Syllabus

Geology 103:

Oceanography

Lori Bettison-Varga

The College of Wooster

Syllabus

Date

Topic

Readings & Assignments

Week 1

17 Jan.	Intro., overview of Indian Ocean Tsunami	p. 256-271
19 Jan.	Earth's Interior; Intro to Plate Tectonics	Chapter 1 to p. 20
21 Jan.	Crustal Materials

**Week 2**
24 Jan.	Crustal Materials
26 Jan.	Geologic Time/Age of Crustal Materials	p. 32-33
28 Jan.	no class

**Week 3**
31 Jan.	Theory of Plate Tectonics	Ch. 2
2 Feb.	Spreading centers/Divergent margins	p. 55-58; 92-97
4 Feb.	Spreading centers continued

**Week 4**
7 Feb.	Convergent Margins: Island arcs and back-arc basins	p. 59-65
9 Feb.	Tectonic and sea level History of the Oceans proposal writing/format/budget/resources discussion and exam review
11 Feb.	Exam I

**Week 5**
14 Feb.	Sea level changes	Ohio's hydrologic cycle
16 Feb.	Seawater chemistry	Ch. 5
18 Feb.	PCB's in Hudson River	complete questions for the Analysis 2 in EIO, Issue #4; due at the beginning of class Hudson River research

**Week 6**
21 Feb.	Seawater chemistry continued
23 Feb.	Atmospheric Circulation	See "Assignments" on Blackboard for HW Ch. 6 to p. 181
25 Feb.	Ocean Currents	Proposal Title and one paragraph description DUE in drop box by 5 p.m. Chapter 7

**Week 8**
7 March	Biogenic and Authigenic ocean sedimentation; Methane Hydrates
9 March	The Beaches are Moving	Proposal Outline and reference list due in drop box by 5 p.m.
11 March	Exam II- Practice Questions

---------------------------------Spring Break! Spring Break! Spring Break! -------------------------------

**Week 9**
28 March	Hurricanes/coast and beaches	Ch. 10
30 March	Hurricanes/coast and beaches	Ch. 10
1 April	Waves/Tsunamis	Chapter 8

**Week 10**
4 April	Waves/Tsunamis
6 April	Tides	Chapter 9
8 April	Tides continued... begin discussion of Estuaries, Wetlands and Lagoons

**Week 11**
11 April	Chesapeake Bay
13 April	The Great Lakes - not an ocean, but many similarities!	PROPOSAL due in drop box by 5 p.m.
15 April	Oceanic Life - the basics	Chapter 12

**Week 12**
18 April	Life at Submarine Hot Springs	p. 456-468
20 April	How to do proposal reviews
22 April	No class

**Week 13**
25 April	Whales and the dynamic oceanic ecosystem	complete questions for Issue #8, Analyses #1, 2 and 3; due at the beginning of class Blue Whale call
27 April	Coral reefs	p. 185-190; 452-456 Corals and climate
29 April	Snapshots of Ocean Life (giant squids, etc.!)	NOAA article

**Week 14**
2 May	Paleooceanography	Proposal Reviews due in drop box by 5 p.m.
4 May	Exam III
6 May	Proposal - Initial panel meetings

Final Exam

Wednesday, May 11 at 9:00 a.m. - Panel meetings