To provide students with a view of the ocean carbon cycle as a dynamic system;
To give students an appreciation of the importance of chemical and biological processes in controlling the distribution of carbon in the ocean;
To provide students with an in depth understanding of the carbon cycle from the surface ocean, to the deep ocean and sediments, and the impact environmental change may have on it.

(LO1) Students will learn how physical, chemical and biological process control the transfer of carbon between the atmosphere, ocean and land, and the distribution of carbon species between these environments

(LO2) Students will understand the role and significance that the ocean plays in the global cycling of carbon

(LO3) Students will understand the pathways involved in cycling of inorganic and organic carbon between land and the ocean and the surface and deep ocean, with emphasis on the solubility, carbonate and biological pumps

(LO4) Students will understand how stable isotopes can be used to study the carbon cycle and how it has varied in Earth's history

(LO5) Students will understand how environmental change is perturbing the global carbon cycle in the present day. Topics covered will include ocean acidification and changes in the surface temperature

(S1) Numeracy (application of) manipulation of numbers, general mathematical awareness and its application in practical contexts (e.g. measuring, weighing, estimating and applying formulae)

(S2) Problem solving/ critical thinking/ creativity analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions.

(S3) Communication, listening and questioning, respecting others, contributing to discussions, influencing, presentations

Week One: Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, fluxes between ocean, land and atmosphere;
Week Two: Carbon and the terrestrial environment;
Week Three: Carbon and transfer to the ocean environment;
Week Four: pH, Revelle Buffer factor and alkalinity in the ocean;
Week Five: Controls on temporal and spatial changes in oceanic pCO2;
Week Six: Metabolic balance: is the ocean net autotrophic or net heterotrophic?
Week Seven: Export production: measurement, magnitude and flaws;
Week Eight: Processes in the twilight zone in the ocean;
Week Nine: Burial of carbon and sedimentary processes;
Week Ten: The carbon cycle: a palaeo perspective;
Week 11: Climate change and the carbon cycle;
Week 12: Ocean acidification.

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description:
Attendance Recorded: Yes
Unscheduled Directed Student Hours (time spent away from the timetabled sessions but directed by the teaching staff): 10

Teaching Method 2 - Workshops
Description:
Attendance Recorded: Yes
Unscheduled Directed Student Hours (time spent away from the timetabled sessions but directed by the teaching staff): 10