The Department of Oceanography

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School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology

Courses offered by
the Department of Oceanography

 

100 Seminar in Global Environmental Science (3)
    Seminar course to introduce new GES majors to the research interests of GES faculty and the research facilities available within SOEST. Restricted to GES majors. CR/NC only. Fall only.
201 Science of the Sea (3)
    Structure, formation, and features of ocean basins: seawater properties, and distributions; currents; waves; tides; characteristics of marine organisms; marine ecological principles; man and the sea. Field trip required.
201L Science of the Sea Laboratory (1)
    Experiments, computer exercises and field trips demonstrating th egeological, physical, chemical and biological principles of earth and ocean sciences. A-F only. Co-requisite OCN 201.
310 Global Environmental Change (3)

    Global environmental change problems such as carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect, acid rain, chlorofluorocarbons and the ozone layer, global deforestation and the effect on climate, etc. Pre: one environmentally oriented science course. (Cross-Listed as OEST 310 and MET 310)
310L Global Environmental Change Laboratory (2) (2-hr Lab)
    Laboratory course to supplement OCN 310. Quantitative aspects of global environmental change will be addressed through problem-solving and computer modeling. A-F only. Pre: MATH 241, MATH 242, PHYS 170, PHYS 170 L, CHEM 161 and CHEM 161L; or consent. Co-requisite: 310 or consent. Fall only. (Cross-listed as MET 310L and OEST 310L)
312 Geomathematics (3)
    Mathematical methods of geophysical science. Emphasis on application to earth-science problems using linear algebra, vector calculus, partial differential equations, and numerical solutions. Pre: MATH 242 or consent. (Cross-listed as GG 312)
315 Modeling Natural Systems (3)
    Introduction to philosophy of science for those with some background in the natural sciences. Special emphasis on issues arising from the construction and use of models. Pre: any course 200 or above with either DB or DP designation, or consent (Cross-listed as PHIL 315)
320 Aquatic Pollution (3)
    Pollution of freshwater and marine systems by human activities. Causes, consequences, and correctives. Pre: OCN 201 or consent.
330 Mineral and Energy Resources of the Sea (3)
    Hard mineral and petroleum origins, exploration and exploitation. Renewable and non-renewable resources distribution. Political and scientific constraints. Pre: OCN 201, ORE 202; or consent (Cross-listed as ORE 330).
331 Living Resources of the Sea (3)
    Marine fisheries, aquaculture, and law of the sea. Principles of management of renewable resources. Political and scientific constraints and limitations. Pre: OCN 201.
363 Earth System Science Databases (3)
    Combined lecture, discussion, and laboratory course on Global Earth System databases and satellite instrumentation, including computer laboratory. A-F only. Pre: OCN 310, 310L and MATH 244; or consent.
401 Biogeochemical Systems (3)
    Relationship of biogeochemical cycles in the atmosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere to global chemical cycles and planetary climatic conditions. GES degree foundation course. A-F only. Pre: OCN 201, BIOL 171/171L, BIOL 172/172L, CHEM 161/161L, CHEM 162/162L, GG101/101L, MATH 205, MATH 206/206L, MATH 231 (or GG 312), MATH 323 (or ECON 321), MET 200, OEST 310/310L, PHYS 170/170L, and PHYS 272/272L; or consent.
402 Solar Nebula to the Human Brain (3)
    Changes in the chemical composition from solar nebula to meteorites, bulk earth, earth's mantle and crust, sedimentary rocks, hydrosphere, biosphere and human body and underlying principles. Pre: CHEM 161 and 162; or consent.
403 Marine Functional Genomics and Biotechnology (3)
    Fundamental principles governing marine functional ecology; emphasis on modern methods and approaches for marine microbial ecology; models to describe the behavior of marine microbial communities; emerging marine biotechnology. A-F only. Pre: MICR 130 or MICR 351, or consent. Spring only. (Cross-listed as MBBE 405).
423 Marine Geology (3)
    Sediments, structure, geophysics, geochemistry, and history of ocean basins and margins. Pre: GG 302 or consent (Cross-listed as GG 423).
444 Plate Tectonics (3) (2 Lecture, 1 3-hour Lab)
    Quantitative geometrical analysis techniques of plate tectonics theory; instantaneous and finite rotation poles; triple-junction analysis; plate boundary stresses. Pre: GG 200 or consent. (Cross-listed as GG 444). (Alt. years).
450 Aquaculture Production (3)
    Theory and practice of the biological, ecological, and energetic aspects: water quality, nutrition, reproduction, yield trials. Case studies of fishes, crustaceans, molluscs and algae. Pre: ANSC 200 (or concurrent) and 201(or concurrent), BIOL 172 (or concurrent). (Cross-listed as ANSC).
480 Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems: Biological-Physical Interactions in the Oceans (3)
    Combined lecture and discussion course examining biological and physical interactions in the oceans and their impacts on the functioning of marine ecosystems. GES majors only. A-F only. Pre: 201, 201L, 310/310L, and PHYS 272/272L; or consent.
490 Communication of Research Results (3)

