Earth and Environmental Sciences

Interdisciplinary, integrated study of groundwater, radionuclides, toxics, and human health in the context of a semester-long, detailed exploration of a brownfield, a contaminated aquifer, and its impact on a local community using the award-winning Brownfield Action simulation. Includes a reading of Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

Hands-on study and discussion of the basic physical principles of the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, and subsurface flow), as well as environmentally relevant applications based on case studies. Special focus on the New York City area, the arid Southwest, and the developing world. Coverage of contemporary global water resources issues, including pollution control, sustainable development, and climate change. General Education Requirement: Quantitative and Deductive Reasoning (QUA).

Human transformation of the terrestrial environment since Paleolithic times. Biophysical processes involved in human-environment interactions. Guidelines for sustainable agricultural and urban development using present and past examples of environmental use and abuse. General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL).

The study of anthropogenic contaminants within our natural environment and their subsequent effects on biological organisms. Effects to be examined: the molecular scale (biochemical pathways of metabolism and detoxification), the organismal scale (target organs, behavioral effects), and the ecosystem scale (species viability). Lectures and hands-on activities are used to teach the material.

Basic techniques of linear and non-linear inverse theory, and the validation of numerical models with sparse and noisy data. Includes discussion of genetic algorithms and evolutionary programming, theories of optimization, parameter tradeoffs, and hypothesis testing.

  Overview This course explores the origin of magmas and their subsequent movements; their ascent, stalling and eruption; their transport of heat and mass through the earth; their formation of crust and creation of volcanoes. The course will explore magmatism itself - its chemical and physical underpinnings – and also develop magmatic tools used to understand other earth processes. Topics will be focused around Grand Questions. Example questions include: What do magmas tell us about the thermal structure of the earth? Why do magmas store and stall where they do? What drives the largest eruptions on Earth? Does continental extension drive melting or melting drive extension? Questions will evolve to reflect the state of the field and student interest. The course is designed to serve as an accessible breadth course for Earth Science graduate students in any discipline.

Four aspects of the Earth's carbon cycle are considered: how it operated just prior to the Industrial Revolution; the fossil fuel CO2 perturbation; changes during glacial time; and the long-term planetary control system. Emphasis on information obtained from measurements of 13C and 14C.

Introduction to the fundamentals of data analysis. Topics: review of relevant statistics and linear algebra; methods of interpolation (different interpolants, advantages/disadvantages); methods of least squares (linear, weighted, constrained, error analysis); linear and nonlinear correlation; spectral analysis (Fourier analysis, convolution, deconvolution, distribution theory, Fourier theorems, smoothing, error analysis, power and phase spectral estimation, different approaches); filtering time series; forecast models (AR, MA, ARMA, ARIMA), empirical orthogonal functions (EOF), and related techniques.

The current climate and its variations over Earth history are interpreted as consequences of fundamental physical processes, including radiative transfer, the atmosphere and ocean circulation, and the carbon cycle. Perturbations to climate, resulting from changing atmospheric composition or insolation, are examined using a combination of simple interpretative models and full Earth System Models.

This course is a continuation of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (APPH E4210) which is a prerequisite for this course. Exploration of atmospheric circulation based upon oabservations and interpretive models. Topics include wave/mean-flow interaction (the equilibration of instabilities and the wave-driven contribution to meridional transport), zonally symmetric circulations (Hadley and Ferrel Cells), maintenance of the mid-latitude circulation through extratropical cyclones, the zonally asymmetric circulation (stationary waves and storm tracks), and the stratospheric circulation (the quasi-biennial oscillation and meridional transport).

An introduction to the physics governing the large-scale behavior of the tropical atmosphere. Topics covered include the Hadley and Walker circulations, monsoons, atmospheric equatorial waves, the Madden-Julian oscillation, tropical cyclones, and El Nino. Principles of atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics will be introduced as needed.

Hydrodynamical equations, vorticity dynamics, ocean circulation theories.

Seismic waves in layered media, matrix methods, free vibrations of the Earth, dislocation theory, source mechanics.

May be repeated for up to 9 points of credit, if taken in different areas. Estimated expenses: depends on locality visited. Field study in various geologic settings. Plans for the course are announced at the beginning of each term.

Advanced topics in radiogenic isotope and trace-element geochemistry. Origin and composition of the Earth, evolution of the continents and mantle, and applications to igneous and surficial processes.

General introduction to fundamentals of remote sensing; electromagnetic radiation, sensors, interpretation, quantitative image analysis and modeling. Example applications in the Earth and environmental sciences are explored through the analysis of remote sensing imagery in a state-or-the-art visualization laboratory.

