2010-11 Catalog

Independent research on current environmental problems; laboratory or field work is required. A written report is required for each term of registration. Graded pass/fail.

Special courses of reading, problems, or research for first-year graduate students or qualified undergraduates. Graded pass/fail.

A discussion course that focuses on current research by ESE faculty, and open research questions in the field. Required for first-year ESE graduate students.

Introduction to fundamental ideas and techniques of statistical modeling, with an emphasis on conceptual understanding and on the analysis of real data sets. Simple and multiple regression: estimation, inference, model checking. Analysis of variance, comparison of models, model selection. Principal component analysis. Linear discriminant analysis. Generalized linear models and logistic regression. Resampling methods and the bootstrap.

Principles of inorganic and physical chemistry applied to natural and engineered aquatic systems. Biogeochemical processes controlling the major ion composition of aquatic systems and the behavior of the trace inorganic constituents of such systems are examined. Fundamental aspects of thermodynamics and quantitative description of the composition of natural waters are stressed.

Main topics include the analysis, properties, sources, and cycling of natural organic materials in the environment, from their production in living organisms to burial and decomposition in sediments and preservation in the rock record. Specific topics include analytical methods for organic geochemistry, lipid structure and biochemistry, composition of organic matter, factors controlling organic preservation, organic climate and CO2 proxies, diagenesis and catagenesis, and biomarkers for ancient life. A laboratory component (three evening labs) teaches the extraction and analysis of modern and ancient organic biomarkers by GC/MS. Class includes a mandatory one-day (weekend) field trip to observe the Monterey Fm. Given in alternate years; offered 2010-11.

Global change on time-scales of years to centuries. a. Climate Change. (3-0-6); first term. Radiative transfer and the greenhouse effect. Scattering and absorption by gases, clouds, and aerosols. Feedbacks due to water vapor, clouds, ice, and vegetation. Chemistry of greenhouse gases. Climates of the past. Ice ages. The global-warming debate. Economic and political aspects of climate change. Instructor: Wennberg. b. Atmosphere-Ocean Circulations. (3-0-6); second term. Large-scale motions in Earth's atmosphere and oceans. Effects of planetary rotation and density stratification. Observing systems and data assimilation. Numerical weather prediction. Climate modeling. Parameterizations. Dynamical aspects of El Niño, global warming, and the ozone hole. Instructor: Bordoni. c. Biogeochemical Cycles. (3-0-6); third term. Global biogeochemical cycles, fluxes, and reservoirs in the solid earth, oceans, biosphere, and atmosphere. The hydrologic cycle, weathering and erosion, soil formation, nutrient cycling and limitation, ecosystem function and metrics, photosynthesis and primary production, heterotropic recycling, carbon cycle dynamics, atmospheric trace gases, and stable- isotope tracers. Variability in biogeochemical cycles over Earth history, and recent modification by human activities. Instructor: Sessions.

Introduction to chemical oceanography and sediment geochemistry. We will address the question "Why is the ocean salty?" by examining the processes that determine the major, minor, and trace element distributions of seawater and ocean sediments. Topics include river and estuarine chemistry, air/sea exchange, nutrient uptake by the biota, radioactive tracers, redox processes in the water column and sediments, carbonate chemistry, and ventilation. Given in alternate years; offered 2010-11.

Seminar on current developments and research within the field of environmental engineering science, with special consideration given to work at the Institute. Graded pass/fail.

The basic physics of absorption and scattering by molecules, aerosols, and clouds. Theory of radiative transfer. Band models and correlated-k distributions and scattering by cloud and aerosol particles. Solar insolation, thermal emission, heating rates, and applications to climate and remote sensing.

Lectures and readings in areas of current interest in paleoceanography and paleoclimate.

Fundamentals of aerosol physics and chemistry; aerodynamics and diffusion of aerosol particles; condensation and evaporation; thermodynamics of particulate systems; nucleation; coagulation; particle size distributions; optics of small particles.

A course on growth and functions in the prokaryotic cell. Topics covered: growth, transport of small molecules, protein excretion, membrane bioenergetics, energy metabolism, motility, chemotaxis, global regulators, and metabolic integration.

A course on the metabolic diversity of microorganisms. Basic thermodynamic principles governing energy conservation will be discussed, with emphasis placed on photosynthesis and respiration. Students will be exposed to genetic, genomic, and biochemical techniques that can be used to elucidate the mechanisms of cellular electron transfer underlying these metabolisms.

Structural, phylogenetic, and metabolic diversity of microorganisms in nature. The course explores microbial interactions, relationships between diversity and physiology in modern and ancient environments, and influence of microbial community structure on biogeochemical cycles. Introduction to ecological principles and molecular approaches used in microbial ecology and geobiological investigations.

A detailed course about chemical transformation in Earth's atmosphere. Kinetics, spectroscopy, and thermodynamics of gas-phase chemistry of the stratosphere and troposphere; sources, sinks, and lifetimes of trace atmospheric species; stratospheric ozone chemistry; oxidation mechanisms in the troposphere.

A lecture and discussion course on current research in atmosphere and ocean dynamics. Topics covered vary from year to year and may include global circulations of planetary atmospheres, geostrophic turbulence, atmospheric convection and cloud dynamics, wave dynamics and large-scale circulations in the tropics, large-scale ocean dynamics, and dynamics of El Niño and the Southern Oscillation.

A detailed analysis of the important chemical reactions and physicochemical processes governing the behavior and fate of organic compounds in the surface and subsurface aquatic environments. The course is focused on physical organic chemistry relevant to natural waters. Fundamental aspects of thermodynamics, kinetics, mechanisms, and transport are stressed.

Course to explore new approaches to environmental problems. The topics covered vary from year to year, depending on the interests of the students and staff.

This course will consist of lectures and problem sets on the physics of sediment transport, erosion, and deposition. Topics will include turbulent boundary layers, open-channel hydraulics and resistance, sediment-size distributions, incipient sediment motion, bed load, suspended load, and bed forms. The content is relevant to a variety of dilute geophysical flows (e.g., turbidity currents, powder avalanches, ocean currents, wind), but an emphasis will be made on application to rivers. Given in alternate years; offered 2010-11.