Major transitions for environments late in Earth's history will be discussed as a background for considering present and possible future influences on life of such human activities as deforestation, desertification, overfishing, pollution, emission of greenhouse gases, and introduction of species. Special topics will include the history of organic reefs, faunas of anoxic basins, and adaptation to various depositional regimes. An examination of the links connecting disease and Earth's environment and the implications of those links for human health in a changing global environment. Team-taught by faculty from the schools of Public Health, Arts and Sciences, and Engineering. A broad description of the marine environment including the wind driven circulation, the thermohaline circulation, the tides, and the characteristics of sea water, waves, and undersea topography.
Emphasis is on physical processes at work in the marine environment.
Not for students who have taken 270.108. An introduction to open ocean, coastal ocean, and estuarine circulation. The course includes a derivation of the equations of motion and continuity as an introduction to fluid mechanics. Seismology A study of the structure and constitution of Earth's interior using observations of seismic waves. Topics include propagation, reflection, and refraction of elastic waves, ray theory, dispersion of surface waves, seismicity, plate tectonics, Earth structure and composition.