The oceans are part of the thin, outer shell of the Earth and marine science is the study of this envelope, from the deep sea to shallow coastal oceans: their biology, chemistry, geology and physics together make marine science a richly inter-disciplinary science. The oceans are dynamic and vast, they contain most of the Earth's water and carbon and surface heat, and much of its biomass, but they do not operate alone. In conjunction with the atmosphere, continents and ice (cryosphere), they form a working machine, driven mostly by energy derived from the sun and the Earth's interior.