However, anyone interested in contributing, either financially or as a future author or contributor is welcome to contact either Aaron Price, Director of Education at AMS or the current author through the link above.

Textbook Files

Complete Book File (pdf) - 35.6 MB

Please contact the author through this link if you find misspellings or other errors in the textbook or if you think there is something that needs to be added. Because the text is completely electronic, corrections and additions based on any new studies can be made available immediately.

This textbook was entirely produced by the author and made available as an open source textbook to avoid the high costs associated with commercial publishing. The textbook would sell through a publisher for over $150 of which the author would receive only about 10%. There is absolutely no obligation for anyone to pay anything for the text but, if you find the text valuable and choose to, you may donate a few dollars (or even just one dollar if that is all you can afford) toward future editions and enhancements of the text through the donate link below.

INSTRUCTORS - If you wish to adopt this textbook for a course that finishes before July 1st, we can support you with an instructor's manual, full test bank, and power point presentations. Please contact us through the button at the top of this page and we will let you know how you can verify your status as an adopting instructor. NOTE: The 5th edition files will remain on this site until mid July. Once the 6th edition has been published by AMS (May or Jne 2026) this site will list web links to the new edition and after mid-July this page will be forwarded to the AMS web site for the 6th edition. The 6th edition now has a companion Ocean Sciences in Action Student Manual, comprising a full suite of investigations, case studies, and test materials that fully coordinate with the textbook. AMS is offering the Manual to your students free of charge for the 2026–2027 academic year, for faculty who have not used this Maual before. If you are a faculty member and intend to use the 6th edition please contact AMS at amsedu@ametsoc.org