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COAS graduate students in chemical
oceanography can elect to concentrate on natural or contaminant organics, nutrients
or trace metals in the oceans, and on assessing the oceanic effects of such
materials and their exchanges with atmospheric and terrestrial behaviors.
Graduate education in Chemical Oceanography incorporates course work and
research in descriptive, analytical and theoretical chemistry. These efforts
are often directly linked to biological, physical and geological
oceanography, reflecting the broad interdisciplinary nature of our field. All
incoming Chemical Oceanography students take core chemical, physical,
biological and geological oceanography courses with students from other
oceanography disciplines during their first year. Specialized courses in such
areas as isotope geochemistry, organic geochemistry, pollution chemistry and
instrumental methods of chemical analysis are subsequently elected to fulfill
the curricular requirements of individual students.
OC 550
Chemical Oceanography
(3 credits). Chemical properties and processes in the
oceans. Composition, origin and evolution of seawater; thermodynamic
and kinetic predictions for reactions in seawater; major and minor element
reservoirs and fluxes; vertical and horizontal transport of materials;
isotopic clocks and tracers; nutrients; chemical processes and fluxes across
major marine interfaces, including estuaries, atmosphere, sediments,
suspended particles and hydrothermal systems.
PREREQ: One year of college-level general chemistry.
OC 651 Advanced Chemical Oceanography
(3 credits). Advanced topics in chemical oceanography emphasizing
problems and issues of contemporary interest. Descriptive studies of chemical
processes in sea water and the oceans; interactions of oceanic circulation
and chemical distributions; sea water chemistry in specialized environments;
geochemical and biochemical cycles; sea water-sediment interactions.
PREREQ: OC 450/550.
OC 652 Chemical Oceanography
Laboratory
(3 credits). Chemical analytical techniques for seawater and marine
sediments. Topics include: salinity; dissolved oxygen; nutrients; the CO2 system;
dissolved and particulate organic materials; trace metals; radio nuclides;
analytical barriers and recent advances.
PREREQ: OC 450/550 or consent of the instructor.
OC 653 Marine Radiochemistry
(3 credits). Basic principles of radioactive decay and growth; marine
biogeochemistry of uranium and thorium series radio nuclides; release of
artificial radio nuclides into marine environments; applications of
radioisotopic techniques to oceanic circulation and mixing,
paleoceanography, sediment geochronology, archeometry, and marine pollution.
PREREQ: One year of college-level general chemistry. OC 450/550 desirable.
OC 654 Marine Pollution
(3 credits). Identification of sources for organic and inorganic
pollutants in estuarine, coastal and ocean-ic environ-ments; mechanisms of
introduction and dispersal; chemical and biological behavior and removal
processes; regional and global scale effects; case studies and future
research strategies; monitoring programs for pollution assessment.
PREREQ: OC 450/550.
OC 655 Advanced Aquatic Chemistry
(4 credits). This course involves low temperature thermodynamics and
selective kinetic treatments primarily of the inorganic chemistry of natural
waters. To the extent data bases exist for them, organic ligands and surface
active groups are also considered. Techniques for predicting the speciation
and reactions of dissolved and solid phases in aqueous systems are studied
and applied, with the assistance of existing computer code, to a range of
natural waters including rain, lakes, rivers, groundwater and the oceans.
Comparison of observations with model results are used to demonstrate the
utility of the thermodynamic pseudokinetic approach. The principal
goals for the course are to provide familiarity with the range of chemical
properties that characterize natural waters and to generate sufficient
proficiency with the available computer programs so that students can apply
them as a tool in their own research.
PREREQ: physical chemistry or course in chemical thermodynamics.
OC 656 Marine Organic Geochemistry
(3 credits). Models for the formation and decomposition of simple and
macromolecular organic matter in waters and sediments of the marine
environment. Chemotaxonomic methods to distinguish sources of sedimentary
organic matter and to identify the processes that influence the transfer and
preservation of organic matter in the geological record.
PREREQ: CH 332 or CH 336, and OC 450/550.
OC 659
Special Topics in Chemical Oceanography
(1-4 credits). Special topics of current interest in chemical
oceanography not covered in detail by other courses. May be repeated on
different topics for credit.
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