Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences (GRAD)

Required preparation, major in a natural science or two courses in natural sciences. Studies origin of ocean basins, seawater chemistry and dynamics, biological communities, sedimentary record, and oceanographic history. Term paper. Students lacking science background should see MASC 101. Students may not receive credit for both MASC 101 and MASC 401.

Required preparation, one introductory geology course. Introduction to the application of chemical principles to geological problems. Topics include thermodynamics, kinetics, and isotope geochemistry. Previously offered as GEOL 512/MASC 553.

Introduction to the fundamentals of global geophysics: gravity, seismology, magnetism, heat, and plate tectonics. Both shallow and deep processes are considered. Emphasis is aimed at problem solving by applying concepts. Previously offered as GEOL 515.

Principles of geological and related Earth systems sciences are applied to analyses of environmental phenomena. The link between the lithosphere and other environmental compartments is explored through case studies of environmental issues. Three lecture hours and one laboratory hour a week.

Principles of analysis of the ocean, coast, and estuarine environments and the processes that control these environments are applied to the analysis of environmental phenomena. Case studies of environmental issues. Three lecture hours and one laboratory hour a week.

Required preparation, any introductory geology course. This course develops the knowledge and skills teachers need to implement inquiry-based earth science instruction: conceptual knowledge of earth sciences and mastery of inquiry instructional methods. Students study inquiry in cognitive science and learning theory. This course is a requirement for the UNC-BEST program in geological sciences.

This course explores principles and strategies for studying environmental phenomena, and presents methods for developing explanatory and predictive models of environmental systems, e.g., predator-prey, estuaries, greenhouse gases, and ecosystem material cycles.

Earth surface processes and landscape evolution.

Two laboratory hours per week.

Permission of the instructor. The application of geological principles and techniques to the solution of archaeological problems. Studies geological processes and deposits pertinent to archaeological sites, geologic framework of archaeology in the southeastern United States, and techniques of archaeological geology. Field trips to three or more sites; written reports required.

Origin of the solar system: the nebular hypothesis. Evolution of the earth and its accretionary history. Earthquakes: plate tectonics and the interior of the earth. The earth's magnetic field. Mantle convection.

Introduction to geologic field methods. Includes making observations, mapping, identification of structures and features, and interpretation to solve basic geologic problems. Many field trips. Previously offered as GEOL 225.

Introduction to mechanisms that drive climate. Examination of past climate reconstructions using ecological and geochemical proxies. Utility of computer models to reconstruct past climates and predict future climate change. Emphasis placed on late Quaternary.

Origin and distribution of pelagic sediments. Review of the major Mesozoic and Cenozoic events in the world oceans. Glacial/interglacial changes in the ocean/atmosphere system.

Required preparation, one introductory geology course. Introduction to physics, chemistry, and geology of groundwater. Previously offered as GEOL 509.

Required preparation, one introductory geology course. Survey of processes affecting the compositions of streams, lakes, the ocean, and shallow ground waters. Previously offered as GEOL 510.

Descriptive account of global seismology, earthquake distribution, and focal mechanics. Principles of geometrical optics and applications to imaging the earth's interior. Principles of seismic prospecting of hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs.

Principles of chemistry, biology, and geology are applied to analysis of the fate and transport of materials in environmental systems, with an emphasis on those materials that form the most significant cycles. Three lecture hours and one laboratory hour a week.

Principles and applications of fluid dynamics to flows of air and water in the natural environment. Conservation of momentum, mass, and energy applied to lakes, rivers, estuaries, and the coastal ocean. Dimensional analysis and scaling emphasized to promote problem-solving skills.

Mathematical modeling of dynamic systems, linear and nonlinear. The fundamental budget equation. Case studies in modeling transport, biogeochemical processes, population dynamics. Analytical and numerical techniques; chaos theory; fractal geometry.

Required preparation, four GEOL courses or permission of the instructor. Focus is on applying GIS concepts and techniques to mining and petroleum geology, resource assessment, hydrogeology, coastal and marine geology, physical oceanography, engineering geology, and a geologic perspective on land use. Three lecture and two laboratory hours a week.

