Descriptive Coastal and Estuarine Oceanography

An introduction to coastal and estuarine oceanography, focusing on ocean environments landward of the continental shelf/slope break. These environments are of significant value, both environmentally and economically. They are under pressure and strongly impacted by human activities, both directly (e.g. commercial fishing) and indirectly (urbanization within the adjacent river drainage basins). The extent to which these waters continue to be economically valuable is intimately linked to their environmental health. As such, an understanding of coastal and estuarine processes is critical to their management. This course will address the coastal and estuarine circulation context as well as the environmental context. Coastal and estuarine oceanography will be addressed in class lectures, discussions, and exercises while the environmental concerns will be addressed in the context of individual student research projects culminating in a research paper and in-class presentation.