earth science

Global Ocean Sampling Expedition

Global Ocean Sampling Expedition is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Global Ocean Sampling Expedition rather than just read about it. In short: The Global Ocean Sampling Expedition (GOS) is an ocean exploration genome project whose goal is to assess genetic diversity in marine microbial communities and to understand their role in nature's fundamental processes. The two-year journey, which used Craig Venter's personal yacht, originated in Halifax, Canada, circumnavigated the globe and terminated in the U.S. in January 2006.

Key takeaways

Global Ocean Sampling Expedition belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Global Ocean Sampling Expedition to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Global Ocean Sampling Expedition from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Global Ocean Sampling Expedition (GOS) is an ocean exploration genome project whose goal is to assess genetic diversity in marine microbial communities and to understand their role in nature's fundamental processes. The two-year journey, which used Craig Venter's personal yacht, originated in Halifax, Canada, circumnavigated the globe and terminated in the U.S. in January 2006. The expedition sampled water from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean. During 2007, sampling continued along the west coast of North America.

Data analysis The GOS datasets were submitted to both NCBI and Community Cyberinfrastructure for Advanced Marine Microbial Ecology Research and Analysis (CAMERA), a new online resource for marine metagenomics funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, developed by JCVI and hosted by UC San Diego's Division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2). CAMERA's toolset was developed by JCVI, and reflects the tools used in the initial publication of the GOS datasets.

Funding The Sorcerer II effort has been funded by:

the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (sequencing and analysis) the United States Department of Energy, Office of Science (sequencing and analysis) The J. Craig Venter Institute (vessel operation) Moore Foundation seven-year, $24.5 million, grant (CAMERA)

Vessel

Sorcerer II, a 95-foot sloop, completed a 2-year scientific expedition circumnavigating the globe in mid latitudes collecting samples of microbes in seawater for genetic sequencing and cataloguing. She was designed to be not just a world cruising yacht, but one that would be capable of handling the extremes in latitudes, from equatorial heat and humidity to latitudes between 60 and 70 degrees. SORCERER II's construction is light for performance, but very strong, with her kevlar and E glass laminates, epoxy bonding and carefully chosen core materials. The vessel was designed by German Frers and carries 2,400 litres (630 US gal) of water.

Publications The following list is of the official publications of the project and the J. Craig Venter Institute.

Venter, JC; Remington, K; Heidelberg, JF; Halpern, AL; Rusch, D; Eisen, JA; Wu, D; Paulsen, I; et al. (2 April 2004). "Environmental Genome Shotgun Sequencing of the Sargasso Sea". Science. 304 (5667). New York, New York: American Association for the Advancement of Science: 66–74. Bibcode:2004Sci...304...66V. doi:10.1126/science.1093857. ISSN 0193-4511. PMID 15001713. S2CID 1454587. Yooseph, S; Sutton, G; Rusch, DB; Halpern, AL; Williamson, SJ; Remington, K; Eisen, JA; Heidelberg, KB; et al. (13 March 2007). "The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Expanding the Universe of Protein Families". PLOS Biology. 5 (3) e16. USA: Public Library of Science. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050016. ISSN 1544-9173. PMC 1821046. PMID 17355171. Kannan, N; Taylor, SS; Zhai, Y; Venter, JC; Manning, G (13 March 2007). "Structural and Functional Diversity of the Microbial Kinome". PLOS Biology. 5 (3) e17. USA: Public Library of Science. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050017. ISSN 1544-9173. PMC 1821047. PMID 17355172. Rusch, DB; Halpern, AL; Sutton, G; Heidelberg, KB; Williamson, S; Yooseph, S; Wu, D; Eisen, JA; et al. (13 March 2007). "The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Northwest Atlantic through Eastern Tropical Pacific". PLOS Biology. 5 (3) e77. USA: Public Library of Science. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050077. ISSN 1544-9173. PMC 1821060. PMID 17355176. Yutin, N; Suzuki, MT; Teeling, H; Weber, M; Venter, JC; Rusch, DB; Béjà, O (1 June 2007). "Assessing diversity and biogeography of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria in surface waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans using the Global Ocean Sampling expedition metagenomes" (PDF). Environmental Microbiology. 9 (6). England: Blackwell Science: 1464–75. Bibcode:2007EnvMi...9.1464Y. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2007.01265.x. ISSN 1462-2912. PMID 17504484. Sharon, I; Tzahor, S; Williamson, S; Shmoish, M; Man-Aharonovich, D; Rusch, DB; Yooseph, S; Zeidner, G; et al. (1 October 2007). "Viral photosynthetic reaction center genes and transcripts in the marine environment". The ISME Journal. 1 (6). England: Nature Publishing Group: 492–501. Bibcode:2007ISMEJ...1..492S. doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.67. ISSN 1751-7362. PMID 18043651. Williamson, SJ; Rusch, DB; Yooseph, S; Halpern, AL; Heidelberg, KB; Glass, JI; Andrews-Pfannkoch, C; Fadrosh, D; et al. (23 January 2008). Hall, Neil (ed.). "The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Metagenomic Characterization of Viruses within Aquatic Microbial Samples". PLoS ONE. 3 (1) e1456. USA: Public Library of Science. Bibcode:2008PLoSO...3.1456W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001456. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 2186209. PMID 18213365. Shaw, AK; Halpern, AL; Beeson, K; Tran, B; Venter, JC; Martiny, JBH (10 September 2008). "It's all relative: ranking the diversity of aquatic bacterial communities". Environmental Microbiology. 10 (9). England: Blackwell Science: 2200–10. Bibcode:2008EnvMi..10.2200S. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01626.x. ISSN 1462-2912. PMID 18637951.

See also Landform Microorganisms Metagenomics

Notes

External links Official website Official blog of the 2009–10 leg A large picture of Venter on the stern of the Sorcerer II GOS data from CAMERA

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Global Ocean Sampling Expedition

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Global Ocean Sampling Expedition claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Global Ocean Sampling Expedition before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Global Ocean Sampling Expedition ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Global Ocean Sampling Expedition

In research: Global Ocean Sampling Expedition appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Global Ocean Sampling Expedition in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Global Ocean Sampling Expedition is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2003 in science, Genome projects, Oceanographic expeditions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Global Ocean Sampling Expedition outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Global Ocean Sampling Expedition in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Global Ocean Sampling Expedition means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Global Ocean Sampling Expedition out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Global Ocean Sampling Expedition in simple terms?

Why does Global Ocean Sampling Expedition matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Global Ocean Sampling Expedition?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Global Ocean Sampling Expedition.