Three-week field camp conducted in the western United States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and/or Utah). Learn proper use of geology field tools and how to make a geologic map. Field interpretation of rocks and their deformation. Previously offered as GEOL 601.

Three-week field camp conducted in the western United States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and/or Utah). Learn advanced mapping skills necessary to interpret geologic history of complexly deformed rocks. Previously offered as GEOL 602.

Key topics and resources for high school teachers preparing to teach earth and environmental sciences. Includes lithosphere, tectonic processes, hydrosphere, atmosphere, origin of solar system and life, and environmental stewardship.

Permission of the instructor. Theory and practice of analytical methods in geochemistry including X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy; introduction to electronics.

This course will focus on the processes of soil formation, erosion, and landform evolution with an emphasis on the interaction of geomorphic processes with surface hydrology and ecosystems. (EES)

For graduate students; undergraduates need permission of the instructor. Investigates formation of the oceans, plate tectonics, carbonate reefs and platforms, sediment transport from the land to deep-sea fans, glacial-marine geology, marine records of changes in sea level and climate, and the evolution of barrier islands, estuaries, and deltas. Mandatory weekend field trip to the Southern Outer Banks.

Origin of magmas and evolution of igneous and metamorphic rocks, combined with petrographic study of selected sites.

Graduate students only; undergraduates must have permission of the instructor. Overview of chemical processes in the ocean. Topics include physical chemistry of seawater, major element cycles, hydrothermal vents, geochemical tracers, air-sea gas exchange, particle transport, sedimentary processes, and marine organic geochemistry. Three lecture and two recitation hours per week.

For graduate students; undergraduates need permission of the instructor. Descriptive oceanography, large-scale wind-driven and thermohaline circulations, ocean dynamics, regional and nearshore/estuarine physical processes, waves, tides. Three lecture and one recitation hour per week.

An introduction to methodologies and instrumentation for quantifying the movement of water in the earth system focusing on components of the hydrologic cycle.

Introduction to the theory, methods, and applications of stable isotopes to environmental problems. Primary focus will be on the origin, natural abundance, and fractionation of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen isotopes.

River floods are critically important in the global hydrologic cycle. While seasonal floods can be environmentally restorative, they can also have devastating socio-economic and public health consequences. Beginning with the hydrologic cycle, this course will cover concepts related to rainfall runoff and hydrologic response, flood frequency analysis, the mechanics of open channel flow, and overland and channel routing. Students will also gain experience working with real-world data and engineering software.

Examination of lithostratigraphic principles and the sequence stratigraphic paradigm. Students will study use of variation of well log signature reflection attributes and reflection termination patterns to identify and correlate sequences and systems and to interpret the lithology and depositional history of subsurface stratigraphic units.

Required preparation, one introductory geology course. Interior of the earth deduced from seismology, gravity, heat flow, magnetism; geophysics of continents and ocean basins; age of earth.

Required preparation, an introductory geology course numbered below 202, except first-year seminar, or permission of the instructor. Introduction to quantitative analysis in earth sciences: solid earth, atmospheres, oceans, geochemistry, and paleontology. Topics covered: univariate and multivariate statistics, testing, nonparametric methods, time series, spatial and cluster analysis, shapes.

Examination of the use of lateral and vertical changes in sedimentary facies to identify depositional processes and environments of deposition within the terrestrial, marginal marine, shelf, and deep sea clastic depositional systems. These systems will be examined in a sequence stratigraphic framework.

Required preparation, introductory courses in geology and physics. Course is aimed at understanding the physical properties and processes controlling volcanism and magma transport. Topics covered include volcanic processes from the formation of magma in the upper mantle to violent eruption at the surface. Emphasizes dynamic processes and underlying mechanisms.

Students study the origin, migration, and entrapment of hydrocarbons in sedimentary basins and learn how several areas of the geosciences are integrated to locate and produce hydrocarbons. Students learn about these topics while analyzing a real subsurface data set.

The course deals with earth science problems related to extracting model parameters from data and field observations. Details of mathematical concepts, real world examples, and practical applications associated with noisy or incomplete data are covered. Key concepts include multivariate regression, model discretization, Tikhonov regularization, and Bayesian methods.

