Search: Geography, Oceans

The tectonics and morphology of the sea floor, the geologic processes in the deep and shelf seas, and the climatic record contained in deep-sea sediments. The course will cover sources and composition of marine sediments, sea level change, ocean sediments, marine stratigraphy, and ocean floor resources.

The tectonics and morphology of the sea floor, the geologic processes in the deep and shelf seas, and the climatic record contained in deep-sea sediments. The course will cover sources and composition of marine sediments, sea-level change, ocean circulation, paleoenvironmental reconstruction using fossils, imprint of climatic zonation on marine sediments, marine stratigraphy, and ocean floor resources.

The ocean covers 71 percent of the earth's surface, yet the ocean floor is less studied than the moon. This almost unexplored landscape is made up of flat plains, deep trenches, volcanic mountains, and huge ridges. In this dark abyss, life is supported by a rain of nutrients from pelagic photosynthesis, and by chemosynthetic bacteria near hot vents and fissures. The Ocean World class will cover ocean environments, scientific exploration, and marine ecosystems. The course will cover ocean currents, waves, marine habitats, coral reefs, hurricanes, tsunamis, El Ninos, volcanic islands, coasts, and beaches, new frontiers in ocean sciences, including the technologies used to monitor and probe the ocean depths: including scuba, submersibles, and satellites