This course emphasizes the chemical principles that control basic aqueous chemistry in marine systems. The focus of this course will be to show that the chemistry of the various elements in sea water can be understood as a consequence of basic general chemical concepts such as electron structure, chemical bonding, amd group and periodic properties.
The goal is to leave students with a basic understanding of the chemistry of the various elements in sea water such that they can answer questions like: why are elements such as cadmium and mercury toxic whereas calcium and magnesium are not? How do you think the element Technetium might behave in sea water? Which elements are most likely to be scavenged from sea water and why? Why are the rare earth elements so valuable as an indicator of chemical processes in marine systems?
The level at which this course is taught assumes that the student has already had a college level sequence of courses in chemistry (although they need not be a chemistry major). There are in-class and homework projects (involving both problem sets and library work) as well as a mid-term and a final examination which will be used as the basis for a grade.
LECTURES
01: Thursday, September 27, 2007 : Introduction Lecture Notes
02: Tuesday, October 2, 2007 : The Periodic Table Lecture Notes
03: Thursday, October 4, 2007 : Periodic Properties of the Elements Lecture Notes
04: Tuesday, October 9, 2007 : Ions in Solution Lecture Notes
05: Thursday, October 11, 2007 : Ions in Solution (cont.) Lecture Notes
06: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 : Speciation of Sea Water #1 Lecture Notes
07: Thursday, October 18, 2007 : Speciation of Sea Water #2 Lecture Notes
08: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 : The Particle Cycle #1Lecture Notes
09: Thursday, November 1, 2007 : The Particle Cycle #2 Lecture Notes
09: Thursday, November 1, 2007 : The Particle Cycle (actual lecture)Lecture Notes
10: Tuesday, November 6, 2007 : Speciation of Sea Water #3 Lecture Notes
11: Tuesday, November 6, 2007 : Speciation of Sea Water #4 Lecture Notes
12: Thursday, November 8, 2007 : Kinetics #1 Lecture Notes
13: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 : Kinetics #2 Lecture Notes
14: Thursday, November 15, 2007 : Biological Uptake #1 Lecture Notes
15: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 : Biological Uptake #2 Lecture Notes
16: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 : Lanthanides Lecture Notes
17: Thursday, November 29, 2007 : Residence Times Lecture Notes
18: Tuesday, December 4, 2007 : Biological Cycling Lecture Notes
19: Tuesday, December 4, 2007 : Suboxic & Anoxic Systems #1 Lecture Notes
20: Thursday, December 6, 2007 : Suboxic & Anoxic Systems #2 + Summary Lecture Notes
Exams
Mid-Term Exam. (Due at noon, Nov 6th)
Mid-Term Exam key
Mid-Term Exam key (spreadsheet)
Downloads
Profiles of the elements in the ocean arranged as a periodic table. (Lecture 01)
Plain periodic table. (Lecture 01)
Blank periodic table. (Lecture 01)
Spreadsheet implementing Slater's Rules. (Lecture 03)
Oxidation states of the elements. (Lecture 03)
Electron configurations of the elements. (Lecture 03)
Turner et al. paper. (Lecture 06)
Spreadsheet calculating copper speciation in sea water. (Lecture 07)
Bruland & Lohan, Trace Metal paper. (Lecture 17)
USEFUL LINKS
Animation of Tom Lehrer song: "The Elements"
It's Elemental: The Periodic Table -- Essays about each of the chemical elements.
Background information about the elements in the ocean.
WebElements -- a great resource for information about the properties of the elements.
A very colorful periodic table from the Royal Chemistry Society.
