earth science

Ocean Ranger

Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger rather than just read about it. In short: Ocean Ranger was a semi-submersible mobile oil platform that sank in Canadian waters on 15 February 1982. It was drilling an exploration well on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, 267 kilometres (166 mi) east of St.

Key takeaways

Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ocean Ranger from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ocean Ranger was a semi-submersible mobile oil platform that sank in Canadian waters on 15 February 1982. It was drilling an exploration well on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, 267 kilometres (166 mi) east of St. John's, Newfoundland, for Mobil Oil of Canada, Ltd. (MOCAN) with 84 crew members on board when it sank. There were no survivors. Refloated in 1983 due to its wreck posing a hazard to shipping, Ocean Ranger was towed to deeper water and sunk again. Three divers died in the operation, bringing the total loss of life from the sinking to 87. The loss of the platform led to numerous lawsuits against the owners, which were eventually settled out of court for a grand total of $20 million, and changes in operation and safety standards were enacted to prevent similar disasters in the future.

History and design Ocean Ranger was designed and owned by Ocean Drilling and Exploration Company, Inc. (ODECO) of New Orleans. The vessel was a self-propelled large semi-submersible design with a drilling facility and living quarters. It was capable of operation beneath 1,500 feet (460 m) of ocean water and could drill to a maximum depth of 25,000 feet (7,600 m). It was described by ODECO as the world's largest semi-submersible oil rig to date. Constructed for ODECO in 1976 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Hiroshima, Japan, Ocean Ranger was 396 feet (121 m) long, 262 feet (80 m) wide, and 337 feet (103 m) high. It had twelve 45,000-pound (20,000 kg) anchors. The weight was 25,000 tons. It was floating on two 400-foot (120 m) long pontoons that rested 79 feet (24 m) below the surface. The vessel was approved for 'unrestricted ocean operations' and designed to withstand extremely harsh conditions at sea, including 100-knot (190 km/h) winds and 110-foot (34 m) waves. Prior to moving to the Grand Banks area in November 1980, it had operated off the coasts of Alaska, New Jersey and Ireland.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ocean Ranger

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger

In research: Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger 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: Ocean Ranger is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1976 ships, 1982 in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1982 industrial disasters, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ocean Ranger in simple terms?

Why does Ocean Ranger 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 Ocean Ranger?

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 Ocean Ranger.