Academics | Oceanography Courses
Oceanography Courses
MAST200 The Oceans 3 Geared to the non-science major. Integrates physical, chemical, geological and biological principles into an overview that addresses why and how the oceans work. Draws heavily on current ocean issues to illustrate processes and problems.
MAST200-070 The Oceans 3 Integrates physical, chemical, geological and biological principles into an overview that addresses why and how the oceans work. Draws heavily on current ocean issues to illustrate processes and problems. Satisfies Arts & Science Group D requirement. Open only to non-science majors with permission from instructor.
MAST 267 Special Problem: Exploring New Zealand's Marine Diversity 3 A field-based course covering New Zealand marine habitats, including estuaries and harbors, high energy beaches, mangrove swamps, sand and mudflats, rocky intertidal shorelines, kelp forests, fjords and underwater canyons. At field sites, emphasis will be placed on the identification of unique plants and animals as a basis for discussion of the human uses of and threats to these marine habitats.
MAST482 Introduction to Ocean Sciences 3 A quantitative introduction to the ocean world including geography, geophysics, chemistry of water and sediments, physics of ocean circulation and waves and tides, description of oceanic and nearshore environments, and biology of the seas. PREREQ: MATH241 or MATH221 ; CHEM103 or CHEM111 ; PHYS201 or PHYS207.
MAST 601 Introduction to Oceanography 3 Topics include the geology and history of the ocean floor, oceanic sediments, the physics of the marine environment and the oceanic circulation, chemical processes in the ocean, and biological processes and production in the oceans.
MAST602 Physical Oceanography 3 Geographic and hydrodynamic aspects of oceanography. The geography of ocean basins; physical properties of seawater; radiation; and observed distributions of temperature, salinity, oxygen and currents. Scalar and vector fields; hydrostatics; kinematics, momentum dynamics, vorticity dynamics, viscous flow and eddy flux. RESTRICTIONS: Requires permission of instructor.
MAST604 Environmental Data Management 1 Emphasizes the use of remotely sensed data for research and management of coastal resources. Environmental issues and data requirements are discussed. Case studies illustrate the use of Geographic Information Systems for integrating remotely sensed imagery with ancillary data to address coastal environmental problems.
MAST606 Ocean and Atmosphere Remote Sensing 3 Fundamentals of ocean and atmosphere remote sensing including space platforms, their orbits, instruments, data retrieval and image processing methods. Oceanographic and atmospheric applications of remote sensing and new developments in sensors and data analyses.
MAST637 Geological Oceanography 3 Focuses on processes that create the oceanic and continental margin sedimentary record. Topics include marine particle production and composition, transport, seafloor morphology, stratigraphy and paleocenaography. Students will gain a broad understanding of concepts in geological oceanography and marine geology.
MAST646 Chemical Oceanography 3 Composition of seawater; physiochemical properties of seawater; distributions of gases, nutrients and trace metals; and effect of biological processes on seawater composition. PREREQ: CHEM103 and CHEM104.
MAST647 Physical Chemistry of Seawater 3 Introduction to chemical equilibria in seawater. Topics include electrolyte theory, gas solubility, chemical speciation, acid-base equilibria and the carbon dioxide system. Emphasizes use of computer techniques to study oceanic chemical processes. PREREQ: One year of Chemistry. RESTRICTIONS: Computer experience not required.
MAST681 Remote Sensing of Environment 3 Detection and mapping of land and ocean resources with optical, infrared and microwave sensors. Digital analysis of satellite images using multispectral and spatial analysis techniques and correlation with ground/ship data. Application to oceanography, coastal processes, geology, land use, geography, agriculture, climate and pollution studies. May be cross-listed with ELEG681 and/or GEOG681. RESTRICTIONS: Requires permission of instructor.
MAST686 Remote Sensing Seminar 1 Basic and applied research topics in remote sensing of earth resources, coastal processes, estuarine productivity, ocean dynamics and climatic effects presented by University students, faculty and guest speakers. Stresses advanced data acquisition and spectral and spatial image analysis techniques. RESTRICTIONS: May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
MAST809 The Ocean and Climate Variation 3 Study of the ocean-atmosphere system; the fluxes of heat, water and energy in the ocean and interchanges with the atmosphere; budgets and mechanisms of exchange; and interannual and long-term climate variations as related to the ocean. PREREQ: MAST602.
