Syllabus WBSET EARTH, ATMOSPHERIC, OCEAN AND PLANETARY SCIENCES
THE WEST BENGAL COLLEGE SERVICE COMMISSION
STATE ELIGIBILITY TEST
SET
Syllabus
Subject: EARTH, ATMOSPHERIC, OCEAN AND PLANETARY
SCIENCES
PAPER-II &
III
PAPER – II
1.
The Earth and the Solar System:
Milky Way and
the solar system. Modern theories on the origin of the Earth and other planetary
bodies. Earth’s orbital parameters, Kepler’s laws of planetary motion,
Geological Time Scale; Space and time scales of processes in the solid Earth,
atmosphere and oceans. Age of the Earth. Radioactive isotopes and their
applications in earth sciences. Basic
principles of
stratigraphy.
Theories about
the origin of life and the nature of fossil record. Earth’s gravity and
magnetic fields and its thermal structure: Concept of Geoid and, spheroid;
Isostasy.
2
A. Earth Materials, surface features and Processes:
Gross composition
and physical properties of important minerals and rocks; properties and
processes responsible for mineral concentrations; nature and distribution of
rocks and minerals in different units of the earth and different parts of India
2
B. Surface features and Processes
Physiography of
the Earth; weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition of Earth’s material;
formation of soil, sediments and sedimentary rocks; energy balance of the
Earth’s surface processes; physiographic features and river basins in India
3.
Interior of the Earth, Deformation and Tectonics
Basic concepts
of seismology and internal structure of the Earth. Physico-chemical and seismic
properties of Earth’s interior. Concepts of stress and strain. Behaviour of
rocks under stress; Folds, joints and faults. Earthquakes – their causes and
measurement. Interplate and intraplate seismicity. Paleomagnetism, sea floor
spreading and plate tectonics.
4.
Oceans and Atmosphere
Hypsography of
the continents and ocean floor –continental shelf, slope, rise and abyssal plains.
Physical and chemical properties of sea water and their spatial variations.
Residence times of elements in sea water. Ocean currents, waves and tides,
important current systems, thermohaline circulation and the oceanic conveyor
belt. Major water masses of the world’s oceans. Biological productivity in the
oceans. Motion of fluids, waves in atmospheric and oceanic systems. Atmospheric
turbulence and boundary layer. Structure and chemical composition of
the atmosphere, lapse rate and stability, scale height, geopotential,
greenhouse gases and global warming. Cloud formation and precipitation
processes, air- sea interactions on different space and time scales. Insolation
and heat budget, radiation balance, general circulation of the atmosphere and
ocean. Climatic and sea level changes on different time scales. Coupled
oceanatmosphere system, El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). General weather
systems of India, - Monsoon system, cyclone and jetstream, Western disturbances
and severe local convective systems, distribution of precipitation over India.
Marine and atmospheric pollution, ozone depletion.
5.
Environmental Earth Sciences
Properties of
water; hydrological cycle; water resources and management. Energy resources, uses,
degradation, alternatives and management; Ecology and biodiversity. Impact of
use of energy and land on the environment. Exploitation and conservation of
mineral and other natural resources. Natural hazards. Elements of Remote
Sensing.
PAPER –
III
I:
GEOLOGY
1)
MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY:
Concept of point
group, space group, reciprocal lattice, diffraction and imaging. Concepts of crystal
field theory and mineralogical spectroscopy. TEM and SEM applications. Lattice defects
(point, line and planar). Electrical, magnetic and optical properties of
minerals. Bonding and crystal structures of common oxides, sulphides, and silicates.
Transformation of minerals – polymorphism, polytypism, and polysomatism. Solid
solution and exsolution. Steady-state geotherms. Genesis, properties,
emplacement and crystallization of magmas. Phase equilibrium studies of simple
systems, effect of volatiles on melt equilibria. Magmamixing, -mingling and -
immiscibility. Metamorphic structures and textures; isograds and facies.
Mineral reactions with condensed phases, solid solutions, mixed volatile
equilibria and thermobarometry. Metamorphism of pelites, mafic-ultra mafic
rocks and siliceous dolomites. Material transport during metamorphism. P-T-t
path in regional metamorphic terrains, plate tectonics and metamorphism.
Petrogenetic aspects of important rock suites of India, such as the Deccan
Traps, layered intrusive complexes, anorthosites, carbonatites, charnockites, khondalites gondites and
granitoids.
