Geography and Oceanography BSc (Hons)

The required modules in Year One provide grounding in Ocean Science and Physical Geography, as well as developing essential and transferable skills that are required throughout your degree programme. Optional modules allow you to focus on areas of environmental sciences that interest you.

• Study Skills and Gis (ocean Sciences) (ENVS103) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Whole Session Exam:Coursework weighting 0:100 Aims

• To train students to make observations, collect and record data using basic oceanographic and meterological equipment

• ​To improve students oral and written communication skills, including their ability to reference correctly.

• To train students to use Geographic Information System software (GIS) to produce maps and present data on the spatial scale

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  ​To improve students numerical skills, specifically in statistics and basic time-series analysis.

• ​To enthuse students about ocean sciences through reading and discussing sections of the book "Mapping the Deep''.

• Learning Outcomes ​ Write an essay and reference correctly. ​Quantitatively summarise, synthesise and interpret data collected during fieldwork. ​Communicate effectively to their peers ​Use software associated with Geographic Information Systems to produce spatial maps of data.
• Climate, Atmosphere and Oceans (ENVS111) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 80:20 Aims

  Introduce the climate system, the atmosphere and ocean:

  • Address how the climate system varies and how climate is controlled by radiative forcing;
  • How the structure of the atmosphere is determined and how the atmosphere circulates;
  • How the structure of the ocean is determined and how the ocean circulates;
  • How the atmosphere and ocean vary together.
  Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge and Understanding

  a. Understand how physical processes operate within the climate system, the atmosphere and the ocean.

  b. Appreciate the complexity of the climate system, the effect of radiative forcing, the concept of feedbacks, how rotation affects the circulation; the differences between currents and waves.

  c. Gain awareness of the similarities and differences between the atmosphere and ocean.

  2. Intellectual Abilities

  a. To be able to evaluate the relative importance of different physical processes in the climate system

  b. To develop critical skills in transferring insight gained from one problem to another problem, such as how the atmosphere circulates from one planet to another planet.

  3. Subject Based Practical Skills

  a. Perform simple order of magnitude calculations and make inferences from the results.

  b. Understand the use of dimensions.

  4. General Transferable Skills

  a. Application of numbers, involving order of magnitudes and dimensions.

  b. Time management.

  c. Problem solving.

  30. Teaching and Learning Strategies

  Lectures and Coursework. Lectures address issues in the climate system from a process point of view. The coursework reinforces the lecture material: 6 coursework exercises require the students to simply explain how processes operate, make speculations as to the relative importance of different processes, and perform simple calculations and make inferences. The coursework is marked and returned in the following week that the work is handed in.

  31. Syllabus 1-24

  Lectures 1-6. Block 1: Climate System (6 lectures)

  Climate system of the Earth, atmosphere and ocean.

  Climate records. Possible causes of climate variability.

  Heat transfer and radiation models.

  Radiation balance for other planets.

  Feedbacks in the climate system.

  Lectures 7-13. Block 2. Atmosphere (7 lectures)

  Composition and structure of the atmosphere.

  Clouds and water vapour.

  Understand motion on the rotating Earth.

  General circulation in the tropics and mid-latitudes.

  Weather systems, fronts and clouds.

  Atmospheric circulation for other planets.

  Seasonal cycle in the atmosphere.

  Lectures 14-21. Block 3. Oceans (8 lectures)

  Properties of water and seawater.

  Observing the ocean and inferring the circulation using water masses, time-dependent tracers,geostrophy and satellite measurements.

  Vertical structure of the ocean

  Seasonal cycle in the ocean.

  Formation of water masses.

  Deep circulation over the globe.

  Upper circulation over the globe:gyres, eddies and fronts.

  Waves and tides.

  Lectures 22-24. Block 4. Climate variability (3 lectures)

  El Nino and Southern Oscillation

  North Atlantic Oscillation

  Climate states and past role of the ocean.

  Conclusions

• Living With Environmental Change (ENVS119) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 100:0 Aims

  The over-arching aim of thismodule is to introduce students to the so-called ‘Grand Challenges’ facingsociety and what is being done to address them. Living with Environmental Change is a key interdisciplinaryresearch theme currently being addressed worldwide; from tackling climatechange and carbon emissions to promoting sustainable resource use and energyefficiency. This module illustrates that an interdisciplinary approach iscrucial to identifying the underlying problems faced by humanity and to findingholistic and sustainable solutions.

  ​

  Learning Outcomes

  ​Obtain an understanding of the Grand Challenges facing society;

  ​Develop an appreciation of the significance of interdisciplinary working in addressing the Grand Challenges;

  ​Understand that Geography plays a key role in the Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) research agenda;

  ​Become familiar with the linkages between research, policy and sustainability.

• Ocean Chemistry and Life (ENVS158) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 50:50 Aims
  1. To intr oduce students to marine chemistry of the major and trace elements.
  2. To demonstrate the dynamic relationship between the chemical ocean environment and biological processes.
  3. To identify the main ocean basins and main oceanic transport routes of chemical species
  4. To teach the necessary practical skills for oceanographic sampling and measurement of chemical species.
  Learning Outcomes
  
  1. Students will be able to identify ocean basins, their major characteristics and transport pathways.

  2. Students will gain knowledge of the sources and distributions of major and minor elements in the ocean, including dissolved gases, nutrients and carbon. ​

  3. Students will understand the chemical and biological processes that control the distribution of major and minor elements including dissolved gases, nutrients and carbon. ​

  ​3. Students will recognize the form and function of different components of the marine ecosystem including viruses, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton. ​
  

  ​4. Students will be able to synthesis knowledge of key biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus to understand how they are linked in the modern and past ocean environment.

  5. Students will know how to measure key properties of the ocean and interpret why they vary in space and time

• Theory and Laboratory Experiments In Earth Surface Processes (ENVS165) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 50:50 Aims

  The module uses a lecture and laboratory-based problem-solving approach to explore some of the fundamental physical and chemical processes underlying physical geography. It is designed to provide a foundation for environmental and physical geography modules in the second and third years.

  It also aims to provide training in careful observation, appropriate handing of liquid and solid samples, and correct use of analytical instruments. Throughout there is emphasis on quality control via replication and reference materials, and appropriate use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Learning Outcomes

  Learning outcomes are that students have a grounding in:

  · The core processes and landforms underlying major geomorphic systems

  · Long term environmental change – Pleistocene and Holocene

  · A deeper understanding of processes that underlie the interaction between people and the physical environment

  · Specific knowledge in the use of selected important analytical instruments; and general knowledge about the principles and practice of accurate and precise measurement

  · Appropriate treatment of data, including quality control, graphical representation, and statistical analysis

• Maths and Physics for Environmental Scientists (ENVS117) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 100:0 Aims

  To provide students with

  1) A grounding in the basic physics relevant to processes in the atmosphere, ocean and solid earth.

  2) Practical experience in the application of mathematical methods to the solution of problems in physical processes in the environment.

  Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge and Understanding

  At the end of the module a student should be able to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of

  a) the basic physics relevant to processes in the atmosphere, ocean and solid earth.

  2. Intellectual Abilities

  At the end of the module the...