LibGuides@Southampton: Ocean and Earth Science: NOL gateway

Abbreviations and acronyms

Atlases

UN Atlas of the Ocean

Bibliographies

Geology of the Solent Estuaries - bibliography

Data

Data sources: ocean and earth sciences
DataCite – A list of repositories for research data.

Deep Sea Drilling

Deep Sea drilling Project Reports Deep Sea Drilling Project reports and publications were originally distributed in print. These printed publications were scanned in 2006–2007 by the Texas A&M University Digital Library and prepared for electronic presentation by the Ocean Drilling Program Science Operator, Texas A&M University College of Geosciences, with funding from NSF. The Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project contain the results of initial studies of the recovered core material and the associated geophysical information from the Deep Sea Drilling Project expeditions (1968–1983). Technical Notes contain information designed to keep the marine geoscience community abreast as new tools, designs, and techniques related to drilling engineering were developed and to publish new laboratory guides or manuals. These reports were written by members of the scientific community. Technical Reports document program-related technical achievements including drilling and coring results, drill bit performance, design and deployment of new coring systems and downhole tools, coring equipment and tool modifications, and procedural improvements.

ebooks

Freely available ebooks for ocean and earth science

General Websites

Access to Research The Access to Research service is a new initiative to give free, walk-in access to a wide range of academic articles and research in public libraries across the UK. On the back of a successful technical trial, run in libraries from ten local authorities (September - December 2013), the service is being rolled out across the UK from February 2014 as part of a two year pilot.
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The Access to Research service is a new initiative to give free, walk-in access to a wide range of academic articles and research in public libraries across the UK. On the back of a successful technical trial, run in libraries from ten local authorities (September - December 2013), the service is being rolled out across the UK from February 2014 as part of a two year pilot. Subjects include art, architecture, business, engineering, history, languages, politics, philosophy, mathematics and the sciences. All content provided is digital and can be accessed from your designated library terminal, via a search delivery service called Summon. The Access to Research initiative is only available in the UK
BASE - Search engine especially for academic web resources Search engine especially for academic web resources. BASE provides more than 150 million documents from more than 7,000 sources. You can access the full texts of about 60% of the indexed documents for free (Open Access). BASE is operated by Bielefeld University Library.
Geologic time scale
Google Scholar
A wide search of academic papers, though not all ones we subscribe too. Southampton subscriptions usually marked.
Ocean Expert - Directory of marine and freshwater professionals OceanExpert is a product developed in 1997 under the auspices of the IODE Group of Experts on Marine Information Management (GE-MIM). OceanExpert is a free product but can be used only for non-profit purposes.

