Marine Sediments: Source, Sinks, and Significance
Carol Pride
, pridec@savstate.edu
Savannah State University
a University with graduate programs, primarily masters programs
.Summary
This course covers the basics of sedimentology; coastal, estuarine and shelf geological processes; and paleoceanographic interpretation of deep sea sediment records. The course will focus on a transect extending from the Appalachians, through Georgia and the South Atlantic Bight, to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
less than 15
Course Context:
This is a course for upper-level marine science majors with minimal geology background. The prerequisites will be Marine Science I or Geology. It is an elective.
Course Goals:
Students will be able to:
-- interpret the depositional environments of sediment records from estuaries to abyssal plains,
-- predict regions of net deposition/erosion,
-- correlate the depositional environments that they have studied to their tectonic settings.
-- interpret the depositional environments of sediment records from estuaries to abyssal plains,
-- predict regions of net deposition/erosion,
-- correlate the depositional environments that they have studied to their tectonic settings.
How course activities and course structure help students achieve these goals:
To attract and maintain the interest of marine science students to this course, I will focus assignments and activities on Georgia and off-shore regions and I will point out ecological connections between marine geology and marine organisms as frequently as possible. Students will have lots of practice in interpreting depositional environments with variable levels of guidance and independence (including group work).
Skills Goals
self-teaching
peer-teaching
writing
peer-teaching
writing
How course activities and course structure help students achieve these goals:
Writing skills will be developed through individual write-ups on concept maps and a poster presentation. Self- and peer-teaching will be supported through activities such as group work, jig-saw activities, class development of a field trip guide, and development of a class "encyclopedia" of paleoceanographic proxies.