TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-GALVESTON
Oceanography (OCNG 251)
Right hand-side picture credit: Andris Apse
|
Instructor: Dr.
Patrick Louchouarn Associate
Professor Depts.
of Marine Sciences (TAMUG) and Oceanography
(TAMU) |
Office: Fort Crokett Rm 207 Phone:
(409) 740-4710 Email: loup@tamug.edu |
Course Description: An overview of the Ocean environment with an emphasis of the
interrelationship of the subdisciplines of ocean sciences. This course will
focus on the importance of the oceans to human beings as well as the impact of
human activities on the oceans.
Material
covered: the formation and structure of their basins (continental margins, deep
abyssal plains, ridges and trenches, sediments); the physical description of
their surface (waves, and tides) and of seawater (physical properties,
identification of water masses based on density); the geochemistry of seawater
(salinity, dissolved and particulate matter, nutrient cycles, particulate
fluxes and sedimentation); the general oceanic circulation patterns (fluxes of
energy at the ocean-atmosphere interface, drift and geostrophic currents,
thermohaline circulation); the biological oceanic populations as a function of
diverse physico-chemical variables. These theoretical aspects of oceanography
will be followed by regional case studies of coastal systems and an introduction
to the state of the environment in the Oceans (i.e. contamination, oil spills,
fisheries exploitation).
1)
to give an overview
of the science of oceanography and how it is practiced
2) to integrate all specific concepts of oceanography into
a multidisciplinary analysis of the Earth
3) to stimulate students’ interest and curiosity in
the many and varied sciences used in the study of the oceans, and
4) to show that in the complexity of this
“water-world” lies beauty, control, and vulnerability.
Course Outline:
The
approach of the course will follow a general sequence of themes that will 1) introduce the notion of the Earth as a
“water-planet”, 2) set the boundaries of ocean
basins (upper and lower limits), 3) describe
the properties of the water element (physical and chemical), 4) put in motion the oceanic system (horizontal and
vertical circulation), 5) look at the marine
system(s) as an environment for life, and finally 6)
address contemporary issues of environmental degradation.
The schedule below is a
preliminary outline of the semester. Reading assignments are listed below and
should be completed before the stated lecture date. Additional reading or
reference material (indicated as + after Chap. selections) may be suggested
during the course of the lecture. The far right hand column shows possible
scheduled points, which may be accumulated by that date if you make perfect
scores on all work.
Last updated 06/15/2007
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