ABSTRACT
The question is whether and how, moving from these scientific considera tions, it is possible to consider cycles generating changes on both planetary and regional scales and specifically concerned with the sea. To this end some contri butions from the literature on sea management are worth recalling. “The ocean environment is a complex system controlled by a variety of physical, chemical and biological processes. The understanding of these processes is a prerequisite of any consideration of man’s past or future impact on the sea”. Starting from this assumption GESAMP’s analysis [1982, 11-13] sets up a model of major ocean processes in which attention is focused upon: (i) the interactions between the physical context and biological cycles; (ii) the peculiarities that both the physical context and biological cycles acquire in continental shelves and the “open ocean”, and (iii) the peculiarities of sea surface, water column and seabed. If the schematic representation of this model is considered [ibid., 13], it does not take much effort to realize that the paradigm supporting this model is general system-oriented since: (i) the ocean is regarded as a system; (ii) it is investigated through the main processes, i.e. according to the aggregation principle provided by system-based logic; (iii) the relationships between the ocean and its external environment-land and atmosphere-are included in explanation and not as secondary features.
