Aims:

1. To introduce students to marine chemistry of the major and trace elements.

2.     To demonstrate the dynamic relationship between the chemical ocean environment and biological processes.

3.     To identify the main ocean basins and main oceanic transport routes of chemical species

4.     To teach the necessary practical skills for oceanographic sampling and measurement of chemical species.

Knowledge and Understanding

To gain basic knowledge of the ocean basins, their characteristics and features.

To gain knowledge of the sources and distributions of major and minor elements in the ocean, including dissolved gases, nutrients and carbon.

To understand the chemical and biological processes that control the distribution of major and minor elements including dissolved gases, nutrients and carbon.

To recognize the form and function of different components of the marine ecosystem including viruses, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton.

To gain knowledge of the biological processes that cycle carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in the ocean.

2. Intellectual Abilities

a. Ability to relate the oceanographic distributions of dissolved gases and nutrients to biological and chemical processes.

3. Subject Based Practical Skills

a. Be able to inte rpret oceanic data in terms of major biogeochemical processes.

b. Practical ability of working in an analytical laboratory

4. General Transferable Skills

a. Numeracy

b. Time management

c. Problem solving

d. Written communication

Syllabus

Lectures (minor variations are likely as the module evolves)

1. Introduction- A brief history of Oceanography. Why is Oceanography important?

2. A Description of Ocean Basins - Continental Margins to Open Ocean.

3. Chemistry of the Oceans- Where does all the water and salt come from? Chemical composition of seawater. Constancy of composition of seawater . Chemical fluxes and residence times.

4. Salinity - Practical determination of salinity and salinity structure in the oceans.

5. Dissolved Gases in Seawater- Oxygen (biologically reactive). Carbon dioxide (biologically and chemically reactive).

6. The Carbonate Cycle- Deposition and dissolution of carbonate.

7. Hydrothermal Systems– their discovery, distribution and importance as a unique extreme ecosystem and source of elements.

8. The classification and distribution of oceanic sediments - The physical, chemical and biological processes controlling the distributions of the different kinds of oceanic sediments.

9. Plankton: definition, diversity and function in the marine ecosystem, including viruses, bacterial, phytoplankton and zooplankton

10. Photosynthesis and respiration: methods to measure rates of photosynthesis and respiration, definitio ns of gross primary production, net community production and net primary production

11. What factors limit primary production? : light and nutrients.

12. Characteristics of the low latitude and high latitude ocean with respect to the distribution of nutrients, mixing and seasonality. Development of the North Atlantic Bloom.

13. Fate of organic matter: grazing by zooplankton and export production

14. Quantity, quality and stoichiometry of marine life. Introduction to techniques to identify and quantify plankton. Introduction to the Redfield ratio.

15. Introduction to a biogeochemical cycle: the marine nitrogen cycle

16. Life in an oligotrophic environment: case study of the Hawaii Ocean Time-series.

The practicals cover the analysis of many of the substances (alkalinity, nutrients, oxygen) discussed in the lectures. Exercises are used to train the students in data interpretation

Lectures and laboratory practicals. Lectures address issues in the marine biogeochemistry of the marine system (oceans, coastal processes). The practicals give hands-on experience in analysis of marine samples, interpretation of the results, and use of basic laboratory instrumentation. The practical write-up is marked and returned in the week following submission.

Libes, S. M. An introduction to marine biogeochemistry. John Wiley and Sons. 1991

Chester, R. and Jickells, T. "Marine Geochemistry", Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.