MAST816 Biological Oceanographic Process 1-4 Multidisciplinary approach to the abundance and distribution of organisms in the oceans, the physiological and behavioral responses of organisms to the abiotic and biotic environment and the role of organisms in modifying the environment. Taught as six modules: algae, bacteria, protozoa, zooplankton, benthos, fish and fisheries. PREREQ: General Biology, Ecology, Microbiology, and Invertebrate Biology. RESTRICTIONS: May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
MAST820 Experimental Design Seminar 1 Forum for presentation of research plans or results with emphasis on experimental design and data analysis. Ensuing discussion aids preparation of research proposals and sharpens critical assessment of own and colleagues' work.
MAST831 Coastal and Estuarine Geology 3 Sedimentation processes and products in coastal, estuarine, and shelf environments. Topics include sediment production, transport and physical/chemical properties; shoreline and seafloor morphodynamics; strata formation and sea level variability. Emphasis is on the character and distribution of sedimentary deposits in relation to coastal ocean processes. PREREQ: MAST631 and GEOL631 or permission of instructor.
MAST847 Current Topics in Chemical Methods in Oceanography 1-3 Principles, capabilities and limitations of analytical methods to the chemistry of marine waters and sediments. Analytical methods include electrochemical, spectroscopic, chromatographic, electron microscopy and surface techniques. Emphasis on the analysis of trace components (biochemical, inorganic and organic) in the marine environment. Laboratory experiments. Topics vary and will be announced in the registration booklet. PREREQ: MAST646 or Analytical Chemistry. RESTRICTIONS: May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
MAST850 Marine Inorganic Chemistry 3 Principles of inorganic chemistry are used to explain and to understand the speciation and reactivity of the elements in the marine environment. Emphasis on the mechanistic aspects of important marine processes including mineral dissolution and formation, electron transfer reactions and the role of metals in biogeochemical reactions. May be cross-listed with CHEM855. PREREQ: MAST646, Aquatic Chemistry or Physical Chemistry.
MAST851 Marine Sedimentary Geochemistry 3 Fluxes of major, minor, trace, and nutrient elements and radionuclides from marine waters to sediments deposits with emphasis on deposition rates, sedimentary reaction and transport regimes, return fluxes to the overlying waters, and models that may be used to quantify these processes.
PREREQ: MAST646 or CIEG632 or PLSC608 or GEOL646.
MAST 852 Isotope Geochemistry 3 Introduction to the field of isotope geochemistry and the application of isotope systematics to the study of geological, geochemical, hydrological, atmospheric and marine cycles. Light stable isotopes, uranium thorium decay series nuclides, and long-lived heavy isotopes will be considered.
PREREQ: MAST646
MAST853 Oceanography Seminar 1 A review of current oceanographic literature through student presentations. RESTRICTIONS: May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
MAST855 Coastal and Estuarine Chemistry 3 Distributions, behavior, and chemical processes in estuarine and coastal waters are examined in this advanced general chemical oceanography course. Greater heterogeneity of physical controls and anthropogenic influences give a unique nature to this coastal corridor in the global flux from land to sea. PREREQ: MAST646.
MAST856 Biogeochemical Oceanography 1-4 Modular graduate seminar of individual offerings inspects aspects of marine biogeochemical cycle. Includes such topics as atmospheric and oceanic fluxes, climatic feedback controls involving the ocean, and the role of the marine environment in global change. RESTRICTIONS: May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
MAST857 Paleoceanography 3 Focuses on methods of reconstruction of ocean history and the interpretation of the marine sedimentary record of the past 60 million years. Specific topics include concepts and application of light stable isotope mass spectrometry. May be cross-listed with GEOL857. PREREQ: Algebra, Precalculus, CHEM101 through CHEM112, PHYS201-202, BISC103, Geological Oceanography (MAST637) and Quaternary Geology and Geochronology. RESTRICTIONS: Requires permission of instructor.
