Introduction to Oceanography (4 credits)
Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) Summer Session 1: May 26 – June 20, 2014
Monday, Thursday, Friday (9am-4pm); Tuesday (9am-12pm)
Instructors
Dr. Jeffrey Krause – Instructor (Ph.D., Oregon State University, 2008)
Senior Marine Scientist - Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Assistant Professor – University of South Alabama
Assistant Research Biologist – University of California Santa Barbara
Office: 208 Wiese/Marine Science Hall
Hours: After class & Tuesday 4pm to 5pm
Email: jkrause@disl.org
Phone: 251-861-2141 x7577
Mr. Eric Lachenmyer – TA (M.S., University of South Carolina, 2013)
Phytoplankton Ecology Laboratory Manager – Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Office: 204 Wiese/Marine Science Hall
Email: elachenmyer@disl.org
Phone: 251-861-2141 x2289
Mr. Israel “Alex” Marquez – TA (B.S., University of California Santa Barbara, 2013)
M.S. Student – University of South Alabama
Office: 204 Wiese/Marine Science Hall
Email: imarquez@disl.org
Phone: 251-861-2141 x2289
Course Overview and Objectives
Oceanography is fundamentally an interdisciplinary science, and investigators must assimilate
and integrate information across disciplines to understand the complexities governing the
fundamental processes in the ocean. This course provides a general introduction about how
physics, chemistry, geology and biology affect the ocean. The goal is to use this information to
help students understand the relationships between these sub-disciplines and how processes
within each govern larger-scale variability in the ocean. Field trips in Mobile Bay and nearcoastal Gulf of Mexico serve to introduce students to research techniques and oceanographic
processes in the region.
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of this course students will have gained valuable knowledge and skills in the
following areas:
1) Knowledge: students will gain a working knowledge of oceanographic
principles which will enable deeper understanding of the processes
occurring in the marine environment.
2) Data input and management: students will be able to format, analyze and
manipulate data in Microsoft Excel, and the open-source software Ocean
Data View.
3) Field sampling: students will understand the fundamental sampling
strategies for basic water-column hydrography, nutrient and particle
sampling.
4) Sample analysis: students will gain a working knowledge of common
methods for analysis of water-column hydrography, nutrient and particle
samples.
5) Collaboration: field and sample analysis will require students to
coordinate and work collaboratively with their peers to achieve their
objectives.
6) Scientific communication: students will develop the skills of hypothesisbased data analysis and communicating scientific results to their peers.
Week 1
Course Schedule
Date
Day
Morning (9am-12pm)
5/26
Mon
5/27
Tues
NO CLASS (HOLIDAY)
Introduction to course and material
Lecture 1: What is oceanography?
Lecture 2: Physical Oceanography
Discussion 1 (Krause)
Lecture 3: Chemical Oceanography
Lecture 4: Geological Oceanography
Afternoon (1pm-4pm)
Notes
Reading 1 for 5/29
NO CLASS
Lab 1a – Microsoft Excel and
oceanographic data entry
Lab 1b– Basic Statistics
5/29
Thurs
5/30
Fri
6/2
Mon
Field Survey (early class) and sample processing
6/3
Tues
6/5
Thurs
6/6
Fri
Sample processing (if necessary)
Lecture 5: Primary Production (Lachenmyer)
Lecture 6: Microbial Oceanography
(Marquez)
Mid-term examination
Discussion 2 (Marquez)
6/9
Mon
24 hour field observation
6/10
Tues
6/12
Thurs
24-hr sample processing
Lecture 8: Methods in Oceanography
(includes laboratory tour)
Lecture 10: Ocean Acidification
Lecture 11: Hypoxia (Liefer)
Reading 2 for 5/30
Reading 3 for 6/5
Preparation for Field: methods
Week 4
Week 3
Week 2
Lab 1 Due
6/13
Fri
6/16
Mon
6/17
NO CLASS
Lab 2 – Using Ocean Data View
Lecture 7: Zooplankton Ecology
NO CLASS
Discussion 3 (Lachenmyer)
Lecture 9: Fisheries Oceanography
Lab 3 – Database search and data
mining
Field Trip: (data for Presentation only, no report)
Field Trip sample processing
NO CLASS
Tues
6/19
Thurs
6/20
Fri
Lecture 12: Ocean & Climate
The “Graduate School” talk
Lecture 13: Ocean Geoengineering
Final examination (2 hours maximum)
Preparation for oral presentations
Class and Instructor/TA
evaluations (Final 30 minutes)
Presentation of laboratory work:
20 minutes per group, 5-10
minutes Q&A, 10 minutes for
evaluations
“Bold & Italic” indicates guest lecturer.
Text Book
- No textbook will be required for purchase
- All readings will be provided to the students in digital format
- All course material available on: http://share.disl.org/krause/default.aspx
Reading 4 for 6/12
1st Field Due
Reading 5 for 6/13
Lab 3 Due
2nd Field Due
Grading Criteria
10% Participation in paper discussions
10% Participation in field activity and laboratories
10% Class quizzes
15% Laboratory reports
15% Mid-term exam
20% Laboratory presentation (Group Grade)
 Weighted grades: Peers (49% weight), Instructor & TAs (51% weight)
20% Final exam
Late assignment policy: 20% of the total cumulative score will be deducted every day an
assignment is turned in late, unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor. In
the real world, funding agencies will not accept things after a deadline has passed, even if it is a
couple of minutes.
Grade Scale (%)
B+
C+
D+
F
87.5% - 89.9%
77.5% - 79.9%
67.5% - 69.9%
<60%
A
B
C
D
92.5% - 100%
82.5% - 87.4%
72.5% - 77.4%
62.5% - 67.4%
ABCD-
90% - 92.4%
80% - 82.4%
70% - 72.4%
60% - 62.4%
Discussion Manuscripts
1) “Sea Level Rise”
a. Munk, W. 2003. Ocean Freshening, Sea Level Rising. Science 300: 2041-2043.
b. Holgate, S.J. and P.L. Woodworth. 2004. Evidence for enhanced coastal sea
level rise during the 1990s. Geophysical Research Letters 31: L07305, doi:
10.1029/2004GL019626
2) “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill”
a. Abbriano, R.M., M.M. Carranza, S.L. Hogle, R.A. Levin, A.N. Netburn, K.L.
Seto, S.M. Snyder, SIO280, and P.J.S. Franks. 2011. Deepwater Horizon oil spill:
A review of the planktonic response. Oceanography 24: 294–301,
http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.80.
b. Fodrie, F.J. and K.L. Heck Jr.. 2011. Response of coastal fishes to the Gulf of
Mexico oil disaster. PLoS ONE 6(7): e21609. Doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021609
3) “Fishing Down the Food Webs”
a. Pauly, D., V. Christensen, J. Dalsgaard, R. Froese, and F. Torres Jr. 1998.
Fishing down marine food webs. Science 279: 860-863.
b. Jackson, B.C. and 18 others. 2001. Historical overfishing and the recent collapse
of coastal ecosystems. Science 293: 629-638.