2)
STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY AND GEOTECTONICS:
Theory of stress
and strain. Behaviour of rocks under stress. Mohr circle. Various states of stress
and their representation by Mohr circles. Different types of failure and
sliding criteria. Geometry and mechanics of fracturing and conditions for
reactivation of pre-existing discontinuities. Common types of finite strain
ellipsoids. L-, L-S-, and S-tectonic fabrics. Techniques of strain analysis.
Particle paths and flow patterns. Progressive strain history. Introduction to
deformation mechanisms. Role of fluids in deformation processes. Geometry and
analyses of brittle-ductile and ductile shear zones. Sheath folds. Geometry and
mechanics of development of folds, boudins, foliations and lineations.
Interference patterns of superposed fold. Fault-related folding. Gravity
induced structures. Tectonic features of extensional-, compressional-, and
strike-slipterranes. and relevance to plate boundaries.
3)
PALEONTOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATIONS:
Theories on
origin of life. Organic evolution – Punctuated Equilibrium and Phyletic Gradualism
models. Mass extinctions and their causes. Application of fossils in age determination
and correlation. Paleoecology, Life habitats and various ecosystems, Paleobiogeography.
Modes of preservation of fossils and taphonomic considerations. Types of microfossils.
Environmental significance of fossils and trace fossils. Use of microfossils in
interpretation of sea floor tectonism. Application of micropaleontology in
hydrocarbon exploration. Oxygen and Carbon isotope studies of microfossils and
their use in paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic interpretation. Important
invertebrate fossils, vertebrate fossils, plant fossils and microfossils
in Indian stratigraphy.
4)
SEDIMENTOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY:
Clastic
sediments- gravel, sand and mud; biogenic, chemical and volcanogenic sediments.
Classification of conglomerates, sandstones and mudstones, and carbonate rocks.
Flow regimes and processes of sediment transport. Sedimentary textures and
structures. Sedimentary facies and environments, reconstruction of
paleoenvironments. Formation and evolution of sedimentary basins. Diagenesis of
siliciclastic and carbonate rocks. Recent developments in stratigraphic
classification. Code of stratigraphic nomenclature – Stratotypes, Global
Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSP). Lithostratigraphic, chronostratigraphic
and biostratigraphic subdivisions. Methods of startigraphic correlation including
Shaw’s Graphic correlation. Concept of sequence stratigraphy. Rates of sediment
accumulation, unconformities. Facies concept in Stratigraphy – Walther’s law. Methods
for paleogeographic reconstruction. Earth’s Climatic History. Phanerozoic
stratigraphy of India with reference to the type areas– their correlation with
equivalent formations in other regions. Boundary problems in Indian Phanerozoic
stratigraphy.
5)
MARINE GEOLOGY AND PALEOCEANOGRAPHY:
Morphologic and
tec tonic domains of the ocean floor. Structure, composition and mechanism of
the formation of oceanic crust. hydrothermal vents-. Ocean margins and their significance.
Ocean Circulation, Coriolis effect and Ekman spiral, convergence, divergence
and upwelling,
El Nino. Indian Ocean Dipole Thermohaline circulation and oceanic conveyor belt.
Formation of Bottom waters; major water masses of the world’s oceans. Oceanic sediments:
Factors controlling the deposition and distribution of oceanic sediments; geochronology
of oceanic sediments, diagenetic changes in oxic and anoxic environments. Tectonic
evolution of the ocean basins. Mineral resources. Paleoceanography – Approaches
to paleoceanographic reconstructions; various proxy indicators for
paleoceanographic interpretation. Reconstruction of monsoon variability by
using marine proxy records Opening and closing of ocean gateways and their
effect on circulation and climate during the Cenozoic. Sea level processes and
Sea level changes. Methods of paleo Sea Surface temperature. Quantifications.
6)
GEOCHEMISTRY:
Structure and
atomic properties of elements, the Periodic Table; ionic substitution in minerals;
Phase rule and its applications in petrology, thermodynamics of reactions
involving pure phases, ideal and non-ideal solutions, and fluids; equilibrium
and distribution coefficients. Nucleation and diffusion processes in igneous,
metamorphic and sedimentary environments, redox reactions and Eh-pH diagrams
and their applications. Mineral/mineral assemblages as ‘sensors’ of ambient
environments. Geochemical studies of aerosols, surface- , marine-, and ground
waters. Radioactive decay schemes and their application to geochronology and
petrogenesis. Stable isotopes and their application to earth system processes;
geochemical cylcles.
