#NA-02-15 Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments
About Course
University of SouthamptonDescription
Discover fascinating seafloor habitats and learn how humans affect them
Exactly what lies beneath our oceans? Why is the sea floor, and its marine sediments, so important? And how are humans affecting them? On this course you’ll answer these questions and more.
You will consider the importance of the seafloor and learn about its part in global ecological, chemical and physical processes. You will learn about the vital role that the seafloor plays in providing ecosystem services to society, the current rate at which humans are exploiting seafloor habitats and the need to conserve these systems.
Who will you learn with?
Martin Solan, a Professor in Marine Ecology at the University of Southampton, investigates how sediment-dwelling invertebrates, like worms, clams and shrimps, respond to change and effect ecosystems.
I am a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton with experience in marine benthic taxonomy. I’m currently studying how environmental change affects reproduction of important marine invertebrates
Who developed the course?
Southampton is a place for ambitious people keen to stretch their intellectual abilities and help change the world.
What Will I Learn?
- Explain what biodiversity is and how it evolved over geological time.
- Discuss why biodiversity is important and how marine communities deliver important services that benefit humans.
- Explore the diversity of marine sediments and how communities of organisms inhabit them.
- Identify marine organisms using a taxonomic key.
- Discuss the challenges of measuring and quantifying biodiversity in marine environments.
- Demonstrate an understanding of functional groups.
Topics for this course
Welcome
Welcome to the course
What lies beneath?
Meet the Team
What are marine sediments?
Life in sediments
This course is a good introduction to geology as it covers history up to contemporary knowledge about the earth.
I enjoyed the course very much the instructor was able to capture my curiosity about the geology.
Taking this course was an amazing experience and a great start for those who want to learn more about Geology.
I have a great curiosity about geology and this course has increased my curiosity while educating me on many aspects where I had no knowledge.