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 circulation, paleoenvironmental reconstruction using fossils, imprint of climatic zonation on marine sediments, marine stratigraphy, and ocean floor resources.

For undergraduate and graduate students interested in improving their ability to communicate their scientific knowledge by teaching ocean science in elementary schools. The course will combine instruction in inquiry-based teaching methods and learning pedagogy with 10 weeks of supervised teaching experience in a local school classroom. Thus, students will practice communicating scientific knowledge and receive mentoring on how to improve their presentations

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.

The course describes geologic processes active on and in the earth and man's interactions with them. Geologic aspects of use of the land and oceans based on an understanding of earth's environmental processes

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.