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OCN 201 - Science of the Sea
Course Description
This course offers a descriptive and non-mathematical survey of geological, physical, chemical and biological oceanography, providing the student with a broad understanding of the sea floor and its features; chemical properties of sea water and its motions; life in the sea and its interaction with the environment.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of OCN 201, the student will be able to:
- Application of metric units in ocean studies
- Design and determination of Latitudes, Longitudes in world oceans
- Historical development of oceanography
- Radioactive dating technique in determining the age of ocean basins
- Use of oceans as a source of food and energy
- Formation of ocean basins and their geological features
- Sources of sediments and their distribution in world oceans
- Plate tectonics and seafloor spreading concepts
- Topics in Chemical Oceanography: water and its unusual properties, composition of sea-salt and dissolved Gases, salinity determination and distribution, CO2 Cycle and its influence on Global Warming
- Interaction of ocean and atmosphere; light and heat budget; Hydrographic properties; ocean currents, waves and tides
- Factors affecting the distribution of marine organisms
- Systems of classification of marine organisms
- Impacts of marine pollution on marine life
- Ocean food chain and fisheries.