Biogeochemical cycling explores interfaces of marine, aquatic, atmospheric, and geological sciences emphasizing processes controlling chemical distributions in sediments, fresh and salt water, the atmosphere, and fluxes among these reservoirs.

Recommended preparation, CHEM 261 or MASC 505, and one additional ENVR, GEOL, or MASC course above 400. Sources, transformations, and fate of natural organic matter in marine environments. Emphasis on interplay of chemical, biological, and physical processes that affect organic matter composition, distribution, and turnover.

An introduction to the fossil record of plants, investigating how plants originated and changed through geological time to produce the modern flora. Both macrofossils and microfossils will be considered. Three lecture hours a week.

The physical properties of fluids, kinematics, governing equations, viscous incompressible flow, vorticity dynamics, boundary layers, irrotational incompressible flow.

Observed structure of the large-scale and mesoscale ocean circulation and its variability, based on modern observations. In-situ and remote sensing techniques, hydrographic structure, circulation patterns, ocean-atmosphere interactions.

This class is an introduction to one of the state-of-the-art analytical techniques in geological and environmental research - the ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry). Students will have hands-on experiences with ICP-MS sample preparation and analysis, and they will design their own hypothesis-driven research projects to analyze major and trace elements in geological and environmental samples including water, rock, and soil.

The course combines geology, climatology, hydrology, and soil science to explore the evolution of the surface environment of the earth from the Archean to the present, including the great oxidation event and modern ocean anoxia. Students will read research papers and will be encouraged to question and debate course topics.

Discussion or lab-based consideration of topical issues in earth sciences.

A field course that emphasizes advanced field methods. Emphasis is placed on large-scale, detailed field work in complex structural terrains and on independent mapping that will lead to thesis/dissertation and/or publication. Previously offered as GEOL 695.

Applications of continuum mechanics in the earth sciences, including stress, strain, elasticity, and viscous flow. Numerical solutions to problems in heterogeneous finite strain including finite element analysis.

This seminar will introduce students to state of the art analytical techniques, current theories, and their applications in various geological processes regarding the non-traditional stable isotopes (e.g., Li, Mg, Fe, Mo, and Cr). After introducing some basic principles and analytical techniques of these so called "non-traditional" stable isotopes, students will present and discuss recent literature in this arena.

By permission of the department. For details, see geology degree requirements.

For details, see geology degree requirements.

Required of all entering graduate students or permission of the department. A topical seminar in current research topics in the earth sciences. Presentations by selected faculty with an emphasis on in-depth, critical analysis of current research literature. Two hours a week.

Stratigraphic, sedimentologic, geochemical, petrologic, and paleontologic principles will be summarized. Emphasis is placed on both the techniques used in sedimentary geology and on the characteristics and processes that distinguish sedimentary environments.

Continuation of GEOL 703.

Application of thermodynamics, phase equilibria, thermobarometry, radiogenic and stable isotope geology, and geochemical modeling to the study of igneous and metamorphic rocks and crustal evolution.

Continuation of GEOL 705.

This course provides a broad view of cutting-edge research across the geo- and marine sciences and develops proposal-writing and scientific communication skills. Proposals follow the NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships program guidelines and involve peer review and oral presentations. Students will hone their critical thinking and scientific writing skills. They will learn how to craft project objectives and working hypotheses, explain the significance of the problem, outline broader implications, and effectively design a research plan.

Focuses on biological-physical couplings that shape coastal environments (i.e. coastal 'ecomorphodynamics') and determine how these environments change with climate and land use. Environments include: barrier islands, open ocean coastlines, and tidal wetlands. Grading based on presentations, participation, and a research proposal.

Survey of isotopic studies in geology; geochronology, crustal evolution, heat flow, paleotemperatures, origin of ore deposits.

Fundamental physical processes necessary for an understanding of plate tectonics; stress and strain in solids; elasticity and flexure; heat transfer; gravity; mantle rheology and convection.

Introduction to the theory, methods and applications of stable isotopes to low- and high-temperature problems. Primary focus will be on the origin, natural abundance, and fractionation of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen isotopes.

All aspects of volcanism will be covered including seismology, geochemistry, deep structure, volcanic products and hazards. Readings of original papers will be stressed.

