This course examines in an introductory way the classic disciplines of ocean science beginning with important definitions and a general history of oceanography.
Emphasis is on descriptive biological, physical, chemical, and geological marine science.
Additional topics of special interest including scuba, demonstrations of marine research instrumentation, and films of current oceanographic topics such as coastal upwelling and polar oceanography will supplement the lecture. Topics will include sea floor hydrothermal vents and their indigenous communities, manganese nodules, tsunami prediction, radioisotopes in the sea, Bering Sea productivity, and the role of the ocean in global warming due to fossil fuel carbon dioxide.