Physical properties of seawater, water masses and their distribution, sea-air interaction influence on the ocean structure, basic ocean circulation pattern, relation of diffusion and advection with respect to distribution of ocean properties, ocean tides and waves, turbulence, and introduction to ocean dynamics.

  Origin and development of the atmosphere and oceans, formation of winds, storms and ocean currents, reasons for changes through geologic time. Recent influence of human activity: the ozone hole, global warming, water pollution. Laboratory exploration of topics through demonstrations, experimentation, computer data analysis, and modeling. Students majoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences should plan to take EESC W2100 before their senior year to avoid conflicts with Senior Seminar.

Studies formation of winds, storms, and ocean currents. Recent influence of human activity: global warming, and climate change. Laboratory exploration of topics through demonstrations, experimentation, computer data analysis, and modeling.

Studies plate tectonics: Origin and development of continents, ocean basins, mountain systems on land and sea. Earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes, diamonds, oil. Land-use planning for resource development and conservation. Laboratory exploration of topics through demonstrations, experimentation, computer data analysis, and modeling.

Explore the geology of the sea floor, understand what drives ocean currents and how ocean ecosystems operate. Case studies and discussions centered on ocean-related issues facing society.

How the Earth works. The unifying concept of plate tectonics is used to examine surface and internal processes in the Earth, including earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain-building, ridge-axis hot springs, formation of continents, renewable and non-renewable energy.

What is the nature of our planet and how did it form? This class explores Earth's internal structure, its dynamical character expressed in plate tectonics and earthquakes, and its climate system. It also explores what Earth's future may hold.

Role of life in biogeochemical cycles, relationship of biodiversity and evolution to the physical Earth, vulnerability of ecosystems to environmental change; causes and effects of extinctions through geologic time (dinosaurs and mammoths) and today. Exploration of topics through laboratories, demonstrations, computer data analysis and modeling. REQUIRED LAB: EESC W2310. Students should see the Directory of Classes for lab sessions being offered and select one.

This three hour lab is required of all students who enroll in EESC W2300. There are currently five lab sections.

Three problems are considered: the identity of the missing sink for fossil fuel CO2, the cause of the low atmospheric CO2 content during glacial time, and the possibility of a tie between tectonics and atmospheric CO2 content.

Introduction to the deformation processes in the Earth's crust. Fundamental theories of stress and strain; rock behavior in both brittle and ductile fields; earthquake processes; ductile deformation; large-scale crustal contractional and extensional events.

This class will be an introduction to the field of stable isotope geochemistry and its application to environmental processes and problems. The utility of stable isotopes as tacers of environmental processes will be examined with respect to the disciplines of paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, hydrology and hydrogeology. We will focus on the light elements and stable isotopes of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen in water, carbonates and organic compounds and why they fractionate in the environment.  Radiocarbon as a tracer and dating tool will alos be presented. The theoretical background for isotope fractionation will be discussed in class. The mechanics of how mass spectrometers analyze different isotope ratios will be explored during experiments in the laboratory at Lamont-Doherty. Additional key parts of the class will be a review of paper and student-lead reviews of published papers on relevant topics and a reveiw paper.

Based upon the most current understanding of our planet our interactions, and how we make decisions,  a new knowledge-based "green" framework is developed for our relationship to our planet and to each other as well as its general implications for human stewardship of our planet. This new knowledge-based  framework is explored using case studies, class participation, and  term papers on  specific current scientific and policy issues like global warming that impact the sustainability and resilience of our planet.

Mixing and dispersion in the ocean is of fundamental importance in many oceanographic problems, including climate modeling, paleo and present-day circulation studies, pollutant dispersion, biogeography, etc. The main goal of this course is to provide in-depth understanding (rather than mathematical derivations) of the causes and consequences of mixing in the ocean, and of the properties of dispersion. After introducing the concepts of diffusion and turbulence, instruments and techniques for quantifying mixing and dispersion in the ocean are reviewed and compared. Next, the instabilities and processes giving rise to turbulence in the ocean are discussed. The course concludes with a series of lectures on mixing and dispersion in specific oceanographic settings, including boundary layers, shallow seas, continental shelves, sea straits, seamounts, and mid-ocean ridge flanks.

Prepares students for research and oral exams with cross-discliplinary analysis of the plate-tectonic cycle. Driving forces and mantle convection, plate kinematics, magmatism, structure, thermal and chemical evolutions of mid-ocean ridges and subduction zones, continental rifts and collisions, and hot spots. Includes literature readings of great debates, and emphasizes integration of geophysical, geological and geochemical observations and processes.