SYLLABUS FOR GEO 4890 COASTAL MORPHOLOGY AND PROCESSES

 

Spring 2004                                                                         Dr. Klaus J. Meyer-Arendt

1:00-2:15 MW in 13/221.                                                office:  13/206B     off. hrs.:  drop in or by appt.

LAB: 2:20-5:20 pm W in 13/221 or field.                   e-mail:  kjma@uwf.edu      phone:  474-2792

 

Course description. An introduction to the world’s coastal landforms, with emphasis upon dominant processes (esp. waves, tides, and currents), geographical variations, human impacts and policies, and environmental concerns--especially along the Gulf of Mexico coast.

 

Prerequisites.  GEO 1200/L or GLY 2010/L.

 

Corequisites.  GEO 4890 and GEO 4890L are co-requisites.

 

Student Learning Outcomes.  Students successfully completing this course will acquire a basic understanding of the science of coastal morphology, including earth processes (tectonics, sedimentary, fluvio-deltaic), marine processes (waves, tides, and currents), atmospheric processes (meteorological events) and their resultant forms.  Students will also become familiar with models of human interaction with the coastal zone, types of coastal engineering methods, coastal legislation, and techniques of coastal management and planning.

       

 

 

date                  subject                                       readings                                      labs     

Jan. 7          Introduction, History of CM       preface; Ch. 1: 1-19; & Walker “History of CM”

Jan. 12        Coastal classification & overview  Ch. 1: 19-35; & Walker “Coastal M.”                 

Jan. 14        Plate tectonics / Rocky coasts     Ch. 2: 36-48; Ch. 4: 143-157      1-intro (lab)

Jan. 19        NO CLASS: MLK Day

Jan. 21        Sea level variations                      Ch. 2: 48-67; Ch. 9: 467-469      2- videos (lab)                           

Jan. 26        Coastal processes:  waves            Ch. 3: 90-119                             

Jan. 28        Waves (cont.)                                                                                    3- waves (field)

Feb. 2          Tides & other processes               Ch. 3: 119-132, 136-142

Feb. 4          Coastal materials                         Ch. 2: 67-89                                4- tides (lab)

Feb. 9          Reef coasts                                    Ch. 5

Feb. 11        EXAM 1                                                                                             5-coastal topos (lab)

Feb. 16        Beach & barrier coasts                 Ch. 6: 248-289                           

Feb. 18        Beach ridges & dunes                  Ch. 6: 289-298, 315-320             6- dunes, etc. (field)

Feb. 23        Barrier islands                              Ch. 6: 298-315                           

Feb. 25        Deltas & deltaic morphology      Ch. 7: 321-356                            7- deltas (lab)

Mar. 1         Estuaries                                       Ch. 7: 356-377                                                                                 

Mar. 3         Wetland loss in the Miss. R. ∆     handout                                      8- land loss (lab)

Mar. 8         Muddy coasts                               Ch. 8                                           

Mar. 10       Hurricanes & other storms          132-136, 445-450, 455-464         9- hurricanes (lab or

Mar. 15       Human-coast interaction in Yucatán       handout                                             field?)

Mar. 17       EXAM 2 / Origins of Spring Break   KJMA “Historical..”+ Gerlach                          

Mar. 22-26 -----SPRING BREAK-----

Mar. 29       Resort Cyclicity                            Ch. 10: 484-486; handout   

Mar. 31       Resort Morphology, Risk Assessment                                             10- risk asses’t (lab)

Apr. 5         Engineering the Coast                

Apr. 7         Field trip to Alabama                   Douglass article                          11- structures (field)

Apr. 12       The Grand Isle, LA Resort Cycle KJMA “The Grand Isle…..”      

Apr. 14       Coastal jurisprudence                  handout                                      12-territoriality (lab)

Apr. 19       Coastal legislation

Apr. 21       Coastal management & planning                                                         13- CZM (field)

Apr. 28       EXAM 3 (11:00-1:30)                                                                                                         

 

REQUIRED TEXT:     Coasts:  Form, Process and Evolution by Colin Woodruffe. 2002, Cambridge University Press, New York, $50

                                    + selected readings (to be put on reserve, regular + electronic)

 

GRADING:     580 pts., based upon three exams (100 pts. each), journal article

                        reviews (50 pts.), a field research project (100 pts), & labs (130 pts.)

 

LABS:  10 pts./lab, absences = -10 (make-up labs for legitimate in-class absences = -3).

GRADING SCALE*

 

A (4.0) = >93%

A- (3.7) = 90-93

B+ (3.3) = 87-90

B (3.0) = 83-87

B- (2.7) = 80-83

C+ (2.3) =77-80

C (2.0) = 73-77

C- (1.7) = 70-73

D+ (1.3) = 67-70

D (1.0) = 60-67

F (0.0) = <60%

 

* UWF scale

  quality points in ()

 

 
Attendance and punctuality are required and will be factored in as follows:

·         Attendance at each lecture is worth 5 pts.; over 2 absences = -5 pts/absence

·         Tardiness (beyond once) = -2 pts/incident (over 15 min. late = -3 pts/incident)

·         Absences or tardiness in labs will be reflected in lowered lab scores

 

 

 

* Eric Howard is the lab assistant for this course.  He is in charge of grading the labs and allowing make-ups for LEGITIMATE excuses.  Eric’s office hours are 9-11 am Tuesdays and 11-1 pm Wednesdays (or by appointment), in 13/202.

Eric can be reached at ericjhoward@students.uwf.edu

 

Special Technology Utilized by Students:  low-to-medium 

 

Expectations for Academic Conduct/Plagiarism Policy will be followed as stated at these URL addresses:   http://uwf.edu/StudentAffairs/division/publications/ClassDisrup.pdf

http://uwf.edu/StudentAffairs/division/publications/PlagBroch.pdf

 

Assistance for Students with Special Needs policy is found at http://uwf.edu/DSS/dss_pub.pdf  on page 3.

 

 

UWF policy prohibits food, drink, or tobacco products in the classroom!