GEOL0044 Palaeoceanography

Palaeoceanography provides an overview of ocean and climate history through time, including an introduction to the main proxies (geochemical and palaeontological) used to reconstruct past ocean environments. 

Coordinator: Prof. Bridget Wade

Module details

Title	Palaeoceanography
UG Code	GEOL0044
Coordinator	Prof. Bridget Wade
Other Contributors	Various
Term	1
Credit	15 credits
Written Exam	60%
Coursework	40%
Pre-Requisites	None
Maths & Stats Content and Requirement
Total Number of Hours of Student Work	188 hours
Hours of Lectures/Seminars	40 (4 hours per week) hours
Hours of Practicals/Problem Classes	20 hours
Hours of Tutorials	As needed for the practical assignments
Days of Fieldwork	0
Other
Categorizing Student Performance Levels	GEOL0044 GEOL0044

Content

Ocean basin structure and marine sediments; General circulation of the oceans; wind driven and thermohaline circulation; Primary production, nutrients and the marine carbon cycle; Life in the oceans; Micropalaeontological and geochemical proxies for temperature, productivity, weathering and circulation; Pre-Cenozoic palaeoceanography, including 'oceanic anoxic events'; K/T boundary; Early Cenozoic warmth and hyperthermals; the transition from the Greenhouse to the Icehouse world,'; fluctuations in climate and ice volume in the Neogene; the glacial world.

AIMS

To introduce key principles of oceanography, the proxies used for palaeoceanography and the history and evolution of Cretaceous to Recent oceans, through case studies.

OUTCOMES

Knowledge of:

• temperature and productivity of the oceans;
• controls on biogenic sedimentation;
• the development and history of oceanic circulation;
• understanding of analytical techniques used to obtain that knowledge.