Geographical exploration
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Geographical exploration, sometimes considered the default meaning for the more general term exploration, refers to the practice of discovering remote lands and regions of the planet Earth.[1] It is studied by geographers and historians.[citation needed]
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence.[
Early writings about exploration date back to the 4th millennium B.C. in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest and most impactful thinkers of exploration was Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD.[clarification needed] Between the 5th century and 15th century AD, most exploration was done by Chinese and Arab explorers. This was followed by the Age of Discovery after European scholars rediscovered the works of early Latin and Greek geographers. While the Age of Discovery was partly driven by European land routes becoming unsafe,[3] and a desire for conquest, the 17th century saw exploration driven by nobler motives, including scientific discovery and the expansion of knowledge about the world.[1] This broader knowledge of the world's geography meant that people were able to make world maps, depicting all land known. The first modern atlas was the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published by Abraham Ortelius, which included a world map that depicted all of Earth's continents.[4]: 32
Concept
Exploration is the process of exploring, which has been defined as:[5]
- To examine or investigate something systematically.
- To travel somewhere in search of discovery.
- To examine diagnostically.
- To (seek) experience first hand.
- To wander without any particular aim or purpose.
Notable historical periods of human exploration
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Phoenician galley sailings
The Phoenicians (1550 BCE–300 BCE) traded throughout the
Carthaginean exploration of Western Africa
Hanno the Navigator (500 BC), a Carthaginean navigator who explored the Western Coast of Africa.
Greek and Roman exploration of Northern Europe and Thule
- Shetland Islands or Iceland).
- Under Augustus, Romans reached and explored all the Baltic Sea.
Roman explorations
- Africa exploration
The Romans organized expeditions to cross the Sahara along five different routes:
- through the Western Sahara, toward the Niger River, near modern Timbuktu
- through the Tibesti Mountains, toward Lake Chad and modern Nigeria
- up the Nile valley through Egypt, toward the Great Rift Valley
- along the western coast of Africa, toward the Sénégal River
- along the coast of the Red Sea, toward the Horn of Africa, and perhaps modern Zanzibar.
All these expeditions were supported by legionaries and had mainly a commercial purpose. Only the one conducted by emperor Nero seemed to be a preparative for the conquest of Ethiopia or Nubia; in 62 AD, two legionaries explored the sources of the Nile.[6]
One of the main objectives of the explorations was to locate and obtain gold, using camels to transport it overland back to Roman provinces on the Mediterranean coast.[7]
The explorations near the African western and eastern coasts were supported by Roman ships and deeply related to the naval commerce (mainly toward the Indian Ocean). The Romans also organized several explorations into Northern Europe, and explored as far as China in Asia.
- 30 BC – 640 AD
- With the acquisition of Ptolemaic Egypt, the Romans begin trading with India. The Romans now have a direct connection to the spice trade, which the Egyptians had established beginning in 118 BC.
- 100–166 AD
- Sino-Roman relations begin. Ptolemy writes of the Golden Chersonese (i.e. Malay Peninsula) and the trade port of Kattigara, now identified as Óc Eo in northern Vietnam, then part of Jiaozhou, a province of the Chinese Han Empire. The Chinese historical texts describe Roman embassies, from a land they called Daqin.
- 2nd century
- Roman traders reach .
- 161
- An embassy from Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius or his successor Marcus Aurelius reaches Chinese Emperor Huan of Han at Luoyang.
- 226
- A Roman diplomat or merchant lands in northern Vietnam and visits Nanjing, China and the court of Sun Quan, ruler of Eastern Wu.
Chinese exploration of Central Asia
During the 2nd century BC, the
Viking Age
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From about 800 AD to 1040 AD, the
Polynesian Age
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Mathematical modelling based on DNA
Chinese exploration of the Indian Ocean
The Chinese explorer,
.European Age of Discovery
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The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration, is one of the most important periods of geographical exploration in human history. It started in the early 15th century and lasted until the 17th century. In that period, Europeans discovered and/or explored vast areas of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Portugal and Spain dominated the first stages of exploration, while other European nations followed, such as England, France, and the Netherlands.
