Home About UH Academic Calendar Courses Undergraduate Education Graduate Education Degrees, Minors, & Certificates Colleges, Schools, & Academic Units

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS


SAMPLE COURSE DESCRIPTION

COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM

GENERAL EDUCATION DESIGNATION

DEPARTMENTS OFFERING DIVERSIFICATION COURSES

Oceanography (OCN)

School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology

OCN 100 Global Environmental Science Seminar (1) 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.

OCN 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. DP

OCN 201L Science of the Sea Laboratory (1) Experiments, computer exercises and field trips demonstrating the geological, physical, chemical and biological principles of earth and ocean sciences. A-F only. Co-requisite: 201. DY

OCN 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) DP

OCN 310L Global Environmental Change Laboratory (2) (3-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 242 or MATH 242A, PHYS 170, PHYS 170L, and CHEM 161/161L; or consent. Co-requisite: 310 or consent. Fall only. (Cross-listed as MET 310L and OEST 310L) DY

OCN 312 Geomathematics (3) Mathematical methods of geologic and geophysical science. Emphasis on application to earth-science problems using linear algebra, vector calculus, ordinary differential equations, and numerical solutions. Pre: MATH 242 or 242A or consent. (Cross-listed as GG 312)

OCN 315 The Role of Models in Global Environmental Science (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 in PHIL or any course 200 or above with either DB or DP designation, or consent. (Cross-listed as PHIL 315)

OCN 320 Aquatic Pollution (3) Pollution of freshwater and marine systems by human activities. Causes, consequences, and correctives. Pre: 201 or consent. DP

OCN 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: 201, ORE 202; or consent. (Cross-listed as ORE 330) DP

OCN 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: 201. DB

OCN 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: 310/310L, and MATH 244; or consent. DP

OCN 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 and capstone course. A-F only. Pre: 201, 310/310L, BIOL 172/172L, CHEM 162/162L, GG 101/101L, MATH 241, MATH 243 & 252A, MATH 373 (or ECON 321), MET 200, MET 310/310L, OEST 310/310L, PHYS 170/170L, and PHYS 272/272L; or consent. Fall only. DP

OCN 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 162 or consent. DP

OCN 403 Microbial Biotechnology (3) Fundamental principles governing environmental biotechnology applications; emphasis on processes mediated by microorganisms, development of remediation technologies, environmentally friendly biocatalysis, models to describe the behavior of microbial communities, and emerging biotechnology for environmental microbiology. A-F only. Pre: MICR 130 or MICR 351, or consent. Spring only. (Cross-listed as MBBE 405)

OCN 423 Marine Geology (3) Sediments, structure, geophysics, geochemistry, history of ocean basins and margins. Pre: GG 302 and GG 308, or consent. (Cross-listed as GG 423) DP

OCN 444 Plate Tectonics (3) (2 Lec, 1 3-hr 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. (Alt. years)

OCN 450 Aquaculture Production (3) Theory and practice of aquaculture: reproduction, yield trials, management, economics, and business case studies of fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. Field classes held at commercial farm and hatchery. Repeatable two times. Pre: ANSC 200 (or concurrent) and ANSC 201 (or concurrent) or BIOL 172 (or concurrent). (Cross-listed as ANSC 450) DB

OCN 470 Air Pollution (3) (2 Lec, 1 3-hr Lab) A survey of the physical and chemical aspects of air pollution and climate at global and local scales; responses to threats to our atmospheric environment. Lecture, lab and field trips. GES majors. A-F only. Pre: 310, CHEM 162, MET 200, PHYS 272; or consent. Spring only. (Cross-listed as MET 470) DP

OCN 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. (Alt. years)

OCN 490 Communication of Research Results (2) Lecture/discussion to provide instruction and experience in oral and written presentation of scientific results and material. Registration limited to GES majors in their final semester. A-F only. Pre: consent.

OCN 499 Undergraduate Thesis (V) Directed research course in which the student carries out a scientific project of small to moderate scope with one or more chosen advisors. The student must complete a document in the style of a scientific journal article. Repeatable one time. Pre: consent.

OCN 620 Physical Oceanography (4) Introduction to properties of seawater, oceanographic instruments and methods, heat budget, general ocean circulation, regional oceanography, waves, tides, sea level. Repeatable one time. Pre: MATH 242 (or concurrent), or consent.

OCN 621 Biological Oceanography (3) Factors governing productivity, population dynamics, distribution of organisms in major ecosystems of the ocean, emphasis on ecology of pelagic zone. Pre: 620 or consent.

OCN 622 Geological Oceanography (3) Marine geological processes, ocean basin structure and tectonics, sedimentation. Pre: GG 101.

OCN 623 Chemical Oceanography (3) Chemical processes occurring in marine waters; why they occur and how they affect oceanic environment. Pre: CHEM 171.

OCN 626 Marine Microplankton Ecology (4) (3 Lec, 1 3-hr Lab) Distribution, abundance, and ecology of marine microplankton, including bacteria, algae, and protozoans, with an emphasis on metabolic rates and processes. Pre: consent. Spring only.

