Marine Geography: resources to bridge secondary and higher geography
Dr Rupert Perkins, Senior Lecturer in Marine Biosciences Degree Scheme Director and Admissions Officer What is Marine Geography?
A blend of human and physical geography in the coastal and offshore marine systems.
Covering marine biology, fisheries, conservation, offshore energy, renewable energy, ports and shipping, geomorphology, geology, coastal processes, hydrographic survey, mapping and charts, meteorology, climate and climate change, sustainability, food supply and logistics, water supply, environmental pollution, hazards and risk, coastal management, marine governance, environmental law......
Year 1 Marine Geography and MESci Marine Geography
Earth and Planetary System Science 20 70:30 The Sedimentary System Science 10 100:0 Dangerous Earth 10 100:0 Skills and Methods in Earth Sciences 10 70:30 Natural Resources and Energy 10 70:30 Formation of the British Isles 10 70:30 Geoinformatics 10 0:100 Charts and Hydrography 10 50:50 Environmental Chemistry and Biology 10 70:30 The Development of the World Ocean 10 50:50 Field Course 10 0:100 Years 2 and 3 Marine Geography
Geographical Research Methods 20 Marine Geography Dissertation 30 and Field Skills Marine Geography Fieldwork 10 Final Year Field Course 10 project Coastal Processes 10 Applications of Marine Science 10 Coastal Hydrography 20 Marine Conservation Science 10 Marine Ecosystems 10 Global Climate Change 20 Applied GIS 10 Marine Geomatics 20 Ocean Atmosphere Systems 20 Ocean Management 20 Environmental Pollution 10 Integrated Coastal Management 10 Marine and Coastal Resource 10 Water Resources 10 Development Environmental law 10
Environmental Management and Policy 10
(Similar for MESci pathway, but extra modules in year 3 and year 4 with MESci modules and Masters Dissertation) Bridging the gap
1. Boat work – coastal survey, human and physical geography blend
2. Overseas placements for A2 level students
3. Workshops, case studies, lecture series, distance learning
Placements for A2 level students to Greece
www.archipelago.gr
Archipelagos, Samos and Lipsi, Aegean, Greece
Ocean acidification: good bye coral reefs?
Ocean Acidification: the other CO2 problem!
An experiment for visualising ocean acidification Calcium from sea water in coelenteron
Zooanthellae Calicoblastis gastrodermis
Active Calcium transport
Bicarbonate CO2 from Calicoblastis metabolism converted to epidermis CO2
Mucopoly- Ca2+ Bicarbonate saccharide in Carbonic acid and organic membrane calcium carbonate Calcium carbonate (PPT)
Calcification processes in a scleractinic reef building coral Measured biogenic calcification responses to increased pCO2.
Stylophora pistillata −14 −20 Gattuso et al., 1998 S. pistillata 0 to −50 Reynaud et al., 2003 Acropora cervicornis −40 −59 Renegar and Riegl, 2005 Acropora eurystoma −38 −56 Schneider and Erez, 2006 Acropora verweyi −12 −18 Marubini et al., 2003 P. compressa + Montipora capitata −40 −59 Langdon and Atkinson,2005 Porites compressa −17 −25 Marubini et al., 2001 P. lutea −38 −56 Ohde and Hossain, 2004 P. porites - 16 Marubini and Thake, 1999 Pavona cactus −14 −20 Marubini et al., 2003 Galaxea fascicularis −12 −18 Marubini et al., 2003 G. fascicularis −56 −83 Marshall and Clode, 2002 Turbinaria reniformis −9 −13 Marubini et al., 2003
Useful references: -
http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163834
Anthony et al. 2008. Ocean acidification causes bleaching and productivity loss in coral reef builders PNAS 105 no. 45 17442-17446
Open access journal at: http://www.pnas.org/content/105/45/17442.full An issue of geography: location, climate, resource, socioeconomics, lifestyle, tourism....
Dependence on reefs is proportional to poverty level
Coastal Erosion – Diatoms play at King Canute Coastal erosion costs millions and with IPCC predictions for sea level rise, things can only get worse Problem – coastal defence can cost more than the value of the land being saved as has a finite life span Work with nature – Managed Realignment So how do Diatoms help? Migration – Extracellular Polymers – Biofilm - Biostabilisation
LTSEM of a biofilm
Pleurosigma angulatum
This is where I would do a demo but I didnt want to get arrested at the airport! Erosion threshold as a function of water content and polymer
100
r = 0.90, p < 0.05 80
60
40
20
CSM jet pressure (PSI) 0 r = 0.60, p < 0.05
45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 Water Content (% w/w) Conclusion: The succession of natural sea defence starts with the microalage and biogenic polymers – Biostabilisation. A crucial Ecosystem Service of Diatoms Medmerry, West Sussex. BBC News, Nov, 2013 Abbotts Hall Farm, Blackwater estuary, Essex – Environment Agency – “it has been a huge success, particularly in mitigating the flood risk further up the river in populated areas.” "It's a really great site to take the pressure out of the tide. On big surge tides it is not going up and overtopping other defences," she said.