Objectives and Content
Advanced seminar focusing on understanding current scientific debates in paleoceanography with emphasis on the last glacial cycle. The course will examine geological evidence for how the circulation and chemistry of the ocean varied in the past, what forced these changes, and what effect these changes have on such things as climate and greenhouse gasses. The tools for investigating ocean circulation changes such as proxies (e.g. 18O, 13C, Cd, Mg, Nd, Sr, Pa/Th, sortable silt, 14C, etc.) and computer models will be examined. Students will use primary literature to gain insight into how scientific advances are made and learn to objectively and critically interpret and evaluate results and debate their meaning.
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
On completion of the course the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:
Knowledge
The student can
- summarize ocean circulation in earlier times and explain how it differed from the modern state
- explain the proxies used to reconstruct ocean chemistry and circulation and the errors attached to each method
Skills
The student can
- analyze and interpret data and draw logical inferences about past ocean changes
- formulate and coherently present scientific arguments and concepts
- critically assess scientific studies for robustness, logical and empirical consistency, clarity, and reflect on the significance of a result
General competence
The student can
- work and discuss in groups to collectively interpret scientific data
- present, discuss, and critically evaluate primary literature
- formulate a scientific hypothesis and design an experiment to test the hypothesis
Files/Documents
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