Guides, identification guides and species lists

AlgaeBase AlgaeBase is a database of information on algae that includes terrestrial, marine and freshwater organisms.
Arctic Register of Marine Species
ASFIS list of species for fishery statistics purposes [FAO] ASFIS list of species includes 12 421 species items selected according to their interest or relation to fisheries and aquaculture. For each species item stored in a record, codes (ISSCAAP group, taxonomic and 3-alpha) and taxonomic information (scientific name, author(s), family, and higher taxonomic classification) are provided. An English name is available for most of the records, and about one third of them have also a French and Spanish name. Information is also provided about the availability of fishery production statistics on the species item in the FAO databases.
Australian Museum - Fishes Includes information on the anatomy of fishes and identifying a fish to family
Catalogue of Life Online database of the world's known species of animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms.
Diatoms of the US
Endless Forams online image database (images of Formininera)
FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes
FishBase
Geology of the Wessex Coast of Southern England Produced by Dr. Ian West a university geologist, long a time member of staff of Southampton University, now officially retired, with status of Visiting Scientist. This is a set of Geological descriptive pages on the Wessex Coast of southern England, much of it a UNESCO World Heritage Site ("Jurassic Coast"). East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight. These geological webpages form one of the world's largest geological web sites with more than 100 separate web pages. The text in each webpage has linked references to the appropriate bibliography.
IUCN red list of threatened species
Marine Bivalve Shells of the British Isles Online identification aid to all bivalves found in waters around the British Isles, including those found in the EEZs of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands. 350+ species covered with detailed descriptions, distribution maps and illustrations. Juvenile and adult specimens illustrated.
NIWA - Marine Identification guides and fact sheets, New Zealand
PESI - Taxonomic information on species occurring in Europe. PESI is Europe’s e-infrastructure for taxonomic information on species occurring in Europe. The portal contains nearly 450,000 scientific names, 240,000 valid (sub)species names, and 140,000 vernacular names in 89 languages (see statistics). The portal provides an integrated view of the major European checklists: Fauna Europaea (FaEu) for all European land and freshwater animals, Euro+Med Plantbase (E+M) with the vascular plants of Europe and the Mediterranean region, the European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) for species of the sea and coasts and the EU component of Index Fungorum (IF) for fungi. Still operating separately (different host institutions, committees, experts and servers) the register’s data is merged yearly in the PESI Data Warehouse and is available through this single portal. In addition to taxonomic information, PESI harvests other information on species (images, literature, distributions, conservation status) and provides links to
pforams@mikrotax – reference source for the taxonomy of planktonic foraminifera
Phytoplankton guide - LUMCON’s Guide to Phytoplankton (including Harmful Algae) from Louisiana Estuarine and Coastal Waters This Guide is designed both for those needing help in identifying phytoplankton species, as well as experienced taxonomists. It offers several avenues to find a particular species of interest. Once your species of interest is located, you will be taken to an Organism page that lists taxonomic details about that species. Clicking on a photo on that page will navigate you to a full size image and collection data for that photograph. The taxonomic information in this Guide was compiled from several published sources (References), as well as observations of the LUMCON Phytoplankton Group.
Plankton net Includes images, classifiaction, planktonic organisms ranging from picoplankton to mesozooplankton.
SeaLifeBase Information system for all non-fish marine organisms, compliments information in FishBase
World Register of Marine Species

Institutional Repositories

Many universities and other research organisations make their publications freely available in their institutional repository.

List of ocean and earth science repositories

Journals

There are a number of ways that journals are published which will determine if you can freely access the articles that they contain online:

All full text content only available to subscribers
A mixture of articles that can be accessed by anyone (Open Access) and those only available to subscribers (content for subscribers may have a closed padlock icon beside them)
All full text content available to anyone (Open Access)

To find journals that make all full text content available to anyone use the Directory of Open Access Journals – this listing covers free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals.

For journals that make some of the articles available to anyone - try going to the journal's webpage and looking through the contents list to see which articles are available as to anyone as Open Access (these may have an open padlock icon beside them)

Selected journals which make back issues freely available:

Journal of the MBA - Full-text of back issues 1887-1961

Old Series 1887-1888
Volume 1 (New Series) 1889-1890 to Volume 40 (New Series) 1961

Law

Selected law resources. See the Law subject page for further information about resources for law.

ECOLEX ECOLEX is a database providing the most comprehensive, global source of information on environmental law. ECOLEX is operated jointly by FAO, IUCN and UNEP.
FAOLEX FAOLEX is a comprehensive and up-to-date computerized legislative database, one of the world's largest electronic collection of national laws and regulations on food, agriculture and renewable natural resources. Users of FAOLEX have direct access to the abstracts and indexing information about each text, as well as to the full text of most legislation contained in the database.
Oceans and law of the sea - United Nations

Libraries Online

Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.
Hathi Trust Digital Library HathiTrust is a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
Open Library Open Library is an initiative of the Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form.

