DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES
COURSES 2011-2012 (entire list below)
Courses this semester (Spring 2012)
ANT 206/GEO 208/EEB 306Human Evolution(EC)An investigation of the evidence and background of human evolution. Emphasis will be placed on the examination of the fossil and other evidence for human evolution and its functional and behavioral implications.Alan E. MannJanet M. MongePage Selinsky
CEE 311/CHM 311/GEO 311Global Air PollutionStudents will study the chemical and physical processes involved in the sources, transformation, transport, and sinks of air pollutants on local to global scales. Societal problems such as photochemical smog, particulate matter, greenhouse gases, and stratospheric ozone depletion will be investigated using fundamental concepts in chemistry, physics, and engineering. For the class project, students will select a trace gas species or family of gases and analyze recent field and remote sensing data based upon material covered in the course. Environments to be studied include very clean, remote portions of the globe to urban air quality.Mark A. Zondlo
GEO 103Natural Disasters(STL)An introduction to natural (and some society-induced) hazards and the importance of public understanding of the issues related to them. Emphasis is on the geological processes that underlie the hazards, with some discussion of relevant policy issues. Principal topics: Earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunami, hurricanes, floods, meteorite impacts, global warming. Intended primarily for non-science majors.Laurel P. GoodellAllan M. Rubin
GEO 202Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate(STL)An introduction to the ocean, atmosphere, and climate from the perspective of oceanography. Covers coastal processes including waves, beaches, tides and ecosystems; open ocean processes including atmospheric circulation and its impact on the surface ocean, the wind driven circulation, and surface ocean ecosystems; and the abyssal ocean including circulation, the cycling of chemicals, and ocean sediments and what they tell us about the climate history of the earth. The final part of the course will cover humans and the earth system, including a discussion of ocean resources and climate change.Danielle M. SchmittRyan R. Rykaczewski
GEO 297/ENV 399Environmental Decision Making(STN)Use of scientific data and arguments in formulating environmental policies, international development, poverty reduction, economic growth, conflict, and risk assessment. Class format consists of case studies for which students analyze the scientific arguments, evaluate the data upon which they are based, and determine the scientific credibility, political feasibility, and economic consequences of the various decisions.Gregory E. van der Vink
GEO 370/ENV 370/CEE 370Sedimentology(STL)This course presents a treatment of the physical and chemical processes that shape Earth's surface, such as solar radiation, deformation of the solid Earth, and the flow of water (vapor, liquid, and solid) under the influence of gravity. In particular,the generation, transport, and preservation of sediment in response to these processes is studied in order to better read stories of Earth history in the geologic record and to better understand processes involved in modern and ancient environmental change.Adam C. Maloof
GEO 419/PHY 419Physics and Chemistry of Earth's InteriorThe Earth is a physical system whose past and present state can be studied within the framework of physics and chemistry. Topics include current concepts of geophysics and the physics and chemistry of Earth materials; origin and evolution of the Earth; and nature of dynamic processes in its interior. One emphasis is to relate geologic processes on a macroscopic scale to the fundamental materials properties of minerals and rocks.Thomas S. Duffy
GEO 423Dynamic MeteorologyThis course provides the rigorous introduction to the moving atmosphere needed to understand Earth's weather and climate. The fundamental forces of the atmosphere (pressure gradient, gravity, and Coriolis) and conservation laws (mass, momentum, energy) will be developed. Approximations relevant to Earth's large-scale circulation and regional-scale extreme events will be discussed. Important consequences of atmospheric turbulence will also be covered. Throughout, connections between dynamical equations and atmospheric observations will be strongly emphasized.David M. Medvigy
GEO 428Biological OceanographyFundamentals of Biological Oceanography, with an emphasis on the ecosystem level. We will consider the organisms in the context of their chemical and physical environment; the properties of seawater, atmosphere and ocean dynamics that affect life in the ocean; primary production and marine food webs; global cycles of carbon and other elements; current research approaches. In addition to lectures by the professors, the course will delve deeply into the current and classic literature of oceanography and students will be expected to participate in seminar type presentations and discussions.Bess B. Ward
GEO 441/APC 441Computational GeophysicsAn introduction to weak numerical methods, in particular finite-element and spectral-element methods, used in computational geophysics. Basic surface & volume elements, representation of fields, quadrature, assembly, local versus global meshes, domain decomposition, time marching & stability, parallel implementation & message-passing, and load-balancing. In the context of parameter estimation and 'imaging', will explore data assimilation techniques and related adjoint methods. The course offers hands-on lab experience in meshing complicated surfaces & volumes as well as numerically solving partial differential equations relevant to geophysicsJeroen Tromp
GEO 470/CHM 470Environmental Chemistry of SoilsFocuses on the inorganic and organic constituents of aqueous, solid, and gaseous phases of soils, and fundamental chemical principles and processes governing the reactions between different constituents. The role of soil chemical processes in the major and trace element cycles, and the biogeochemical transformation of different soil contaminants will be discussed in the later parts of the course.Satish C. Myneni
Courses can be found at:
Undergraduate Courses
Undergraduate Announcement 2011-12
Graduate Courses
The Department of Geosciences Graduate School
Associated Programs
Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS)
Princeton University BIOS Graduate Program in Ocean Studies (BIOS)
Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI)
Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM)
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (NOAA/GFDL)
Program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP)