Certificate in Environmental Impact Assessment - Geochemistry of Aquatic Environments ERTH 3420   Geochemistry of Aquatic Environments
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Given the abundance of water at the earth’s surface and the wide use both humans and other organisms make of aqueous environments, it becomes imperative for environmentally-oriented scientists to understand the chemistry of natural bodies of water. In particular, we need to comprehend the processes that lead to the observed composition of groundwaters, lakes, rivers and oceans. We also need to be aware of how man’s activities can alter these natural systems. Water is also an agent for geologic and environmental change, both on short and long time-scales. Earth and environmental scientists should have an appreciation of these processes (sources, sinks and transport mechanisms) and the resulting geological cycles. This course is an introduction to the governing principles and processes of aquatic geochemistry. Specific topics will include physical chemistry of natural waters, kinetics (mechanisms & rates) of geochemical reactions, the hydrologic cycle, the dissolved carbonate system and pH controls, redox reactions and the influence of life, rainwater and acid rain, weathering and the formation of soils, mineral-solution equilibria, controls on the composition of rivers, lakes and oceans, sediments and their after-burial changes, and the global cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. Students will be taught to approach problems quantitatively through the principles of mass action (Eh-pH and activity-diagrams) and of mass balance (box models and conservation equations).
NOTES: This course is not offered every year. Please consult department in the spring for further information.
FORMAT: Lecture
PREREQUISITES: CHEM 1011.03/CHEM 1012.03 or equivalent and ERTH 1080/(ERTH 1090 or ERTH 1091) or ERTH 1010/ERTH 1020
CROSS-LISTING: OCEA 3420.03