7)
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY:
Magmatic,
hydrothermal and surface processes of ore formation. Metallogeny and its
relation to crustal evolution; Active ore-forming systems, methods of mineral
deposit studies including ore microscopy, fluid inclusions and isotopic
systematics; ores and metamorphismcause and effect
relationships. Geological setting, characteristics, and genesis of ferrous,
base and noble metals. Origin, migration and entrapment of petroleum;
properties of source and reservoir rocks; structural, stratigraphic and
combination traps. Methods of petroleum exploration. Petroliferous basins of
India. Origin of peat, lignite, bitumen and anthracite. Classification, rank
and grading of coal; coal petrography, coal resources of India. Gas hydrates
and coal bed methane. Nuclear and non-conventional energy resources.
8)
PRECAMBRIAN GEOLOGY AND CRUSTAL EVOLUTION:
Evolution of
lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and cryosphere;, lithological,
geochemical and stratigraphic characteristics of granite – greenstone and
granulite belts. Stratigraphy and geochronology of the cratonic nuclei, mobile
belts and Proterozoic sedimentary
basins of India. Life in Precambrian. Precambrian – Cambrian boundary with special
reference to India.
9)
QUATERNARY GEOLOGY:
Definition of
Quaternary. Quaternary Stratigraphy – Oxygen Isotope stratigraphy, biostratigraphy
and magnetostratigraphy. Quaternary climates – glacial-interglacial cycles,eustatic
changes, proxy indicators of paleoenvironmental/ paleoclimatic changes, - land,
ocean and cryosphere (ice core studies). Responses of geomorphic systems to
climate, sea level and tectonics on variable time scales in the Quaternary,.
Quaternary dating methods, – radiocarbon, Uranium series, Luminescence,
Amino-acid, relative dating methods. Quaternary stratigraphy of India– continental
records (fluvial, glacial, aeolian, palaeosols and duricrust); marine records;
continental-marine correlation of Quaternary record. Evolution of man and Stone
Age cultures. Plant and animal life in relation to glacial and interglacial
cycles during Quaternary. Tectonic geomorphology, neotectonics, active
tectonics and their applications to natural hazard assessment.
10)
APPLIED GEOLOGY:
(i) Remote
Sensing and GIS: Elements of photogrammetry, elements of
photointerpretation, electromagnetic spectrum, emission range, film and
imagery, sensors, geological interpretations air photos and imageries. Global
positioning systems. GIS- data structure, attribute data, thematic layers and
query analysis.
(ii) Engineering
Geology: Engineering
properties of rocks and physical characteristics of building stones, concretes
and other aggregates. Geological investigations for construction of dams,
bridges, highways and tunnels. Remedial measures. Mass movements with special emphasis on
landslides and causes of hillslope instability. Seismic design of buildings.
(iii) Mineral
Exploration: Geological, geophysical, geochemical and
geobotanical methods of surface and sub-surface exploration on different
scales. Sampling, assaying and evaluation of mineral deposits.
(iv)
Hydrogeology: Groundwater, Darcy’s law, hydrological characteristics
of aquifers, hydrological cycle. Precipitation, evapotranspiration and
infiltration processes. Hydrological classification of water-bearing
formations. Fresh and salt-water relationships in coastal and inland areas.
Groundwater exploration and water pollution. Groundwater regimes in India.
II:
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
1)
Geomorphology: Development in geomorphology. Historical and process
Geomorphology. Landforms in relation to climate, rock type, structure and
tectonics. Processes – weathering, pedogenesis, mass movement, erosion,
transportation and deposition. Geomorphic processes and landforms – fluvial,
glacial, eolian, coastal and karst. River forms and processes – stream flow,
stage-discharge relationship; hydrographs and flood frequency analysis.
Submarine relief. Geomorphology and topographic analysis including DEM, Environmental
change– causes, effects on processes and landforms. Extraterrestrial geomorphology.
2)
Climatology: Fundamental principles of climatology. Earth’s radiation
balance; latitudinal and seasonal variation of insolation, temperature,
pressure, wind belts, humidity, cloud formation and precipitation, water
balance. Air masses, monsoon, Jet streams, tropical cyclones, and
ENSO. Classification of climates – Koppen’s and Thornthwaite’s scheme of classification.
Climate change.