Important explorations during this period went to a number of continents and regions around the globe. In Africa, important explorers of this period include Diogo Cão (1452–1486), who discovered and ascended the Congo River and reached the coasts of present-day Angola and Namibia; and Bartolomeu Dias (1450–1500), the first European to reach the Cape of Good Hope and other parts of the South African coast.
Explorers of routes from Europe towards Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean, include Vasco da Gama (1460–1524), a navigator who made the first trip from Europe to India and back by the Cape of Good Hope, discovering the ocean route to the East; Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467/1468–1520), who, following the path of Vasco da Gama, claimed Brazil and led the first expedition that linked Europe, Africa, America, and Asia; Diogo Dias, who discovered the eastern coast of Madagascar and rounded the corner of Africa; explorers such as Diogo Fernandes Pereira and Pedro Mascarenhas (1470–1555), among others, who discovered and mapped the Mascarene Islands and other archipelagos.
António de Abreu (1480–1514) and Francisco Serrão (14??–1521) led the first direct European fleet into the Pacific Ocean (on its western edges) and through the Sunda Islands, reaching the Moluccas. Andrés de Urdaneta (1498–1568) discovered the maritime route from Asia to the Americas.
In the Pacific Ocean, Jorge de Menezes (1498–1537) reached New Guinea while García Jofre de Loaísa (1490–1526) reached the Marshall Islands.
- Discovery of America
Explorations of the Americas began with the initial discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), who led a Castilian (Spanish) expedition across the Atlantic, discovering America. After the discovery of America by Columbus, a number of important expeditions were sent out to explore the Western Hemisphere. This included Juan Ponce de León (1474–1521), who discovered and mapped the coast of Florida; Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519), who was the first European to view the Pacific Ocean from American shores (after crossing the Isthmus of Panama) confirming that America was a separate continent from Asia; Aleixo Garcia (14??–1527), who explored the territories of present-day southern Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia, crossing the Chaco and reaching the Andes (near Sucre).
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (1490–1558) discovered the Mississippi River and was the first European to sail the Gulf of Mexico and cross Texas. Jacques Cartier (1491–1557) drew the first maps of part of central and maritime Canada; Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510–1554) discovered the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River; Francisco de Orellana (1511–1546) was the first European to navigate the length of the Amazon River.
- Further explorations
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In the second half of the 16th century and the 17th century exploration of Asia and the Pacific Ocean continued with explorers such as Andrés de Urdaneta (1498–1568), who discovered the maritime route from Asia to the Americas; Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (1565–1614), who discovered the Pitcairn Islands and the Vanuatu archipelago; Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira (1542–1595), who discovered the Tuvalu archipelago, the Marquesas, the Solomons, and Wake Island.
Explorers of Australia included
In North America, major explorers included Henry Hudson (1565–1611), who explored the Hudson Bay in Canada; Samuel de Champlain (1574–1635), who explored St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes (in Canada and northern United States); and René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687), who explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, and the entire length of the Mississippi River.
Late modern period
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Long after the Age of Discovery, other explorers "completed" the world map, such as various Russian explorers, reaching the Siberian Pacific coast and the Bering Strait, at the extreme edge of Asia and Alaska (North America); Vitus Bering (1681–1741) who in the service of the Russian Navy, explored the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, the North American coast of Alaska, and some other northern areas of the Pacific Ocean; and James Cook, who explored the east coast of Australia, the Hawaiian Islands, and circumnavigated Antarctica.
There were still significant explorations which occurred well into the
The extreme conditions in the deep sea require elaborate methods and technologies to endure them. In the 20th century, deep-sea exploration advanced considerably through a series of technological inventions, ranging from the
Space age
Space exploration started in the 20th century with the invention of exo-atmospheric rockets. This has given humans the opportunity to travel to the Moon, and to send robotic explorers to other planets and far beyond.
Both of the Voyager probes have left the Solar System, bearing imprinted gold discs with multiple data types.
