Overview | Honours | Summary of Courses

Offered By:	ANU Joint Colleges of Science
Academic Contact:	Dr Michael Ellwood and Dr Stephen Eggins
Areas of Interest:	Biology and Earth and Marine Sciences

Corequisite majors: Marine Science, Earth Science or Biology

Description:

Marine ecosystems play a central role in the health and function of our planet. Given the increasing exploitation and modification by humankind, there is an urgent need for us to study and understand marine systems if management strategies are to succeed.

The specialisation in Marine Geoscience  is a earth science based program within the Research School of Earth Sciences that focuses on the role of physical, geochemical and theoretical processes in the marine science realm. The emphasis will be on understanding processes in a coastal and open ocean environment.

This program aims at equipping students with the tools to understand and monitor coastal and oceanic processes and interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere under an ever changing climate that may affect marine resources.

Learning Goals:

On completing the Marine Geosciences specialisation students will be able to:

1. Describe the biogeochemical processes that influence the cycling of elements, compounds and organisms in the ocean.
2. Apply a wide range of analytical, experimental and theoretical tools to constrain marine processes.
3. Reconstruct the long-term evolution of the oceans and the organisms contained within and link it to processes from molecular to the global scale.
4. Combine experimental and theoretical data collected individually or in small groups and defend resulting working hypotheses in class.
5. Inform peer students and the wider public how understanding Marine ecosystems affect the health and function of our planet.

Requirements

This specialisation requires the completion of 24 units, which must include:

A total of 12 units from the following compulsory courses:

EMSC3023  Marine Biogeochemistry

EMSC3027  Palaeoclimatology and Climate Change

A total of 12 units to be chosen from the following courses:

EMSC2014  Sedimentology and Stratigraphy

EMSC2019  Geobiology and Evolution of Life on Earth

EMSC2021  Fundamentals of Climate System Science

EMSC3019  Coral Reef Field Studies

EMSC3025  Groundwater

EMSC3028  Coastal Environmental Earth Science

EMSC3050  Special Topics in Earth Science

Advice to Students:

First year courses: CHEM1101 is required.

Students should seek further course advice from one of the academic conveners of the Marine Geosciences specialisation.

A specialisation in Marine Geosciences must be taken in conjunction with an Earth Science, Marine Science or Biology major.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2011 website applies to the 2011 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2010 website.