Module GEOG3641: OCEANS PAST AND PRESENT

Department: Geography

GEOG3641: OCEANS PAST AND PRESENT

Prerequisites

• Any Level 1 or level 2 module in Geography or other appropriate evidence.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide students with a sound understanding of the role oceans play in the environmental system.
• To provide an insight into the implications of possible changes in ocean systems including opportunity to undertake work on real oceanographic data.

Content

• Sedimentology and Geological Oceanography: Origins of the oceans (where does the water come from? How old are today's oceans). Plate tectonics and basin configuration. CCD and carbonate distribution (Red clays, and siliceous oozes). Depositional environments. Turbidites.
• Physical Oceanography: Ocean structure (Thermocline, Halocline, Pycnocline and other isoclinic divisions). Ocean circulation including such aspects as THC, Geostrophic currents (Barotopic and Baroclinic) - surface currents, Upwelling, Vorticity (Gulf Stream), Mesoscale eddies and Past variability (palaeo). Waves - trochoidal nature, wavelength, frequency etc (Extreme waves and Tsunami, Internal waves). Tides - Seiches.
• Chemical Oceanography: Properties of Water. Salinity. Fronts and mixing. Ice volume, temperature and salinity. Alkalinity. Carbonate cycle - CCD and Lysocline. Why is the sea salty? Mass balances.
• Ecology: Nutrients and Habitats. Classification by habitat (Plankton, Nekton, (pelagic) Benthos etc). Introduction to population ecology. Evolution and; life and death assemblages. Biological productivity, the Carbon pump.
• Case Studies: Messinian Salinity Crisis. Holocene Mediterranean. Circulation and climate change. The Marine Bill. Sustainable Fisheries.

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module students will to be able to:
• Understand of the role played by the Oceans in the Earth System. Emphasis will be placed on the modern Oceans.
• the properties of water.
• ocean circulation including limitations of understanding related to the Thermohaline Circulation (THC).
• mesoscale complexity e.g. gyres and mesoscale eddies.
• controls on biological production.
• understand the evidence for past change, possible mechanisms to explain Ocean changes.
• appreciate the implications of these changes to the past, present, and future.
• understand the composition of the Oceans, both Chemical and Biological.

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• understand and analyse key Oceanographic data such as CTD (conductivity, Temperature and Density data), the sedimentary record and population ecology.
• understand and interpret key palaeoceanographic proxies, Micropalaeontology, Organic geochemistry and isotopes in the oceans.

• group working.
• presentation skills.
• data analysis.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures will provide the necessary breadth of coverage, overview and study guide required by the aims and objectives. These will be supported by additional reading lists that will enable students to build on the information provided in the lecture. These will also inform their understanding of current issues in oceanography that will be addressed directly by the seminars.
• Seminars will be issue based and will provide students with the opportunity to discuss, develop and evaluate ideas covered in the lectures. These will also encourage students to work in small groups to develop this understanding.
• Project work will focus on specific aspects of oceanography and continue the small group approach of this module. These projects will enable students to handle real data and provide insight to the research methods used in ocean science. The coursework associated with these projects will enable students to demonstrate detailed knowledge of specific aspects of the course and assess students' ability to demonstrate detailed comparative knowledge of oceanography.
• The unseen examination will enable the students to demonstrate their understanding of the complex interactions that take place within the ocean systems and to place them in the context of past environmental change.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Feedback on seminars and practical work.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University