MARINE SCIENCE (MASC)
Survey of the ecological processes that structure marine communities in a range of coastal habitats. Course emphasizes experimental approaches to addressing basic and applied problems in marine systems.
A rigorous combination of field work, lab work, and colorful, original contemporary writing on the natural world will help tell the story of our many, evolving North Carolina coasts. Combining marine science and the creative literary arts, this immersive course will explore issues of change over many eras. This combination of social, cultural, and scientific observation will lead to imaginatively constructed, well-written non-fiction reportage about one of North America's most productive, compelling, and challenging regions.
Discussion of methods and strategies for giving effective technical presentations. Topics will include seminar structure, use of visual aids, personal and professional presentation, and responding to questions.
Marine Sciences graduate students will prepare and present a seminar on an interdisciplinary topic from contemporary research in marine systems.
Discussion of selected literature in the field of marine biology, ecology, and evolution.
Hands-on training, experience, and discussion of the application of molecular genetic tools to questions of ecology, evolution, systematics, and conservation.
An introduction to the theory and application of modeling biogeochemical processes in sediments. Diagenetic theory, numerical techniques, and examples of recently developed sediment models. Three lecture hours a week.
Momentum equations in a rotating reference frame, vorticity, potential vorticity, circulation, the shallow water model, Rossby and Kelvin waves, the Ekman layer. Three lecture hours a week.
Theories, models of large-scale dynamics of ocean circulation. Potential vorticity, quasi-geostrophy, instabilities.
Multi-disciplinary survey of circulation, sediment and biological processes operative in estuaries, on the shelf and at the shelf break.
Computational methods used in modeling oceanic circulation. Numerical solution of equations governing mass, momentum, and energy equations.
Physics of sub-mesoscale processes in the ocean. Nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Air-sea interaction. Mixing in the ocean boundary layer, convection, double diffusion. Near-inertial and high frequency internal waves. Three lecture hours a week.
Single, multistep methods for ODEs: stability regions, the root condition; stiff systems, backward difference formulas; two-point BVPs; stability theory; finite difference methods for linear advection diffusion equations.
Elliptic equation methods (finite differences, elements, integral equations); hyperbolic conservation law methods (Lax-Fiedrich, characteristics, entropy condition, shock tracking/capturing); spectral, pseudo-spectral methods; particle methods, fast summation, fast multipole/vortex methods.
Nondimensionalization and identification of leading order physical effects with respect to relevant scales and phenomena; derivation of classical models of fluid mechanics (lubrication, slender filament, thin films, Stokes flow); derivation of weakly nonlinear envelope equations. Fall.
Current models in science and technology: topics ranging from material science applications (e.g., flow of polymers and LCPs); geophysical applications (e.g., ocean circulation, quasi-geostrophic models, atmospheric vortices).
Experimental graduate level courses as offered by the Department.
Special topics courses in Marine Geology as offered by Department.
Special topics courses in Biological Oceanography as offered by Department.
Special topics courses in Physical Oceanography as offered by Department.
Special topics courses in Chemical Oceanography as offered by Department.
Special topics courses in Marine Sciences as offered by Department.