3)
Bio-geography: Elements of
biogeography with special reference to India; environment, habitat,
plant-animal association; zoo-geography of India; Biomes, elements of plant geography,
distribution of forests and major plant communities. Distribution of major
animal communities. Conservation of forests. Wildlife sanctuaries and parks.
4)
Environmental Geography: Man-land relationship.
Resources – renewable and nonrenewable. Natural and man-made hazards –
droughts, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis. Ecological
balance, environmental pollution and deterioration.
5)
Geography of India: Physiography,
drainage, climate, soils and natural resources – the Himalaya,
Ganga-Brahmaputra Plains, and peninsular India Precambrian shield, the Gondwana
rift basins, Deccan Plateau. Indian climatology with special reference to
seasonal distribution and variation of temperature, humidity, wind and precipitation;
Climate zones of India. Agricultural geography of India. Population – its
distribution and characteristics. Urbanization and migration. Environmental
problems and issues.
III:
GEOPHYSICS
1)
Signal Processing: Continuous and
discrete signals; Fourier series; linear time invariant systems with
deterministic and random inputs; band limited signal and sampling theorem; discrete
and Fast Fourier transform; Z-transform; convolution; Filters: discrete and continuous,
recursive, non-recursive, optimal and inverse filters; deconvolution.
2)
Field theory: Newtonian potential; Laplace and
Poisson’s equations; Green’s Theorem; Gauss’ law; Continuation integral;
equivalent stratum; Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic theory;
Displacement potential, Helmhotz’s theorem and seismic wave propagation.
3)
Numerical analysis and inversion: Numerical
differentiation and integration, finite element, and finite difference
techniques; Simpson’s rules; Gauss’ quadrature formula; initial value problems;
pattern recognition in Geophysics. Well posed and ill-posed problems; method of
least squares; direct search and gradient methods; generalized inversion techniques;
singular value decomposition; global optimization.
4)
Gravity and Magnetic fields of the earth: Normal
gravity field; Clairaut’s theorem; Shape of the earth; deflection of the
vertical, geoid, free-air, Bouguer and isostatic anomalies, isostatic models
for local and regional compensation. Geomagnetic field, secular and transient
variations and their theories; palaeomagnetism, construction of polar wandering
curves.
5)
Plate Tectonics and Geodynamics: Vine-Mathews
hypothesis, marine magnetic anomalies, sea floor spreading; mid-oceanic ridges
and geodynamics; plate tectonics hypothesis; plate boundaries and seismicity.
Heat flow mechanisms, core-mantle convection and mantle plumes.
6)
Seismology & Tomography: Seismometry:
short period, long period, broad band and strong motion; elements of earthquake
seismology; seismic sources: faulting source, double couple hypothesis,
elastodynamics, Haskell’s function, seismic moment tensor, focal mechanism and
fault plane solutions; seismic gaps; seismotectonics and structure of the
earth; Himalayan and stable continental region earthquakes, reservoir induced
seismicity; seismic hazards; earthquake prediction.
7)
Gravity and Magnetic Methods: Gravimeters and
magnetometers; data acquisition from land, air and ship; corrections and
reduction of anomalies; ambiguity; regional and residual separation;
continuation and derivative calculations; interpretation of anomalies of simple
geometric bodies, single pole, sphere, horizontal cylinder, sheet, dyke and
fault. Forward modelling and inversion of arbitrary shaped bodies and 2-D, 3-D
interfaces. Interpretations in frequency domain.
8)
Electrical and Electromagnetic Methods: Electrical
profiling and sounding, typical sounding curves, pseudo-sections; resistivity
transform and direct interpretation; induced polarization methods. Electromagnetic
field techniques; elliptic polarization, in-phase and out of phase components,
horizontal and vertical loop methods; interpretation; VLF (very low frequency);
AFMAG (Audio frequency magnetic) methods; and central frequency sounding; transient
electromagnetic methods; magneto-telluric method; geomagnetic depth sounding.
9)
Seismic Methods: Generalized
Snell’s Law; Ray theory; reflection, refraction, diffraction; Zoeppritz’s
equation; seismic energy sources; detectors; seismic noises and noise profile analysis;
seismic data recording and telemetry devices; reduction to a datum and
weathering corrections;
Interpretation of a refraction seismic data by graphical and analytical
techniques; CDP/CMP; seismic reflection data processing, velocity analysis, F-K
filtering, stacking, deconvolution, migration before and after stack; bright
spot analysis; wavelet processing; attenuation studies, shear waves, AVO; VSP;
introduction to 3D seismics; seismic stratigraphy.