499 Undergraduate Thesis (3)
    Directed research course in which the student carries out a scientific project of small to moderate scope with one or more chosen advisers. The student must complete a document in the style of a scientific journal article. Repeatable once. Pre: consent.
620 Physical Oceanography (4)
    Introduction to properties of sea water, oceanographic instruments and methods, heat budget, general ocean circulation, formation of water masses, dynamics of circulation, regional oceanography, waves, tides, sea level. Core course requirement. Pre: MATH 242 (or concurrent), or consent.
621 Biological Oceanography (3)
    Factors governing productivity, population dynamics, distribution of organisms in major ecosystems of the ocean, pelagic and benthic ecology. Core course requirement. Pre: OCN 620 or consent.
622 Geological Oceanography (3)
    Marine geological processes; ocean basin structure and tectonics; sedimentation. Core course requirement. Pre: GG 101 or consent.
623 Chemical Oceanography (3)
    Chemical processes occurring in marine waters; why they occur and how they affect the oceanic environment. Core course requirement. Pre: CHEM 171 or equivalent.
625 Aquatic Photosynthesis (3)
    Biochemical and biophysical concepts of photosynthesis. Application and interpretation of ecological processes of photosynthesis in aquatic systems. Open to non-majors. A-F only. Pre: consent. Spring only.
626 Marine Microplankton Ecology (4) (3L, 2-hr Dis)
    Distribution, abundance and ecology of marine microplankton, including bacteria, algae and protozoans, with an emphasis on metabolic rates and processes. Core course requirement for biological oceanography graduate students. Pre: consent. Fall only.
627 Ecology of Pelagic Marine Animals (4) (3L, 3-hr Lb)
    Ecology of pelagic animals including feeding, energetics, predation, and anti-predation tactics, life-history strategies, vertical flux of materials, population dynamics, fisheries. Core course requirement for biological oceanography graduate students. Spring only. Pre: consent.
628 Benthic Biological Oceanography (4) (3L, 3-hr Lb)
    Processes controlling the structure and function of benthic communities including organism-sediment-flow interactions, sediment geochemistry, feeding strategies, recruitment, succession and population interactions. Spring only. Pre: consent.
629 Applied Microbiological Oceanography (3)
    Fundamental prinicples for studying microbial ecology and microbial biotechnology; emphasis on molecular methodology for exploration of ecological and biotechnological interests of microbes in marine natural habitats; developing skills for critical review of research papers and research project in marine microbial ecology and biotechnology. A-F only. Pre: 403 and MICR 130 or 351, or consent. Fall only.
630 Physical Oceanography Laboratory (1) (3-hr Lb)
    Techniques and methods of analysis. Pre: MATH 244 and consent.
631 Ocean Minerals (3)
    Distribution, origin, processes of formation. Sulfides, oxides and placer minerals. Comparative studies of continental ore bodies. Submarine rift subduction and abduction. Pre: one of OCN 622 or 623, GG 407, 430 or 603.
633 Biogeochemical Methods in Oceanography (3) (1 Lec, 2 3-hr Lab)
    Current methods of analysis used in the ocean sciences, both in the field and in the laboratory. An ocean-going field trip provides students with hands-on training in sample collection and processing. The latter is followed by laboratory analysis of the collected samples throughout the remainder of the semester. Pre: BIOL 171, CHEM 151, or GG 101 or equivalent.
635 Isotopic Marine Geochemistry (3)
    Application of stable and unstable isotope tracers in studying geochemical processes and their rates in the sea. Pre: CHEM 162, MATH 241 or MATH 251A.
638 Earth System Science and Global Change (3)
    Global view of the planet and how it functions as an integrated unit. Biogeochemical processes, dynamics, and cycles, and analysis of natural and human-induced environmental change. Chemical history of ocean-atmosphere-sediment system and co-evolution of the biota. Repeatable one time. Pre: BS in environmentally related science or one year of chemistry, physics, and calculus. (Cross-listed as GG 638).
640 Observational Physical Oceanography (3)
    Interpretation of observations of oceanic motions, water mass properties, sea surface topography, and air-sea moisture, heat and momentum exchange, etc., via modern in situ and remote sensing instrumentation; observational strategies explored; recent field programs reviewed. [For more information, click here.] Pre: OCN 620 or consent.
641 Origin of Sedimentary Rocks (3) (2 Lecture and 1 3-hr Lb)
    Environment of deposition and subsequent disgenesis of modern and ancient sediments. Petrogensis of siliciclastic, carbonate and orthochemical rocks. Sedimentology, sedimentary petrography and geochemistry. Repeatable once. Pre: consent (Cross-listed as GG 641).
642 Elemental Composition Changes (2)
    Changes in the chemical composition of meteorites, bulk Earth, Earth's mantle and crust, sedimentary rocks, hydrosphere and biosphere, and underlying principles. Pre: OCN 623 or GG 325, or consent. (Cross-listed as GG 642).
643 Topics in Marine Geochemistry (3)
    Seminar on a broad topic; discussion and critique of research papers. Repeatable once. Pre: OCN 623 or consent.
