Learning Outcomes
• To learn about the main geographical – geomorphological and geological features of the ocean floor and the continental margins and their relation to geotectonics.
• o learn the importance of physicochemical characteristics of seawater (temperature, salinity, density, sound and light propagation in water) as tool in oceanographic research.
• Be informed about the scientific equipment and instruments and methods used in oceanographic research.
• Understand the laws governing the movement of ocean water masses, marine currents, tides and waves.
• To be able to interrelate water dynamics with sediment transport process in coastal zone, continental shelf and the deep ocean floor.
Course Content (Syllabus)
• Introduction. History of Oceanography. The origin of the ocean water.
• Geography of the hydrosphere. Oceans and seas. Geographical boundaries of the oceans. Dimensions of the ocean basins. Bathymetric characteristics. Definitions of underwater morphological characteristics.
• Geomorphology of the Ocean Basins and Continental Margins and their relation to Geotectonics.
• Physicochemical characteristics of water. Chemical composition of seawater. The Biogeochemical cycle. Seawater Temperature and Salinity.
• The sound in the water. Propagation and attenuation of sound in water. Sounding Devices.
• Light in water. Propagation of light in water. The sunlight in the sea. The color of the sea. Measurements of the optical characteristics of water.
• The density of the seawater. International Equation of State of seawater. Ocean masses.
• Ocean Circulation and Currents. Ocean Currents and Marine Sedimentation.
• Waves. The Airy Theory. The Stokes' Theory. The Solitary Waves Theory. Wave Braking Theories. Wave refraction.
• Tides. Tidal measurements. Practical environmental applications of tital and sea-lever monitoring.
Daily Field Exercise on "Coastal Oceanography"
• Exercise Implementation Area: Peraia Beach Thessaloniki.
On this particular beach is a pier 150m long, reaching depths up to 4 m, acting as a safe and stable platform for instrumental measurements implementation with student groups.
• Field Exercise Content:
-Coastal Oceanography, equipment and tools used in coastal research and their applications, field measurements and sampling:
• Use of instruments for Water Sampling,
• Use of CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) instrument,
• Use of Sonar for depth measurements and water-depth profiling,
• Use of ROV for depth/underwater photography.
-Demonstration of the use of instrumentation and software in coastal research. Most of the measured parameters are included in the context of Laboratory Exercises and the collected data are processed later in the class.
Keywords
Oceanography. ocean basins, ocean circulation, marine currents, waves, tides.