10)
Well logging and other methods: Open hole, cased
hole and production logging; Electrical logs; lateral, latero, induction, S.P;
porosity logs; sonic, density, neutron; natural gamma; determination of
formation factor, porosity, permeability, density, water saturation, lithology; logging while drilling.
Radioactive and geothermal methods.
IV:
METEOROLOGY
1)
Climatology: Same as under
Geography
2)
Physical Meteorology: Thermal
structure of the atmosphere and its composition. Radiation: basic Laws -
Rayleigh and Mie scattering, multiple scattering, radiation from the sun, solar
constant, effect of clouds, surface and planetary albedo. Emission and
absorption of terrestrial radiation, radiation windows, radiative transfer,
Greenhouse effect, net radiation budget; Thermodynamics of dry and moist air:
specific gas constant, Adiabatic and isoentropic processes, entropy and
enthalpy, Moisture variables, virtual temperature; Clausius – Clapeyron
equation, adiabatic process of moist air; thermodynamic diagrams: Hydrostatic equilibrium:
Hydrostatic equation, variation of pressure with height, geopotential, standard
atmosphere, altimetry. Vertical stability of the atmosphere: Dry and moist air
parcel and slice methods. Tropical convection.
3)
Atmospheric Electricity: Fair weather
electric field in the atmosphere and potential gradients, ionization in the
atmosphere. Electrical fields in thunderstorms, theories of thunderstorm electrification.
4)
Cloud Physics: Cloud classification, condensation nuclei, growth
of cloud drops and icecrystals, precipitation mechanisms: Bergeron, Findeisen
process, coalescence process – Precipitation of warm and mixed clouds,
artificial precipitation, hail suppression, fog and cloud – dissipation, radar
observation of clouds and precipitation, radar equation, rain drop spectra,
radar echoes of hail storm and tornadoes, radar observation of hurricanes, measurements
of rainfall by radar.
5)
Dynamic Meteorology: Basic equations
and fundamental forces: Pressure, gravity, centripetal and Corolis forces,
continuity equation in Cartesian and isobaric coordinates. Momentum equation
Cartesian and spherical coordinates; scale analysis, inertial flow, geostrophic
and gradient winds, thermal wind. Divergence and vertical motion Rossby, Richardson,
Reynolds and Froude numbers. Circulation, vorticity and divergence; Bjerknese circulation
theorem and applications, vorticity and divergence equations, scale analysis, potential
vorticity, stream function and velocity potential. Atmospheric turbulence: Mixinglength
theory, planetary boundary layer equations, surface layer, Ekman layer, eddy transport
of heat, moisture and momentum, Richardson criterion; Linear Perturbation
Theory: Internal and external gravity waves, inertia waves, gravity waves,
Rossby waves, wave motion in the tropics, barotropic and baroclinic
instabilities. Atmospheric Energetics: Kinetic, potential and
internal energies – conversion of potential and internal energies into kinetic energy,
available potential energy.
6)
Numerical Weather Prediction: computational
instability, filtering of sound and gravity waves, filtered forecast equations,
barotropic and equivalent barotropic models, two parameter baroclinic model, relaxation
method. Multi-layer primitive equation models. Short, medium and long range
weather prediction. Objective analysis; Initialization of the data for use in
weather prediction models; data assimilation techniques, application of
satellite in NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) and remotely sensed data.
7)
General Circulation and Climate Modelling:
Observed zonally symmetric circulations, meridional circulation models, mean
meridional and eddy transport of momentum and energy, angular momentum and
energy budgets; zonally asymmetric features of general circulation; standing
eddies; east-west circulations in tropics: climate variability and forcings; feedback
processes, low frequency variability, MJO Madden-Julian oscillation), ENSO, QBO
(quasibiennial oscillation) and sunspot cycles. Basic principles of general
circulation modelling; gridpoint and spectral GCMs; role of the ocean in
climate modelling; interannual variability of
ocean fields (SST, winds, circulation, etc.) and its relationship with monsoon,
concepts of ocean – atmosphere coupled models.