Underwater exploration
Objectives
The scope of underwater exploration includes the distribution and variety of marine and aquatic life, measurement of the geographical distribution of the chemical and physical properties, including movement of the water, and the geophysical, geological and topographical features of the Earth's crust where it is covered by water.[14]
Systematic, targeted exploration is the most effective method to increase understanding of the ocean and other underwater regions, so they can be effectively managed, conserved, regulated, and their resources discovered, accessed, and used. The ocean covers approximately 70% of Earth’s surface and has a critical role in supporting life on the planet but knowledge and understanding of the ocean remains limited due to difficulty and cost of access.[15]
The distinction between exploration, survey, and other research is somewhat blurred, and one way of looking at it is to consider the baseline surveys and research as exploration, as previously unknown information is gathered. Updating and refining the data is less exploratory in nature, but may still be exploration for the people involved, in the sense that the experience is new to them.
Status
According to NOAA, as of January 2023: "More than eighty percent of our ocean is unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored." Less than 10% of the ocean, including about 35% of the ocean and coastal waters of the United States, have been mapped in any detail using sonar technology.[16] According to GEBCO 2019 data, less than 18% of the deep ocean bed has been mapped using direct measurement and about 50% of coastal waters were not yet surveyed.[17]
Most of the data used to create global seabed maps are approximate depths derived from satellite gravity measurements and sea surface heights which are affected by the shape and mass distribution of the seabed. This method of approximation only provides low resolution information on large topographical features, and can miss significant features.[18]
See also
- Early human migrations – Spread of humans from Africa through the world
- Timeline of European exploration
- Timeline of maritime migration and exploration
- European exploration of Africa – Period of history
- List of explorations
- List of explorers
- List of maritime explorers
- List of underwater explorers
References
Citations
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-534318-2. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022 – via Google Books.[page needed]
- ^ ISBN 978-0-393-24247-8. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ "European exploration – The Age of Discovery | Britannica". britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
- ISBN 978-92-95110-48-9. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
- ^ Wiktionary contributors (30 November 2022). "explore". Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ISBN 9781118316535.
- ^ Roth, Jonathan 2002. The Roman Army in Tripolitana and Gold Trade with Sub-Saharan Africa. APA Annual Convention. New Orleans.
- ^ di Cosmo 2002, pp. 247–249; Yü 1986, p. 407; Torday 1997, p. 104; Morton & Lewis 2005, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Torday 1997, pp. 105–106.
- ^ Torday 1997, pp. 108–112.
- ^ Otago University. Wairau Bar Studies 2011. Dr L. Matisoo-Smith.
- ^ "Jacques Piccard: Oceanographer and pioneer of deep-sea exploration – Obituaries, News". The Independent. London. 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
- ^ Baker, D. James; Rechnitzer, Andreas B. "Undersea exploration". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Why do we explore the ocean?". oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. NOAA. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ "How much of the ocean have we explored?". oceanservice.noaa.gov. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ "IHO Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry (DCDB)". www.ngdc.noaa.gov. NOAA. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- ^ "Seabed 2030: Map the Gaps". www.ncei.noaa.gov. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
Sources
- di Cosmo, Nicola (2002). Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-77064-4.
- Groh, Arnold (2018). Research Methods in Indigenous Contexts. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-72774-5.
- Morton, William Scott; Lewis, Charlton M. (2005). China: Its History and Culture (Fourth ed.). New York City: ISBN 978-0-07-141279-7.
- Petringa, Maria (2006). Brazzà, a Life for Africa. Bloomington, IN: OCLC 74651678.
- Torday, Laszlo (1997). Mounted Archers: The Beginnings of Central Asian History. Durham: The Durham Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-900838-03-0.
- Yü, Ying-shih (1986). "Han Foreign Relations". In Twitchett, Denis; Loewe, Michael (eds.). The Cambridge History of China. Vol. I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.–A.D. 220. Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-24327-8.
Further reading
- Chaudhuri, K. N. (1991). The Times Atlas of World Exploration: 3,000 Years of Exploring, Explorers, and Mapmaking. ISBN 978-0-06-270032-2.
- Buiisseret, David, ed. (2007). The Oxford Companion to World Exploration. ISBN 978-0-19-514922-7.
External links
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- National Geographic Explorer Program
- NOAA Ocean Explorer – provides public access to current information on a series of NOAA scientific and educational explorations and activities in the marine environment
- NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research – formed by the merger of NOAA's Undersea Research Program (NURP) and the Office of Ocean Exploration (OE)