THE MANY FORMS OF WATER

The Origin of Water

    Cosmic Origins
    Planetesimals
    Asteroids
    Comets
    Small Comets

Carbonate-Silicate Cycle
Greenhouse Thermostat

The Nature of Water
    Structure
    Composition
    Chemistry
    Properties

The Water Cycle
    Water Content
    Watersheds

PLATE TECTONICS

The Structure of the Earth
    Types of Crusts
        Crust, Mantle, Core
        Litho -, Astheno-, and Mesospheres

    Historical Perspective
        Puzzles, Separating Continents
        Wilson: Plate Tectonics

    Type of Plates
        Divergent, Convergent, & Transform Plates

    Features of Plate Tectonics Related to "Water"

         Hot Spots
         Atolls and Guyots
         Age of Oceanic Sediments
         Oceanic Ridges and Heat Dissipation
         Terranes
         Fossils
         Paleomagnetism

    Coastal Features

          Leading Edge Coasts
          Trailing Edge Coasts
              Neo- , Afro-, & Amero- Trailing Coasts
          Island Coasts

 GLACIATED LANDSCAPES

Features of Snow and Ice
    Snow and its Properties
        Energy Balance

    Glaciers
        Mass Balance
        Accumulation
        Ablation
        Runoff
            Suplaglacial Flow
            Englacial Flow
            Subglacial Flow

         Lake Formation

              Rift Valleys
              Ice Ages
              Ice Scour
              Kettle Holes
              Moraines
              Landslides
              Tundra Lakes

SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

    Properties of fluids

         Density
         Viscosity
         Pressure

    Properties of flowing fluids

         Continuity
         Bernoulli's equation
         No-slip condition
         Reynolds numbers

    Sediment Transport

         Concepts
         Resistance
         Load
         Power
         Entrainment

GEOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY & HYDROTHERMAL VENTS

Ocean Basins
    Continental Margins
    Continental Shelf
    Continental Slope
        Submarine Canyons
    Continental Rise

Deep Ocean Basins
    Oceanic Ridge System
    Hydrothermal Vents
        History, Paradigm Shift
        Distribution/Importance
        Geochemistry
        Seeps
    Abyssal Plains
    Abyssal Hills

    Sediments
        Types
        Distributions

BIOGEOLOGICAL PROCESSES: CORALS

Coral Reefs

    Coral Biology
        Body Plan
        Lifecycle
        Physiological Ecology
        Trophic Dynamics

Types of Reefs
    Fringing Reefs
    Barrier Reefs
    Atolls

Environmental Impacts
    Temperature
    Sediments
    Pollutants

Other Significant Biological Agents
    Stromatolites
    Coralline Algae
    Encrusting Bryozoans

GROUNDWATER PROCESSES

    Groundwater Issues

Structures in Groundwater
        Vadose
        Capillary Fringe
        Saturated Zone (Water Table)
    Watersheds, and Groundwater Divides
    Aquifers:
        Confined (Aquatard), Unconfined

Groundwater Hydrology
        Recharge and Discharge
        Porosity, Permeability, Dispersivity
        Darcy's Law
        Fick's Law

Groundwater Pollution
        Types and Sources
        Mechanisms of Input
        Dispersion and Plumes

ATMOSPHERE-OCEAN INTERACTIONS

     Properties of the Atmosphere
        Gas
        Water Vapour

    Atmospheric Circulation
        Heat Budgets
        Coriolis Effect

    Circulation Cells
        Hadley, Ferrel, and Polar Cells

    Consequences
        Doldrums, Horse Latitudes, Trades, Westerlies
        Rainshadows
        Coastal Winds
        Upwelling and Downwelling

    Oscillations in Wind Patterns
        ENSO
            Anchovy Fishery
        NAO
            Great Salinity Anomaly

OCEAN CURRENTS

    Ocean Circulation
        Primary Forces
        Secondary Forces

    Surface Currents
        Coriolis Effect
        Ekman Transport

    Geostropic Gyres
        Western Boundary Currents
            Gulf Stream
        Eastern Boundary Currents
        Transverse Currents
        Counter and Undercurrents

    Climatic Effects
        Vertical Circulation

    Thermohaline Circulation
         Water Masses
                Central, Intermediate, Deep and Bottom Waters
        Temperature-Salinity Diagram

TIDES

    Description of Tides
        Tidal Bulge
        Gravitational and Centripetal

    Causes of Tides
        Lunar Tides
        Solar Tides
        Interactions
                Spring and Neap Tides

