What are some of the best known science disciplines currently considered elements of oceanography?

A lot. Geology, Biology, Fluid Dynamics, Environmental Science, Chemistry… Research involves computer science, disciplines of engineering among others. I worked in a related field for a few years in data acquisition supporting surface water research.

@ARE_you_kidding_me How does some of these disciplines help shape our understanding of the oceans?

You know…because science. The oceans are BIG and involve ⅔ of the planet. Consequently that causes quite a bit of overlap. No single scientist has a good grasp of it because of this. It takes teams of specialists.

sorry but are you getting us to do your homework for you? I’m just saying because you’re asking a lot of related questions.

There are ten listed: astronomy, biology, chemistry, climatology, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology, physics and paleoceanography. I think it depends on what aspect of oceanography you want to study. At least one class in each one of these disciplines will tell you that.

@Espiritus_Corvus The list is really bigger than that. Oceanography is the little cousin of Climatology. Climatology is not a distilled or “pure” science either. Like oceanography it’s a conglomerate of almost all other sciences. It also was not really a thing until the climate debate/crisis whatever you call it fiasco started. There was no course of study for it until very recently. They’re like macroscopic meteorologists without reliable, refined tools to practice their trade. I would love to be one though because it combines everything I love about science: geology, meteorology, computer science, biology, data acquisition, sensors, paleontology, astronomy, models, data, math, data ,statistics, data…. Just keep the politics out of it. Facts need to rule the day.

I took my first course in Oceanography from a doctor of Oceanography in 1973. He got his PhD in 1951 at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, UC San Diego which has been around since 1903. It is hardly a product of the climate debate. It has always been a “big thing” to the fishing and sponge industry, oceanic petroleum exploration, municipalities trying to deal with erosion, disastrous storm research (especially after Galveston, 1900), tourism, wave action, tsunamis, climatology and weather in reference to ocean influence and ecology… But I agree that politics should stay out of science, as you stated above. I don’t agree that you know much about it, though.

Oceanography never was really part of that debate. I know it has been around. CLIMATOLOGY as a course of study is. Sorry, I did not make that clear.I never said I did know much about it, just that I would love to know more and work in the area since it is a convergence of many disciplines

A friend of mine is working on a project that provides a live map of wind speed and direction across the oceans – without having to drop thousands/millions of speed buoys all over the planet.
They use the microwaves that are constantly beamed from satellite TV and Radio satellites and note how they are reflected from the water surface – more wind means more disturbance. If the air were still the water would be smooth. As the wind speed increases the water starts to make waves and breakers. My friend is doing the mathematics that allows the water surface to be determined with a resolution better than 1 mm! From a satellite! The theory is that we would understand weather better if we knew wind speed across the planet more precisely.
No special satellites are needed for this work – just better mathematics, data processing, and computing power.
And it works!!!

@Espiritus_Corvus You would love this!