Maps and Charts

Admiralty Online Catalogue This catalogue features all Admiralty products and services currently available. It is updated weekly in line with Admiralty publication dates and includes details of the Admiralty Charts.
AquaMaps Standardized distribution maps for over 33,500 species of fishes, marine mammals and invertebrates
Australia 1:253,440 national topographic map series sheets Australia 1:253,440 national topographic map series sheets - From the National Library of Australia
British Geological Survey - digital maps
General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) GEBCO's aim is to provide the most authoritative, publicly-available bathymetry for the world's oceans. It operates under the joint auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). GEBCO's data sets comprise two global gridded bathymetric data sets, the GEBCO_2013 Grid and GEBCO One Minute Grid and a global set of digital bathymetric contours, coastlines, trackline control information. The data sets are maintained and updated at BODC. GEBCO's grids are available to download from the internet. The full set of GEBCO's data sets are included in the GEBCO Digital Atlas (GDA) along with accompanying documentation and a software interface for viewing and accessing the data sets.
International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean
International Map of the World 1:1,000,000
Maps of the Antarctic - British Antarctic Survey
Mediterranean oil and gas concessions map Free Mediterranean oil and gas concessions map
National Geologic Map Database (US Geological Survey) The National Geologic Map Database (NGMDB) is a distributed archive of geoscience information for the Nation. It was mandated by the Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 and is cooperatively built and maintained by the USGS and State Geological Surveys. We welcome you to explore the archive, view the maps, and help us to improve this resource.
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - charting and navigation, US
National Topographic System (NTS) Canada The maps depict, in detail, ground relief (landforms and terrain), drainage (lakes and rivers), forest cover, administrative areas, populated areas, transportation routes and facilities (including roads and railways), and other constructed features. They use data from the Atlas of Canada (1: 1 000 000 to 1:30 000 000), National Topographic Data Base 1:250 000 and CanVec 1:50 000. Toporama continues to provide topographic information from national to regional scales.
Natural Resources Wales - Maps and Data Interactive web maps to search and discover information from all areas of Wales.
Office of Coast Survey - Historical map and chart collection including images from the U.S. government’s historical surveying and mapping Historical map and chart collection including images from the U.S. government’s historical surveying and mapping. This collection contains scanned images including nautical charts, bathymetric maps, and city plans. Electronic copies are available through a free download to the public.
Offshore Rig Search Search for offshore drilling rigs anywhere in the world.
OneGeology OneGeology - international initiative creating a dynamic digital geological map fo the world. The first prototype of the OneGeology Portal is available to view.
Ordnance Survey - Britain's National Mapping Agency
Topographic U.S. Maps The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Geospatial Program is converting historical printed topographic quadrangles to an electronic format. Maps can be downloaded for free even though it appears that you have to pay money, you only have to pay for print copies of the maps.
United States maps - from GISGeography
United States National Map - from US Geological Survey The National Map As one of the cornerstones of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program, The National Map is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other Federal, State, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information for the Nation. It has many uses ranging from recreation to scientific analysis to emergency response.
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The National Map is a suite of products and services that provide access to base geospatial information to describe the landscape of the United States and its territories. The National Map embodies 11 primary products and services and numerous applications and ancillary services.

The National Map supports data download, digital and print versions of topographic maps, geospatial data services, and online viewing. Customers can use geospatial data and maps to enhance their recreational experience, make life-saving decisions, support scientific missions, and for countless other activities. Nationally consistent geospatial data from The National Map enable better policy and land management decisions and the effective enforcement of regulatory responsibilities. The National Map is easily accessible for display on the Web through such products as topographic maps and services and as downloadable data. The geographic information available from The National Map includes boundaries, elevation, geographic names, hydrography, land cover, orthoimagery, structures, and transportation.
US Geological Survey - Maps Our programs produce accurate geologic maps and 3-D geologic frameworks that provide critical data for sustaining and improving the quality of life and economic vitality of the Nation. They also organize, maintain, and publish the geospatial baseline of the Nation's topography, natural landscape, built environment and more.
World Atlas - from GISGeography

