Ocean Studies: Introduction to Oceanography is a full-color textbook with 15 chapters examining the world ocean from an Earth system perspective. The ocean is explored with emphasis on how it fits within the Earth system. From the Arctic sea ice to beaches and barrier islands, from hydrothermal vents to the dynamic coasts, the properties of the ocean as salt water, the interaction of currents and waves and the life within are examined in this introductory textbook.

Each chapter opens with a Case-in-Point, an authentic, relevant, and real-life event or issue that highlights or applies one or more of the main concepts covered in the chapter. Chapter 15 (Ocean Problems and Policy), opens with a discussion of the recent BP Horizon oil spill and its impact on people and other animals living in the Gulf. The Case-in-Point is followed by a sample Driving Question, a broad-based query that links chapter concepts and provides a central focus for that week's study. At the end of each chapter are essays that go into greater depth on specific related topics. In Chapter 12 (The Ocean and Climate Change), one of three essays explores climate reconstruction from glacial ice cores and, in Chapter 15, the last essay examines how oil-spill trajectories are determined.