The following is a list of possible topics for the 3 page paper due 17 March. I encourage you to select a
topic not on this list, but request you discuss it with me first. Many of the suggestions are very general and
will require focusing for a 3 page paper.
Evaluate the importance of manganese nodules as a resource.
What is tephra and why is it an important component of sediments?
Examine the use of oxygen isotopes in the shells of marine organisms for determining water temperatures.
Recently there was a huge out cry against Shell Oil’s proposed disposal of a n offshore drill platform in the
North Sea. Examine both sides of this controversy.
What are the effects, if any, of exploitation of oil on the continental shelves?
What are the current hypotheses concerning the colonization of hydrothermal vents?
What have we learned from the deep sea drilling project?
In addition to hydrothermal vents, there are other communities based on chemosynthesis. Describe them.
Discuss the different models for the movement of oceanic and continental plates.
What are humic acids and what is their role in seawater?
What effect does acid rain have on the chemistry of seawater?
What is marine snow and why is it important?
How are artificial radioactive isotopes used in oceanographic research?
How are barrier islands formed? Compare and contract the different hypotheses concerning barrier island
formation.
What is beach renourishment? Where has it been used? Is it effective in retarding beach erosion?
Discuss the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Lucas case and its ramifications for coastal zone
management.
Discuss the effects of seawalls and breakwaters on coastal geomorphology.
Describe the use of tidal power to generate electricity.
How do hard substrate, intertidal organisms (barnacles, algae, mussels) deal with the tremendous forces of
breaking waves? Discuss the hydrodynamics of living in the intertidal.
Why do many animals vertically migrate 100s of meters each day?
What effect has El Ninõ had on fish abundance off Peru?
Discuss the hypotheses used to explain high deep sea diversity (not including hydrothermal vent
communities).
Explore the controversy surrounding Norway’s recent decision to resume commercial whaling.
Describe the water circulation in fjords.
What is coral bleaching and what causes it?
Describe the zonation (pattern of distribution of plants and animals with tidal height) of salt marshes.
Describe the recent attempt to stimulate pelagic productivity in the eastern Pacific by the addition of iron.
Do the grasses that live in salt marshes contribute to estuarine and near shore productivity (e.g. is the
outwelling hypothesis true?)?
How is the circulation of deep water determined?
Compare and contrast the role of bacteria in decomposition at high and low latitudes.
Why are filter feeders typically found in sandy substrates and deposit feeders in muddy substrates?
What effects do predators have on the distribution and abundance of organisms living in mud and sand?
What is a warm core ring? How are they formed?
Discuss the pros and cons of Canada’s decision to ban fishing for cod and other demersal fishes for 5 years.
Describe the thermohaline circulation of the Mediterranean Sea.
Examine the evidence that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has become thinner and covers a smaller area as a
result of global warming.
Explain the radioactive pollution of the Arctic Ocean.
Discuss the benefits and problems with deep-sea dumping.
What effects does offshore drilling have on marine communities?
Can oceanic uptake of anthorpogenic carbon account for the "missing" carbon in the carbon budget?