Organisations

British Antarctic Survey British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is one of the world's leading environmental research centres and is responsible for the UK's national scientific activities in Antarctica.
British Geological Survey Founded in 1835, the British Geological Survey (BGS) is the world's oldest national geological survey and the United Kingdom's premier centre for earth science information and expertise. The BGS provides expert services and impartial advice in all areas of geoscience. Our client base is drawn from the public and private sectors both in the UK and internationally.
Cefas - Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Cefas - the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science - makes an important contribution to securing healthy and sustainable marine and freshwater environments so that current and future generations can prosper. Our vision is to make a real difference for society, as recognised leaders in marine and aquatic science. As the UK's most diverse applied marine science centre, we help to shape and implement policy through our internationally renowned science and collaborative relationships that span the EU, UK government, non-governmental organisations, research centres and industry. Our work takes us from freshwater to the open ocean, and includes both wild and farmed fish. Our influence and leadership spans a wide spectrum of issues, including: climate change impacts and adaptation marine planning and environmental licensing sustainable fisheries management marine biodiversity and habitats fish and shellfish health and hygie
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is the UK's Centre of Excellence for integrated research in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and their interaction with the atmosphere. As part of the Natural Environment Research Council, we provide National Capability based on innovative, independent and interdisciplinary science and long-term environmental monitoring, forming an integral part of NERC's vision and strategy. Working in partnership with the research community, policy-makers, industry and society, we deliver world-class solutions to the most complex environmental challenges facing humankind. CEH is a member of PEER (the Partnership for European Environmental Research).
Channel Coastal Observatory The Channel Coastal Observatory is the data management centre for the Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes and is hosted by New Forest District Council, in partnership with the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.

Environment Agency This link opens in a new window We're an Executive Non-departmental Public Body responsible to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Our principal aims are to protect and improve the environment, and to promote sustainable development. We play a central role in delivering the environmental priorities of central government through our functions and roles.

Intergovernmantal Oceanographic Commission [IOC] UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) promotes international cooperation and coordinates programmes in marine research, services, observation systems, hazard mitigation, and capacity development in order to understand and effectively manage the resources of the ocean and coastal areas. By applying this knowledge, the Commission aims to improve the governance, management, institutional capacity, and decision-making processes of its Member States with respect to marine resources and climate variability and to foster sustainable development of the marine environment, in particular in developing countries. IOC coordinates ocean observation and monitoring through the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) which aims to develop a unified network providing information and data exchange on the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the ocean. Governments, industry, scientists, and the public use this information to act on marine issues.
Marine Biological Association The Marine Biological Association is a registered charity, charity registration number 226063 The charitable aims of the Marine Biological Association (MBA) are: ‘to promote scientific research into all aspects of life in the sea, including the environment on which it depends, and to disseminate to the public the knowledge gained.’ The MBA achieves these aims through its membership, through the work of the JMBA, through high quality research and through its education and outreach programmes.
National Oceanography Centre The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) undertakes integrated ocean research and technology development from the coast to the deep ocean. Working with our partners we provide long-term marine science capability including: major facilities; sustained ocean observing, mapping and survey; data management, and scientific advice.
Natural Environment Research Council [NERC] NERC is the UK's main agency for funding and managing research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences. Our work covers the full range of atmospheric, Earth, biological, terrestrial and aquatic science, from the deep oceans to the upper atmosphere and from the poles to the equator. We coordinate some of the world's most exciting research projects, tackling major issues such as climate change, environmental influences on human health, the genetic make-up of life on Earth, and much more. NERC is a non-departmental public body. We receive around £370 million of annual funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Working internationally, we have bases at some of the most hostile places on the planet. We run a fleet of research ships and aircraft and invest in satellite technology to monitor gradual environmental change on a global scale. We provide forewarning of, and solutions to, the key environmental c
Plymouth Marine Laboratory Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) undertakes leading international research to respond to societal needs and to promote stewardship of the world ocean. PML’s science is concerned with: increasing knowledge and understanding of the marine environment and designing tools and evidence based solutions for its practical management. PML provides capability for observing, modelling, understanding and forecasting marine ecosystems. Operating in an interdisciplinary way PML is uniquely placed to undertake research, provide advice and deliver outcomes on the key challenges facing society in relation to global change and sustainability of marine ecosystems. PML is also designated as a National Capability delivery partner for the Natural Environment Research Council, providing a strategic research capability in marine science and Earth observation for the UK.
Scott Polar Research Institute (University of Cambridge) Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI). The Institute is a well-known and long-established centre for research into both polar regions. It is part of the University of Cambridge and is a sub-department of the Department of Geography. We have several research groups investigating a range of issues in both the environmental sciences and social sciences of relevance to the Arctic and Antarctica. Our polar library, which includes the Shackleton Memorial Library, has comprehensive holdings of scholarly books and journals on polar research, with exceptional archival collections from the exploration of the Antarctic and Arctic. We also have extensive online resources, including bibliographic and other information.
Scottish Association for Marine Science SAMS delivers research and education that aim to improve our understanding and sustainable use of the marine environment. It is a learned society that is among the oldest oceanographic organisations in the world. It employs c 160 staff at its Scottish Marine Institute by Oban, and has two subsidiaries: the European Centre for Marine Biotechnology and SRSL (SAMS Research Services Limited).
Sea Mammal Research Unit The Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) provides impartial, independent and innovative science that has high relevance to society. We carry out interdisciplinary research into the biology of marine mammals, train marine mammal scientists through undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and advise governments, non-governmental organizations and industry on conservation issues.