8)
Synoptic Meteorology: Weather
observations and transmission, synoptic charts, analysis of surface, upper air
another derivative chart, stream-lines, isotachs and contour analysis; tilt and
slope of pressure/weather systems with
height. Synoptic weather forecasting, prediction of weather elements such as
rain, maximum and minimumtemperature and fog; hazardous weather elements like
thunderstorms, duststorms, tornadoes. Tropical meteorology: Trade wind
inversion, ITCZ; monsoon trough tropical cyclones, their structure and
development theory; monsoon depressions; tropical easterly jet stream; low
level jets, Somali jet, waves in easterlies; western disturbances; SW and NE
monsoons; synoptic features associated with onset, withdrawal, break active and
weak monsoons and their prediction. Air masses and fronts: sources,
origin and classification of air masses; and fronts, frontogenesis and frontolysis;
structure of cold and warm fronts; weather systems associated with fronts.
Extratropical synoptic scale features: jet streams, extratropical cyclones and
anticyclones.
9)
Aviation Meteorology: Role of
meteorology in aviation, weather hazards associated with takeoff cruising and
landing, inflight – icing, turbulence, visibility, fog, clouds, rain, gusts, wind
shear and thunderstorms, nowcasting and very short range forecasting.
10)
Satellite Meteorology: Meteorological
satellites – Polar orbiting and geostationary satellites, visible and infrared
radiometers, multiscanner radiometers; identification of synoptic systems, fog
and sandstorms, detection of cyclones, estimation of SST, cloud top temperatures,
winds and rainfall: temperature and humidity soundings..
V:
OCEAN SCIENCES
1)
Physical Oceanography: T-S diagrams;
mixing processes in the oceans; characteristics of important water masses. Wind
generated waves in the oceans; their characteristics; shallow and deep water
waves. Propagation, refraction, and reflection of waves. Wave spectrum, principles
of wave forecasting. Tide-producing forces and their magnitudes;
prediction of tides by the harmonic method; tides and tidal currents in shallow
seas, estuaries and rivers. Factors influencing coastal processes;
transformation of waves in shallow water; effects of stratification; effect of
bottom friction, phenomena of wave reflection, refraction and diffraction;
breakers and surf; littoral currents; wave action on sediments – movement to beach
material; rip currents; beach stability, ocean beach nourishment; harbour
resonance; seiches; tsunami; interaction of waves and structure. Estuaries: classification and nomenclature; tides in estuaries; estuarine circulation and
mixing; depth – averaged and breadth – averaged models; sedimentation in
estuaries; salinity intrusion in estuaries; effect of stratification; coastal pollution;
mixing and dispersal of pollutants in estuaries and near-shore areas; coastal
zone management. The global wind system; action of wind on ocean surface; Ekman’s
theory; Sverdrup, Stommel and Munk’s theories; upwelling and sinking with
special reference to the Indian ocean. Inertial currents; divergences and
convergences; geostrophic motion;
barotropic and baroclinic conditions; oceanic eddies, relationship between
density, pressure and dynamic topography; relative and slope currents. Wind
driven coastal currents; typical scales of motion in the ocean. Characteristics
of the global conveyor belt circulation and its causes. Formation of
subtropical gyres; western boundary currents; equatorial current systems; El
Nino; monsoonal winds and currents over the North Indian Ocean; Somali current;
southern ocean. Upwelling process in the Arabian Sea.
2)
Chemical Oceanography: Composition of
seawater – Classification of elements based on their distribution; major and
minor constituents; behavior of elements; chemical exchanges across interfaces
and residence times in seawater. Chemical and biological interactions – Ionic
interactions; cycling and air-sea exchange of important biogenic dissolved
gases; carbon dioxidecarbonate system; alkalinity and control of pH; abiotic
and biotic controls of trace elements in the ocean; biological pump and
controls on atmospheric composition.
3)
Geological Oceanography: Same topics as
under subhead “Marine Geology & paleooceanography
4)
Biological Oceanography: Classification of
the marine environment and marine organisms. Physio-chemical factors affecting
marine life – light, temperature, salinity, pressure, nutrients, dissolved
gases; adaptation and biological processes. Primary and secondary production;
factors controlling phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and diversity;
nekton and fisheries oceanography; benthic organisms; coastal marine
communities and community ecology – estuaries, coral reefs and mangrove
communities, deep-sea ecology including hydrothermal vent communities. Energy
flow and mineral cycling – energy transfer and transfer efficiencies through
different trophic levels; food webs including the microbial loop. Human impacts
on marine communities; impacts of climate change on marine biodiversity. Impact
of pollution on marine environments including fisheries.
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