644 Sedimentary Geochemistry (3)
    Geochemical thermodynamics and kinetics and their use in interpreting the origin of sediments, sedimentary rocks, and natural waters over a range of pressure-temperature conditions. Pre: CHEM 171, PHYS 152, MATH 242 and consent (Cross- listed as GG 644).
645 Marine Organic Geochemistry (3)
    Processes responsible for cycling of organic material in marine waters and sediments. Pre: OCN 622, 623; CHEM 272 or consent.
650 Mathematical Techniques for Oceanographers (5) (3 Lectures and 2 3-hour Labs)
    Introduction to numerical methods, data analysis, error propagation, box models, linear and nonlinear least squares, perturbation theory, numerical integration. Pre MATH 244 or MATH 253A.
653L Methods in Microbiological Oceanography (3) (8-hr Lb)
    Modern methods for sampling microbial populations from sea and for quantifying biomass and in situ rates of metabolism. Integrated field projects, theme varies. Pre: OCN 621 or 623, or consent (Cross-listed as MICRO 653L).
660 Ocean Waves I (3)
    Governing hydrodynamic equations, perturbation techniques, gravity and capillary waves, wave energy, group velocity, refraction, wave spectra, wave generation. Pre: MATH 432 or consent.
661 Ocean Waves II (3)
    Baroclinic gravity waves, inertial waves, mid-latitude Rossby waves, topographic waves, equatorial waves. Pre: 660 or consent.
662 Marine Hydrodynamics (3)
    Introduction to classical hydrodynamics and continuum mechanics; techniques for solution of Navier-Stokes equations on various scales of oceanic motion; vorticity, potential theory, viscosity and boundary layers, laminar and turbulent flow, instability. Pre: MATH 403-404 or consent.
663 Satellite Oceanography (3)
    Techniques of satellite observations of the ocean, including temperature, pigment concentration, currents and winds; analysis of a satellite data set as term project. Pre: 620 or consent.
664 Oceanographic Instrumentation & Technology (3)
    Measurement techniques in physical oceanography, including pressure, temperature, salinity, oxygen, optical sensors, current meters, navigation systems, ocean acoustics and mooring structures. Includes a laboratory research project. Pre: 620 or consent.
665 Small-scale Air-Sea Interaction (3)
    Observations and theory of small-scale processes which couple the atmosphere and ocean boundary layers, including introduction to turbulence theory and parameterization of turbulent fluxes. [For more information, click here.] Pre: MATH 402-403 (or their equivalent) and either OCN 620 or MET 600; or consent. (Cross-listed as MET 665)
666 Large-scale Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions (3)
    Lecture/seminar introduces physical oceanography and meteorology students to the state-of-the-art theories and observations of large-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction, as well as conveying the fundamental understanding that has been developed during the past 30 years. Emphasis will be on phenomena such as El Nino/Southern Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and global climate change. Repeatable one time. [For more information, click here.] Pre: OCN 620 or MET 600; or consent. (Cross-listed as MET 666)
667 Advanced Geophysical Fluid Dynamics I (3)
    Basic concepts and equations to describe large-scale ocean circulation; numerical models; boundary layers; models of wind driven circulation of a homogenous ocean. Pre: OCN 620, 662 or consent.
668 Advanced Geophysical Fluid Dynamics II (3)
    Thermodynamics of stratified fluids; convection; mixing; models of the thermohaline circulation; the role of eddies in the large-scale ocean circulation. Pre: OCN 667 or consent.
674 Paleoceanography (V)
    Study of the paleoceanographic and paleoclimate evolution of the Earth's oceans, atmosphere, and biosphere. Repeatable one time. Pre: consent. (Cross-listed as GG 674).
680 Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems: Biological-Physical Interactions in the Oceans (3)
    Combined lecture/discussion examining biological and physical interactions in the oceans and their impacts on the functioning of marine ecosystems. A-F only. Pre: previous course in Marine Science, or consent. (Alt. years).
699 Directed Research (V)
    Pre: consent.
700 Thesis Research (V)
    Research for master's thesis. Repeatable unlimited times.
735 Seminar in Oceanography (2)
    Seminar.
750 Topics in Biological Oceanography (V)
    Seminar. Literature and concepts in one of several active fields considered in detail. Pre: consent. Repeatable up to 12 credits.
760 Topics in Physical Oceanography (V)
770 Seminar in Chemical Oceanography (1)
    Current topics in Chemical Oceanography.
780 Seminar (1)
    Oceanographic topics of current interest. Repeatable unlimited times.
791 Proposal Development (2)
    Introduction to the organization and functioning of oceanography funding agencies, the peer-review process, and the design and development of a research proposal. Repeatable. CR/NC only. Pre: two of the following: 621, 626, 627 (or concurrent), or 628 (or concurrent); or consent.
800 Dissertation Research (V)
    Research for doctoral dissertation. Repeatable unlimited times.

Department of Oceanography
Last modified: July 2008
ocean@soest.hawaii.edu