Research Cruises

Electronic copies of National Oceanographic Centre reseach cruise reports are included on ePrints

Research cruise inventory maintained by BODC [British Oceanographic Data Centre]
Research Ship Information and Cruise Schedules
Marine Science Co-ordination Committee The Marine Science Co-ordination Committee (MSCC) is composed of senior representatives of the major marine science funding Departments, the Devolved Administrations, the key marine science providers and four independent members. Established in 2008, in response to a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Report, ‘Investigating the Oceans’, it reports directly to a group of Ministers, chaired by the UK Marine Science Minister. It is the successor body to the Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology (IACMST). The MSCC has two main responsibilities: to deliver the UK Marine Science Strategy; and to improve UK marine science co-ordination. The MSCC published the first UK Marine Science Strategy in February 2010. It is a 15 year Strategy and was developed with significant input from the UK marine science community. It sets the general direction of travel for future marine science across the UK for the period 2010 to 2025. It's website is hosted

Tide timetables

Admiralty Tide Predictions (7 days) - EasyTide
Tidal predictions The Applications Team has provided a national and international tidal prediction service since the 1920s. In fact, the modern methods of tidal predictions used throughout the world are based on the work of Dr. Arthur Doodson who was Director of the laboratory up until 1960. Predictions for over 700 standard and secondary ports around the UK, and for many international locations, can be computed to order. We are the sole provider of tidal predictions to the Environment Agency who are responsible for the issuing of flood warnings throughout the UK. NOC is also responsible for the installation, maintenance and running of the UK National Tide Gauge Network. This gives us access to high quality data which is analysed using the latest methods to produce a diverse range of tidal prediction products. All data is checked and validated. Predictions are compared to observed data to ensure quality and accuracy. Historical data can be computed for research purpo

Weather

Met Office This link opens in a new window The Met Office is the UK's National Weather Service. As a world leader in providing weather and climate services, we employ more than 1,800 at 60 locations throughout the world. We are recognised as one of the world's most accurate forecasters, using more than 10 million weather observations a day, an advanced atmospheric model and a high performance supercomputer to create 3,000 tailored forecasts and briefings a day. These are delivered to a huge range of customers from the Government, to businesses, the general public, armed forces, and other organisations.
The Met Office holds the nation's weather and climate records. It provides a range of information under the Public Weather Service (PWS), which is funded by the UK Government. This includes generating everything from day-to-day site-specific forecasts to long range forecasts.

Met Office Hadley Centre - climate change research centre The Met Office Hadley Centre, based at the Met Office's Exeter HQ, provides world-class guidance on the science of climate change and is the primary focus in the UK for climate science. Our staff make significant contributions to scientific literature and to a variety of climate science reports, including the Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Our climate projections were also the basis for the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006. Aims of the Met Office Hadley Centre are to: monitor global and national climate variability and change; understand physical, chemical and biological processes within the climate system and develop computer models to represent them; attribute recent changes in climate, use models to simulate the differences between global and regional climates, and the changes seen over the previous and coming centuries.
Sotonmet Weather reports for Southampton Dockhead including live and archive data for wind, sea state, air temperature, pressure, tidal state. Includes links to other sites for meteorological / sea information in the Solent region.
World Meteorological Organization [WMO] is a specialised agency of the United Nations. It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources. The site includes:- •Weather forecasts and warnings. •Links to national meteorological and hydrometeorological services. •Mandatory publications such as the WMO Manual on Codes No. 306 which can be downloaded from the website via the Publications > Standards links on the left hand menu of the website