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Vår 2025
BIO-2516 Ocean Climate - 10 stp
The course is administrated by
Institutt for arktisk og marin biologi
Type of course
The course is available for students at the study program Bachelor in Biology and exchange students at a biology study program. Students from other departments for instance geology and physics are also welcome.
The course is limited to maximum 36 students due to limited capacity in labs and on board.
Priority if full:
1. Students at the bachelor’s in Biology program at UiT
2. Biology and geophysics students on an Erasmus + exchange
3. Biology and geophysics students from other exchange programs
Students are encouraged to also take BIO-2010 Marine ecology and BIO-2513 Marin biodiversitet (Please note! Norwegian taught course)
Course overlap
GEO-3121 Marine Geology 1.5 ects
Course contents
The course provides a descriptive introduction to physical processes in the ocean and the ocean’s role in the climate system. The students will be given an introduction to the physical setting of the oceans, the basic physical and chemical properties of seawater, basic principles of ocean circulation and mixing in the ocean, tides and waves. We will discuss interactions between atmosphere and ocean, the ocean’s role in the global heat budget and the climate system, and connections to anthropogenic climate change. Lectures will be supplemented by laboratory exercises and seminars to further explore the most important physical processes. Pending ship time approval, the course includes a scientific cruise to fjords in the nearby region. The students will get experience in handling oceanographic instruments for data acquisition and programming for data analysis, and will produce a cruise report. At the end of the course, the students will be able to explain the basic physical processes in the ocean and the oceans impact on the climate system, and use their knowledge of ocean physics to analyse and interpret oceanographic data.
Objective of the course
At the end of the course, the students will be able to:
Knowledge:
- explain and use oceanographic terminology
- describe the basic physical and chemical properties of sea water
- demonstrate basic principles of density and wind driven circulation in the ocean
- sketch simple explanations of basic models for ocean circulation, e.g. geostrophic circulation or Ekman transport
- provide an elementary explanation for tidal forcing
- distinguish and classify different types of waves
- discuss the ocean’s role in the climate system
Skills:
- search for relevant oceanographic literature
- use scientific literature to obtain relevant information
- make standard oceanographic observations
- analyse oceanographic data and interpret the results
General competence:
- design and conduct a small-scale oceanographic project
- communicate and collaborate in a larger group
- handle stressful environments such as research vessels at sea
- develop scientific writing and presentation skills
- develop critical thinking
Language of instruction
The language of instruction is English and all of the syllabus material is in English. Examination questions will be given in English, but may be answered either in English or a Scandinavian language.
Teaching methods
Lectures, laboratory exercises, seminars, student projects, research cruise (subject to ship time)