Develop explanatory and predictive models of the earth's climate. Introductory level and focused on modeling past climate with the hope of understanding its future. A thorough discussion of current global warming/climate change issues, including the science, history, and controversy, are the main topics of the last third of the course.

The goal of this seminar is to examine the Cretaceous to Eocene tectonics of the western United States to evaluate the putative flat slab processes responsible. Geologic research on the Laramide Orogeny predates plate tectonic theory, and the explosion of subsequent research warrants a reevaulation of existing theory.

Required preparation, major in a natural science or two courses in natural sciences. Studies origin of ocean basins, seawater chemistry and dynamics, biological communities, sedimentary record, and oceanographic history. Term paper. Students lacking science background should see MASC 101. Students may not receive credit for both MASC 101 and MASC 401.

Principles of geological and related Earth systems sciences are applied to analyses of environmental phenomena. The link between the lithosphere and other environmental compartments is explored through case studies of environmental issues. Three lecture hours and one laboratory hour a week.

Principles of analysis of the ocean, coast, and estuarine environments and the processes that control these environments are applied to the analysis of environmental phenomena. Case studies of environmental issues. Three lecture hours and one laboratory hour a week.

This course explores principles and strategies for studying environmental phenomena, and presents methods for developing explanatory and predictive models of environmental systems, e.g., predator-prey, estuaries, greenhouse gases, and ecosystem material cycles.

What are the linkages between rivers and global change? This course examines the hydrological, geological and biogeochemical processes that control material flux from land to the oceans via rivers.

Study of wetland ecosystems with particular emphasis on hydrological functioning, the transition from terrestrial to aquatic systems, wetlands as filtration systems, and exchange between wetlands and other environments.

Permission of the instructor is required. Readings and discussions about processes in traditional "Blue Carbon" environments (marshes, sea grass beds, and mangroves) and an exploration of carbon burial in other coastal ecosystems such as floodplains and oyster reefs.

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.

This course introduces students to the physiological, morphological, and behavioral factors employed by marine organisms to cope with their physical environment. Emphasis will be placed on the response of marine organisms to environmental factors such as seawater temperature, light, water salinity, ocean acidification, etc.

Recommended preparation, BIOL 201 or 475. A survey of plants and animals that live in the sea: characteristics of marine habitats, organisms, and the ecosystems will be emphasized. Marine environment, the organisms involved, and the ecological systems that sustain them.

Restricted to junior or senior science majors or graduate students, with permission of the instructor. Seminar class focuses on the primary research literature. Physiology of marine microorganisms, microbial diversity and ecology of the marine environment, biogeochemical processes catalyzed by marine microorganisms.

Permission of the instructor. For junior and senior science majors or graduate students. Biology of marine photosynthetic protists and cyanobacteria. Phytoplankton evolution, biodiversity, structure, function, biogeochemical cycles and genomics. Harmful algal blooms, commercial products, and climate change. Three lecture/practical session hours per week.

See BIOL 475 for description.

Course material covers host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions found in marine ecosystems, including beneficial and parasitic relationships among viruses, microbes, marine animals, and humans. Limited to upper-level undergraduate science majors and graduate students.

Permission of the instructor. For junior and senior science majors and graduate students. Active learning class focused on sequencing and bioinformatic analysis of microbial genomes to identify their ecological function. Topics include sequencing technologies, genome assembly and analysis, command line, bioinformatic tools, and genes mediating microbial physiology and metabolism in natural ecosystems.

A field-intensive study of the ecology of marine organisms and their interactions with their environment, including commercially important organisms. Laboratory/recitation/field work is included and contributes two credit hours to the course.

Principles of chemistry, biology, and geology are applied to analysis of the fate and transport of materials in environmental systems, with an emphasis on those materials that form the most significant cycles. Three lecture hours and one laboratory hour a week.

Required preparation, one introductory geology course. Introduction to the application of chemical principles to geological problems. Topics include thermodynamics, kinetics, and isotope geochemistry. Previously offered as GEOL 512/MASC 553.

Principles and applications of fluid dynamics to flows of air and water in the natural environment. Conservation of momentum, mass, and energy applied to lakes, rivers, estuaries, and the coastal ocean. Dimensional analysis and scaling emphasized to promote problem-solving skills.

