Marine Chemistry

Animation of heated water spewing from a hydrothermal vent.

Heated, mineral rich water spews from a hydrothermal vent on the ocean floor. (Image courtesy of NOAA PMEL Vents Program.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

12.742

As Taught In

Fall 2006

Level

Graduate

Cite This Course

Course Description

Course Features

Course Description

This course is an introduction to chemical oceanography. It describes reservoir models and residence time, major ion composition of seawater, inputs to and outputs from the ocean via rivers, the atmosphere, and the sea floor. Biogeochemical cycling within the oceanic water column and sediments, emphasizing the roles played by the formation, transport, and alteration of oceanic particles and the effects that these processes have on seawater composition. Cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulfur. Uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide by the ocean. Material presented through lectures and student-led presentation and discussion of recent papers.

Related Content

Dierdre Toole, Karen Casciotti, Meg Tivey, Scott Doney, and William Martin. 12.742 Marine Chemistry. Fall 2006. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.


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