CH3043:03
Marine Chemistry and Chemical Ecology
Townsville
Prerequisites: CH1000 or (CH1001 CH1002)
36 lectures, 36 hours practicals. First semester.
Staff: Dr G Jones, Assoc. Professor B Bowden.
An introductory subject in the principles of marine chemistry and marine chemical ecology. Major and minor elements. Micronutrients and the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in seawater. Eutrophication. Effects of nutrients on corals and water quality. Trace elements in seawater and sediments. Bioaccumulation of chemical contaminants in marine organisms. Metal speciation, toxicity and ecotoxicology. Marine pollution studies-bioindicators in monitoring studies, metal detoxification. Phytoplankton pigments and biomarkers.
Biosynthetic pathways leading to natural products, allelopathy, how organisms establish and maintain space to grow, antipredation, invertebrate-toxic host relationships, antifouling, symbiosis and mutualism, ectrocrines and mollusc chemistry, anemone-starfish interactions, coral spawning chemistry, isotope discrimination, photoadaptation and UV protection, halon chemistry.
Learning Objectives:
- to help students understand the basic principles of marine chemistry and to obtain an introduction to research in this area;
- to enable students to look at ecology in terms of chemical interactions.
Assessment by laboratory practicals and assignments (35%); a three-hour examination (65%).
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