The culmination of the Earth Science major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis.

The culmination of the Earth Science major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis.

Introduction to the basic principles of the hydrologic cycle and water budgets, precipitation and infiltration, evaporation and transpiration, stream flow, hydrograph analysis (floods), subsurface and groundwater flow, well hydraulics, water quality, and frequency analysis.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to theory and applications of chemistry in the earth and environmental sciences. Theory covered will include atomic structure, chemical bonding, cosmic abundances, nucleosynthesis,radioactive decay, dating of geological materials, stable isotopes, acid-base equilibria, salts and solutions, and oxidation-reduction reactions. Applications will emphasize oceanography, atmospheric sciences and environmental chemistry, as well as other topics depending on the interests of the class. Although we will review the basics, this course is intended to supplement, rather than to replace, courses offered in the Department of Chemistry. It is appropriate for advanced undergraduate as well as graduate students in Geology, Environmental Science, Chemistry and other sciences, who wish to have a better understanding of these important chemical processes.

Soil is considered the "skin of the Earth", with interfaces between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. It is a mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids and a myriad of organisms that can support plant life. As such, soil is a natural body that exists as part of the environment. This course will examine the nature, properties, formation and environmental functions of soil.

Relationship of fossil assemblages to life assemblages; structure of ancient communities, and interaction of organisms with each other and with the physicalenvironment; evolution of communities.

Relationship of fossil assemblages to life assemblages; structure of ancient communities, and interaction of organisms with each other and with the physicalenvironment; evolution of communities.

Relationship of fossil assemblages to life assemblages; structure of ancient communities, and interaction of organisms with each other and with the physicalenvironment; evolution of communities.

The field of chemical oceanography has evolved from one of discovery to an interdisciplinary science that uses chemical distributions to understand physical, biological, geological and chemical processes in the sea. The study of chemical oceanography includes much of the background required to understand the global carbon cycle on all time scales. In this course, the main unifying science Theme #1 is The Global Carbon Cycle. The syllabus is organized into three broad subthemes. Theme #2. What controls the composition of seawater and are humans changing it? Theme #3. What are the chemical constraints on biological production in the ocean? Theme #4. What is the fate of organic matter produced by biological production and what are the impacts of this organic matter on the ocean and underlying sediments?