For graduate students; undergraduate students should take ENEC 222 or have permission of the instructor. Introduction to estuarine environments: geomorphology, physical circulation, nutrient loading, primary and secondary production, carbon and nitrogen cycling, benthic processes and sedimentation. Considers human impacts on coastal systems, emphasizing North Carolina estuaries.

A cohesive examination of the human impacts on biological processes in estuarine ecosystems. Laboratory/recitation/field work is included and contributes two credit hours to the course. Taught at off-campus field station.

Recommended preparation, one introductory geology course. An integration of barrier island plant and animal ecology within the context of physical processes and geomorphological change. Emphasis on management and impact of human interference with natural processes.

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.

Mathematical modeling of dynamic systems, linear and nonlinear. The fundamental budget equation. Case studies in modeling transport, biogeochemical processes, population dynamics. Analytical and numerical techniques; chaos theory; fractal geometry.

Required preparation, four GEOL courses or permission of the instructor. Focus is on applying GIS concepts and techniques to mining and petroleum geology, resource assessment, hydrogeology, coastal and marine geology, physical oceanography, engineering geology, and a geologic perspective on land use. Three lecture and two laboratory hours a week.

Directed readings, laboratory, and/or field study of marine science topics not covered in scheduled courses.

For graduate students; undergraduates need permission of the instructor. Investigates formation of the oceans, plate tectonics, carbonate reefs and platforms, sediment transport from the land to deep-sea fans, glacial-marine geology, marine records of changes in sea level and climate, and the evolution of barrier islands, estuaries, and deltas. Mandatory weekend field trip to the Southern Outer Banks.

For graduate students; undergraduates need permission of the instructor. Marine ecosystem processes pertaining to the structure, function, and ecological interactions of biological communities; management of biological resources; taxonomy and natural history of pelagic and benthic marine organisms. Three lecture and one recitation hours per week. Two mandatory weekend fieldtrips.

Graduate students only; undergraduates must have permission of the instructor. Overview of chemical processes in the ocean. Topics include physical chemistry of seawater, major element cycles, hydrothermal vents, geochemical tracers, air-sea gas exchange, particle transport, sedimentary processes, and marine organic geochemistry. Three lecture and two recitation hours per week.

For graduate students; undergraduates need permission of the instructor. Descriptive oceanography, large-scale wind-driven and thermohaline circulations, ocean dynamics, regional and nearshore/estuarine physical processes, waves, tides. Three lecture and one recitation hour per week.

Biogeochemical cycling explores interfaces of marine, aquatic, atmospheric, and geological sciences emphasizing processes controlling chemical distributions in sediments, fresh and salt water, the atmosphere, and fluxes among these reservoirs.

Recommended preparation, CHEM 261 or MASC 505, and one additional ENVR, GEOL, or MASC course above 400. Sources, transformations, and fate of natural organic matter in marine environments. Emphasis on interplay of chemical, biological, and physical processes that affect organic matter composition, distribution, and turnover.

The physical properties of fluids, kinematics, governing equations, viscous incompressible flow, vorticity dynamics, boundary layers, irrotational incompressible flow.

Three components: statistics and probability, time series analysis, and spatial data analysis. Harmonic analysis, nonparametric spectral estimation, filtering, objective analysis, empirical orthogonal functions.

Turbulence and transport in near-bottom boundary regions. Turbulence and mixing theory in boundary layers. Field deployment and recovery of turbulence measuring instruments. Data analysis from turbulence measurements.

Observed structure of the large-scale and mesoscale ocean circulation and its variability, based on modern observations. In-situ and remote sensing techniques, hydrographic structure, circulation patterns, ocean-atmosphere interactions.

Investigation of engineering equations for sediment transport in unidirectional flow, transport dynamics in coastal systems (waves and currents), and case studies from the literature for rivers through marine environments.

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.

Focuses on biological-physical couplings that shape coastal environments (i.e. coastal 'ecomorphodynamics') and determine how these environments change with climate and land use. Environments include: barrier islands, open ocean coastlines, and tidal wetlands. Grading based on presentations, participation, and a research proposal.

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.