LESSON 1: INTRO + LESSON 2: COURSE SET UP & GRADING
SEMESTER 1 | ACADEMIC YEAR 2023-2024 | PROF. DR. FRANCESCA SANGIORGI
INTRO PRACTICAL INFORMATION
● ● check BlackBoard everyday for the schedule
● marine sciences II: evolution and ecology of coastal seas ● first contact point is your SA
● coastal areas are very important and most threatened ● contact Francesca is possible on Tuesday afternoon 14-15:30
○ 10 cm in the last 30 years, 20-25 cm in the last 140 years
YOUR SKILLS
COASTAL SEAS / OCEAN
● next to the theory, you will learn
● coastal seas/ocean: dynamic region of the earth, mostly ○ or improve taxonomical skills – practicals
ephemeral (momentary) or sensitive to change ○ learn to critically read literature – article/essay
○ important role; coastal ocean is a shallow area (< 200 m ○ or improve writing skills article/essay
depth) = continental shelf ○ to work in the field (excursion)
○ 7% of the surface of the ocean where land, sea and
atmosphere interact, where physical, biological and
biogeochemical processes are affected by land GRADES
● ice formed during last ice age (until 25.000 y/a) → sea level fell
(120 m lower) → shallow continental shelves were exposed
● practicals no grade, presence is compulsory
● coastal zone: where sea, land and atmosphere meet
● assignments -0.2 points if you missed the deadline
○ bigger than coastal ocean
● article/essay 40%
● evolution and ecology of coastal seas
● exam 60%
○ evolution; subaerial or marine erosion
○ ecology: interaction organisms and their environment
● human footprint in coastal areas is huge (ecosystem services)
DEADLINES
○ 500 million people live on deltas, but many are sinking
due to mining, sea level rise, damming and at risk of
flooding ● article/essay 05/09 send theme + group
● disturbances due to human impact ● practical 10/09
○ dredging of rivers → alteration of coastal processes and ● deadline submit plan 12/09
hydrodynamics ● microscope practical 19/09
○ eutrophication / algal blooms / deoxygenation ● 1st version 9h 15/10
○ introduction of invasive species / loss biodiversity ● practical 15/10
○ fish farming → destruction of coastal mangrove forests ● send feedback 22/10
and wetlands ● practical 24/10
○ reduction in sediments delivery (dam construction) → ● definitive version 17h 31/10
change in biogeochemical cycles ● exam 13:30-16:30 07/11
● protection against erosion = sand engine = zandmotor
○ excursion on 24/09/2024
● pathways to sustainability | Sustainable Ocean Community
○ https://www.uu.nl/en/research/sustainability/sustainable
-ocean
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, marine sciences II
LESSON 3: GEOMORPHOLOGY + LESSON 4: ARTICLE
FRANCESCA SANGIORGI
HERHALING MARINE SCIENCES I ● continental drift and seafloor spreading produced the theory of
plate tectonics
● 1 oceaan ○ earth's outer layer is divided into lithospheric plates
○ diepte 3700 m ○ earth's plates float on the asthenosphere
○ opp. 360.700.000 km2 ○ plate movement is powered by convection currents in the
○ volume 1,33⋅109 km3 asthenosphere, seafloor spreading and the downward pull
● 1 spoon seawater (5 ml) > 60⋅106 (million) organisms of a descending plate’s leading edge
● 7 major tectonic plates ● North-Atlantic Ridge is segmented
● continental drift; Alfred Wegener (1912) keek naar het patroon ○ earth is spherical → transform faults (breuken waarlangs
van dezelfde soort organismen op verschillende continenten lithosferische platen horizontaal langs elkaar schuiven;
○ seismographs revealed pattern of volcanoes/earthquakes actieve breukzones) en fracture zones (breukzones)
○ echo sounders revealed shape of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
○ radiometric dating of rocks revealed a young oceanic
crust
⥽ vorming nieuwe oceanische korst vanuit de ridge
● earth's interior is layered, and elements are sorted by density
○ asthenosphere is more fluid than the lithosphere
○ velocity of plate motions; 10-40 mm/year (Mid-Atlantic
Ridge); 140 mm/year (Nazcaplaat)
● crust recycling at convergent plate boundaries
○ oceanisch + continentaal → vulkanische bergen (Andes)
○ 2 oceanische platen → island arcs (Japan)
○ 2 continentale platen → mountain range (Himalayas)
LEERDOELEN
● tectonics (usually long-term process) determine where the
coast is and the volume and depth of the ocean
● heat drives mantle convection current
● idea and evidence of a continental drift
○ new seafloor develops at ridges → spreads outward
● earth structure and properties, oceanic/continental crust
(divergente plaatgrens) → continents carried along
● divergent plate boundary and features it creates
(seafloor spreading)
● convergent plate boundary and features it creates
○ most tectonic activity at plate boundaries
● transform plate boundary and features it creates
COAST LOCATION: SEA LEVEL
● coast location varies when sea level (SL) changes
○ eustatic change: variations in global SL
⥽ amount of water in the world ocean can vary
⥽ volume of the oceans ‘container’ may vary
⥽ water itself may occupy more or less volume as its
temperature varies (higher T → higher V)
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