16:712:501(F) Physical Oceanography (3) Physical properties and basic equations for describing waves, tides, currents, and the large-scale wind-driven and thermohaline circulation. Ekman, geostrophic, and inertial flows. Gulf Stream; air-sea interactions; El Niño. Chant, Miller, Wilkin. Prerequisites: One year of college calculus and college physics. |
16:712:502(F) Large-Scale Ocean and Atmosphere Dynamics (3) Observational basis for large-scale ocean circulation; derivation of oceanic equations of motion; Kelvin, planetary, and topographic waves; wind-driven ocean circulation; simple models of abyssal circulation and thermocline; instabilities and mesoscale eddies. Haidvogel. Prerequisite: 16:712:501 or permission of instructor. Offered in alternate years. |
16:712:503(S) Coastal Ocean Dynamics (3) Observation basis and theoretical foundation of coastal ocean dynamics; tides; rotation; Kelvin and vorticity waves; fronts and plumes; upwelling; estuaries and buoyancy forcing; effects of boundaries and topography; biogeochemical implications. Haidvogel, Wilkin. Prerequisite: 16:712:501 or 502. Offered in alternate years. |
16:712:521(S) Marine Benthic Ecology (3) Emphasis on fauna living in soft sediments: roles in nutrient cycling and marine food webs; feeding biology, reproduction, and recruitment; community structure as influenced by physical and chemical properties of the environment. Taghon. Prerequisites: One year of college calculus and invertebrate zoology. Offered in alternate years. |
16:712:522(S) Biological Oceanography (3) Interactions among biological, physical, and chemical components of the marine environment, including primary production and secondary production, biogeochemical cycles, food web interactions, and ecosystem analysis of selected marine ecosystems. Habitats considered include the open ocean, coastal waters, kelp beds, coral reefs, estuaries, the deep sea, and hydrothermal vent environments. Taghon. Prerequisite: One year of college biology. |
16:712:523(F) Primary Production in Aquatic Ecosystems (3) Regulation of phytoplankton productivity in nature; physiological ecology of phytoplankton in dynamic environments; impact of phytoplankton on water column optical and chemical properties; new technologies being used in fieldwork. Schofield. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Offered in alternate years. |
16:712:524Early Life History of Fish (3) The phylogeny, morphology, life history, ecology, and behavior of fish during the egg, larval, and juvenile stages. Detailed treatments of representative estuarine marine and freshwater fish. Able. Prerequisite: Ichthyology or permission of instructor. Offered every fourth year, next offering Fall 2008. |
16:712:525(S) Molecular Oceanography (3) The application of molecular tools to study biological processes in the oceans with emphasis on phylogenetics, genomics, population genetics, phylogeography, and molecular ecology. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. |
16:712:526(F) Estuarine Ecology (4) Focus on current scientific questions in the ecology of estuarine organisms, with an emphasis on student-based examination of data collection, techniques, analysis and synthesis relative to the relevant literature. Able, Taghon. Prerequisite: Permission of instructors. Offered every fourth year, next offered Fall 2006. |
16:712:540(F) Chemical Oceanography (3) Chemical description of the ocean and its major chemical cycles; salinity and the elements of seawater; nutrients; the carbonate system; marine organic matter; radioisotopes; hydrothermal processes and ocean evolution. Rosenthal, Sherrell. Prerequisites: One year of college chemistry; 16:712:501. |
16:712:545(S) Dynamics of Waves, Currents, and Sediment Transport on the Continental Shelf (3) Equations of motion; linear theory for surface waves, wave boundary layers; current Ekman layers, coastal current circulation patterns; sediment transport in steady flow, oscillatory flow, and combined waves and currents. Glenn. Prerequisite: 16:712:501. Offered in alternate years. |
16:712:552(S) Remote Sensing of the Ocean and Atmosphere (3) Introduction to physical principles of remote sensing; past, present, and future instruments on satellites, aircraft, the surface, and under the ocean; applications in oceanography and atmospheric sciences. Francis, Miller, Vernon, Wilkin. Prerequisite: One year of physics. |
16:712:560(F) History of the Earth System (3) Introduction to major processes that have shaped Earth's environment, including climatic processes on geological time scales, the evolution of organisms, the cycling of elements, and the feedback between these processes. Falkowski. Prerequisites: Introductory chemistry, biology, and physics, or permission of instructor. |
16:712:591(S) Special Topics: Marine Ecosystems Research (BA) Drawing heavily on the experience of NOAA fisheries scientists, this interdisciplinary course focuses on the importance of habitat and species characteristics in determining the distribution and success of economically important marine and estuarine fish occurring along the northeast coast of the United States. Topics covered include habitat requirements and assessment, gear effects, contaminants, recruitment processes, and life history. Noji, Quinlan |
16:712:603(F) Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean I (3) Governing equations of atmospheric/oceanic motion; simplification and scaling; parameterization issues; numerical solution of the equations; Fourier and spectral methods; evaluation of atmospheric and oceanic models. Haidvogel. Prerequisites: 16:375:547, 16:712:502 or equivalent; proficiency in a high-level programming language. Offered in alternate years. |
16:712:604(S) Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean II (3) Laboratory course for practical application of numerical approaches taught in 16:712:603, including literature review, problem formulation, model development, and synthesis and presentation of results. Haidvogel. Offered in alternate years. |
16:712:605,606(F/S) Oceanography Seminar (1) Scientific papers are read in order to foster discussion and critical analysis by students of important scientific topics. Papers are selected from all disciplines with an emphasis on interdisciplinary studies. Faculty instructors provide guidance and comment. Prerequisite: 16:712:501 or 16:712:522 or 16:712:540 or equivalent. |
16:712:615(S) Geophysical Data Analysis (3) Quantitative analysis and display of spatial and time-series data; filters; spectral analysis; covariance; coherence; confidence intervals; goodness-of-fit; optimal interpolation of unequally spaced data; empirical orthogonal functions; harmonic analysis. Practical exercises using Matlab to analyze data from marine and environmental instruments, satellites, and climatologies. Communicating quantitative results to an audience. Chant, Wilkin. Prerequisites: Calculus, differential equations, linear algebra. |
16:712:693,694Independent Study in Oceanography (BA,BA) |
16:712:695,696Special Problems in Oceanography (BA,BA) |
16:712:697,698Topics in Oceanography (BA,BA) |
16:712:701-702Research in Oceanography (BA,BA) |