OCN 627 Ecology of Pelagic Marine Animals (4) (3 Lec, 1 3-hr Lab) Ecology of pelagic animals including feeding, energetics, predation, and anti-predation tactics. Life-history strategies, vertical flux of materials, population dynamics, fisheries. Pre: consent. Spring only.

OCN 628 Benthic Biological Oceanography (4) (3 Lec, 1 3-hr Lab) Processes controlling the structure and function of benthic communities, including organism-sediment-flow interactions, sediment geochemistry, feeding strategies, recruitment, succession, and population interactions. Pre: consent. Spring only.

OCN 629 Applied Microbiological Oceanography (3) Fundamental principles 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.

OCN 630 Physical Oceanography Lab (1) (1 3-hr Lab) Techniques and methods of analysis. Pre: MATH 244 and consent.

OCN 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 622, 623, GG 407, GG 430, or GG 603.

OCN 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 analyses of the collected samples throughout the remainder of the semester. Pre: BIOL 171, CHEM 151, GG 101 or equivalent.

OCN 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, and MATH 241 or MATH 251A.

OCN 635L Radiochemical Techniques (1) (1 3-hr Lab) Radiation detection and measurement, separation and manipulation of radionuclides, experimental design and use of tracers. Student projects based on individual interests. Pre: 635 (or concurrent) and consent.

OCN 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)

OCN 640 Observational Physical Oceanography (3) Application of the scientific method; physical regimes in the ocean; ocean processes and observational strategies; resolution, sampling, array design and observing systems; models and data assimilation; major field programs; operational oceanography and climate prediction. Pre: 620 and consent.

OCN 641 Origin of Sedimentary Rocks (3) (2 Lec, 1 3-hr Lab) Environment of deposition and subsequent diagenesis of modern and ancient sediments. Petrogenesis of siliciclastic, carbonate and orthochemical rocks. Sedimentology, sedimentary petrography and geochemistry. Repeatable one time. Pre: consent. (Cross-listed as GG 641)

OCN 642 Elemental Composition Changes (3) Changes in the chemical composition of meteorites, bulk Earth, Earth’s mantle and crust, sedimentary rocks, hydrosphere and biosphere, and underlying principles. Pre: 623 or GG 325, or consent. (Cross-listed as GG 642)

OCN 643 Topics in Marine Geochemistry (3) Seminar on a broad topic; discussion and critique of research papers. Repeatable one time. Pre: 623 or consent.

OCN 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, MATH 242, PHYS 152; or consent. (Cross-listed as GG 644)

OCN 645 Marine Organic Geochemistry (3) Processes responsible for cycling of organic material in marine waters and sediments. Pre: 622, 623, and CHEM 272; or consent.

OCN 650 Math Techniques for Oceanographers (5) (3 Lec, 2 3-hr Lab) 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.

OCN 653 Methods in Microbiology Oceanography (3) (1 8-hr Lab) Modern methods for sampling microbial populations from the sea and for quantifying biomass and in siturates of metabolism. Integrated field projects, theme varies. Pre: 621 or 623, and 626; or consent.

OCN 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.

OCN 661 Ocean Waves II (3) Baroclinic gravity waves, inertial waves, mid-latitude Rossby waves, topographic waves, equatorial waves. Pre: 660 or consent.

OCN 662 Marine Hydrodynamics (3) Introduction to classical hydrodynamics and continuum mechanics. Techniques for solution of Navier Stokes equations on various scales of oceanic motion; potential theory, dynamic modeling, and viscous and rotational processes. Pre: MATH 403.

OCN 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.

OCN 664 Oceanographic Instrumentation and 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.

OCN 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. Pre: MATH 403 and either OCN 620 or MET 600, or consent. (Cross-listed as MET 665)

OCN 666 Large-Scale Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions (3) This lecture/seminar course 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. Pre: 620 or MET 600, or consent. (Cross-listed as MET 666)

OCN 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 homogeneous ocean. Pre: 620 and 662, or consent.

OCN 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: 667 or consent.

OCN 674 Paleoceanography (V) Study of the paloeceanographic and paleoclimate evolution of the Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and biosphere. Repeatable one time. Pre: consent. (Cross-listed as GG 674)

OCN 699 Directed Research (V) Pre: consent.

OCN 700 Thesis Research (V) Research for master’s thesis. Repeatable unlimited times.

OCN 750 Topics in Biological Oceanography (V) Seminar. Literature and concepts in one of several active fields considered in detail. Repeatable up to 12 credits. Pre: consent.

OCN 760 Topics in Physical Oceanography (V) Near-shore processes, advanced mathematical techniques, recent developments, etc. Typically given by visiting professors in their specialties, or in response to student interest.

OCN 770 Seminar in Chemical Oceanography (1)

OCN 780 Seminar (1) Oceanographic topics of current interest. Repeatable unlimited times.

OCN 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 one time. CR/NC only. Pre: two of the following: 621, 626, 627 (or concurrent), or 628 (or concurrent); or consent.

OCN 800 Dissertation Research (V) Research for doctoral dissertation. Repeatable unlimited times.