AOS105/EEB139:
Introduction to Chemical Oceanography

Dr. Holger Brix (hbrix@igpp.ucla.edu)

Extended Syllabus

For the class schedule click here

Overarching Questions:
What controls the mean concentration and distribution of chemicals in the ocean? What is the role of physical, chemical and biological processes? How do these processes change over time and how might they respond to future climate change?


Organization of the course:
The course is structured into 7 chapters, starting with an introduction and a short review of large-scale ocean circulation and mixing processes. Thereafter, the presentation follows the cycling of the elements from the air-sea interface to the upper ocean, where marine organisms use light, nutrients and carbon to produce organic matter. The discussion then continues through the water column, where most of this organic material gets remineralized, into the sediments, where a small fraction of the originally produced material gets permanently buried. The course concludes with the application of the concepts gained in the previous chapters to carbon cycling and with a discussion of the link between ocean carbon cycling and global climate.

The general approach taken is one of "problem based learning", in which each chapter opens with a set of questions, that are then addressed by the chapter. In addition, each chapter contains a number of problem sets, that the students are required to study.
The course is oriented towards developing a quantitative understanding of ocean biogeochemical processes, and will involve the use of mathematical formalisms to capture this dynamics. It will also make use of simple models to explore the behavior of the biogeochemical systems.

Grading:
The grading will be based on the following breakdown:

Problemsets: 30% (8 homework assignments, lowest 2 will be dropped)
Mid-term Exam: 30%/15%
Final Exam: 40%/55%

Outline (see also textbook)
Chapter 1: Introduction
Why are elements not distributed evenly in the ocean? Why are the concentrations of some elements many thousand times lower in seawater in comparison to their concentration in the inflowing rivers? Dynamic versus equilibrium control of ocean chemical concentrations.

Chapter 2: Ocean Transport
Overview of large-scale ocean circulation. Wind-driven circulation, Sverdrup balance, Stommel gyre, thermohaline circulation, mixing, geostrophy, circulation tracers, interannual variability.

Chapter 3: Air-sea interface
Solubility and physics of air-sea gas exchange

Chapter 4: Organic matter production
Primary production in the ocean, primary producers, functional groups, light and nutrient limitation, grazing, seasonal cycle, spring bloom, nitrogen fixation.

Chapter 5: Organic matter export and remineralization
Zooplankton grazing, respiration, bacterial breakdown, denitrification, dissolved organic carbon.

Chapter 8: Carbon cycling
Apply the concepts presented in the earlier chapters to carbon. Follow the "grand cycle" from the surface to the sediments, including the cycling of mineral carbonates. Carbon chemistry, carbon cycling, seasonal variability, carbonate production, export, dissolution and diagenesis.

Reading Material
Broecker, W. S. and T. H. Peng, 1999. Greenhouse Puzzles, 2nd edition, Eldigio Press, Palisades, NY, 251pp.

Broecker, W. S. and T. H. Peng., 1982. Tracers in the Sea, Eldigio Press, Palisades, NY.

Chester, R., 1999. Marine Geochemistry, 2nd edition, Blackwell Science, 528pp.

Libes, S.M., 1992. An Introduction to Marine Biogeochemistry. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., N.Y. 734 pp.

MacKenzie, F. T., 1999. Global biogeochemical cycles and the physical climate system, Global Change Instruction Program, UCAR, Boulder, CO, 69pp.

Millero, F. J., 2006. Chemical Oceanography, Third Edition, Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 496pp.

Sarmiento, J. L. and N. Gruber, 2006. Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamics, Princeton University Press, 503pp.
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