    Tidal Structures
         Tidal Datum and Range
        Tidal Bore

    Types of Tidal Patterns
        Semidiurnal Tides
        Diurnal Tides
        Mixed Tides

    Tidal Currents
        Flood and Ebb Currents

WAVES

    Wave Structure
        Wave Length, Crest and Trough, Wave Height

    Wave Classification
        Disturbing Forces
            Wind, Pressure, and Gravitational Inertial forces
        Restoring Forces
            Surface Tension, Gravity

    Deep Water Waves
        Velocity
    Shallow Water Waves
        Velocity

    Wind Waves
        Development
        Progression - Wave Trains
        “Sea”
        Wave Steepness

     Wave Interaction
        Interference, Diffraction
        Rogue Waves
        Long Waves
            Surges, Seiches, Tsunamis

PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN FRESHWATER

    Lentic Systems
        Formation
        Origin of Water
                Surface water – & seepage water dominated

    Lake Structure
        Stratification
                Richardson and Densimetric Froude No.
    Seiches
    Langmuir Circulation

    Lotic Systems
        Formation
        Origin of Water
                Gaining and Loosing Streams

    Discharge
        Cross Sections and Measurements of Q
        Secondary Circulation

    Surface Phenomenon
        Wave Celerity
                Sub- and Supercritical Flow
                Froude Number

CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY

    Properties of Seawater

        Salinity
            Origin
            Determination
            Chlorinity
            Spatial Variation
            Conservative vs. Non-Conservative

     Minor Elements

    Nutrients
        Types
        Distribution

    Dissolved Gasses
        Oxygen
        Carbon Dioxide
             Buffering Capacity
             Compensation Depths

 CHEMICAL LIMNOLOGY

    Freshwater
        Chemical Constituents

        Climatic and Watershed Effects
        Soft and Hard Water
        Vegetation
        Airshed inputs
        Soil Erosion and Sediments
        Acid Rain/Precipitation

    Gases
         Solubility
        Carbon Dioxide
        Oxygen
        Stratification
        Trophic Status
        pH and Buffering

 BIOLOGY OF AQUATIC SYSTEMS

    Ecosystem Processes
        Concepts
        Food Webs, Trophic Dynamics

    Abiotic Factors
        Transparency
        Temperature
        Nutrients
        Salinity
        Dissolved Gasses
        pH Balance
        Hydrostatic Pressure

    Marine Environments
        Photic vs. Aphotic Zone
        Pelagic
                Neritic, Oceanic
        Benthic
                Littoral,Bathyal, Abyssal, Hadal

    Marine Organisms
        Classification Schemes
        Examples of Ecosystems

PELAGIC ECOSYSTEMS

    Plankton
        Collection Methods
 
        Baterioplankton
        Virioplankton

        Phytoplankton
            Diatoms, Dinoflagellates, Coccolithophores
            Productivity

        Zooplankton
            Classification
                    Macro-, Halo-, Mero-,
            Radiolarians, Foraminifera, Crustacea

        Nekton
            Cephalopods, Crustacea
            Fish
                    Elasmobranchs, Osteichthyes
            Reptiles
            Birds
            Marine Mammals

 BENTHIC ECOSYSTEMS

   The Benthos
        Collection Methods

        Algae
            Classification
            Zonation
        Vascular Plants

        Rocky Intertidal Communities
            Zonation
            Latitudinal Effects

        Sand and Mud Flats

        Marshes and Mangroves
 
        Deep Sea

        Freshwater
            Rocky
            Soft Sediments

 MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

    Marine Resources
        Definition and Conotation
        Physical, Biological, Non-Extractable

    Pollution
        Pollutants
            Toxicity
            Persistence

    Physical Resources
        Petroleum
            Origin and Formations
                Pollution
                Spills
        Sand/Gravel
        Freshwater

    Biological Resources
        Fish and Shellfish
        Overfishing
        Whaling

 FRESHWATER INTRODUCED SPECIES

     Concept
       Definition
       Identification

    Introduction Mechanisms
        Shipping
        Intra and Inter-Continental Trade
        Releases

    Case Study of the Great Lakes
        Systematics
        Mechanisms
        Problematic Species
 
        Specific Examples
           Lamprey, Loosetrife, Milfoil, Water Flea, Ruffe, Zebra mussels, and Goby

        Other Notable Introductions
         Hydrilla, Elodea

    Generalizations about Introduced Species

    Some BC Examples
.......

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Last modified on January 6, 2002.