Oceans

The global water cycle; major processes governing the distribution of chemical species within the hydrosphere; mass balances, fluxes, and reactions in the marine environment from global to submicron scales; relationships to physical, biological, and geological processes; geochemical tracers and tools.

Introduction to the philosophy and practice of numerical modeling of environmental flow processes. Topic will change each semester. Course of structured computer modeling assignments on a single topic in environmental flow modeling, supported by focused lectures and discussions on the physical processes and on the associated numerical analysis. Topics such as ocean outfalls, wave penetration in harbors, contaminant transport, flood and tide propagation in channels and data analysis of climate, air, and water quality observations

Ocean environment. Physical properties and characteristics of the oceans. Global conservation laws. Surface-waves generation. Gravity-wave mechanics, kinematics, and dynamics. Design consideration of ocean vehicles and systems. Model-testing techniques. Prediction of resistance and response in waves--physical modeling and computer models

This course explores the interactions of organisms with physical, chemical, and geological processes in the ocean. Overviews of basic physical, chemical, and geological principles and the major functional groups of marine organisms are followed by interdisciplinary discussions of open-ocean pelagic systems, the deep sea, coastal oceans, estuaries, and intertidal environments.

The biological implications of marine physics and chemistry. History and properties of seawater. Geophysical fluids. Currents and circulations. Deep sea. Waves, tides, and bottom boundary layers. The coastal ocean; estuaries. Air/sea interaction. Mixing. Formation of water masses. Modeling biological and geochemical processes. Ocean and climate change.

The geology, physics, chemistry, and biology of the world oceans. The application of oceanographic sciences to human problems will be explored through special topics such as energy from the sea, marine pollution, food from the sea, and climate change.

A survey of marine mammal evolution, biology, behavior, ecology, and politics with a concentration on those species found in the North Pacific. Coverage would include: origin and evolution of cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, and sea otters; basic biology and anatomy of marine mammal groups, and North Pacific species in particular; ecological interactions and role in nearshore and pelagic marine communities; and interactions between humans and marine mammals.

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

Interrelationships between marine organisms and physical, chemical and geological processes in oceans.