Journal Articles

The Oceanic Phosphorus Cycle
Phosphorus is an essential element to all life and this journal article describes how. This article illustrates phosphorus occurrence in the Earth's crust and its sources and sinks in the ocean. I learned that with the advent of new techniques, we have gained a greater understanding of the forms of phosphorus in the marine environment and how specific organism utilize each of these phosphorus pools. The phosphorus cycle is a very complex cycle and is not fully characterized yet.

Impacts of El Niño and La Niña on the U.S. Climate during Northern Summer

The impacts of El Niño and La Niña on the U.S. climate during northern summer are analyzed separately in this journal article. Over most of North America during La Niña events a continental-scale peculiar high dominates, which leads to hot and dry summers over the central United States. The impacts of El Niño over North America, however, are weaker and more variable. In this article, there are many Figures that illustrate these impacts of El Niño and La Niña on the U.S. climate during northern summer.

Public Perceptions of Florida Red Tide Risks 

Florida Red Tides are highly concentrated blooms of microscopic algae which occur annually along the coastlines of Florida and occasionally along other Gulf Coast states. This article describes the different species that pose health threats to humans and marine organisms. Many surveys and interviews were conducted for this article that help explore the various percepts of the risk surround red tides.

Bathymetric Map

During class, we learned about bathymetric maps. A bathymetric map is a map that shows water depth. We looked at a specific bathymetric map of a lake. We learned that when the lines are closer together, the slope is steeper. As a class, we divided each depth section among ourselves and cut out our specific section. I had sections 7, 8, 9, and 10 because they were the easiest to cut out. We also cut out a square for our scale. In class, we weighed both our square and cut out sections of the lake. The class average mass for the square scale was 0.103g. From the recorded masses of each section and the class average mass for the square, the area (meters squared) was calculated. The hypsographic curve (area vs depth curve) is shown below for our data.

Then we calculated the volume (meters cubed) for the data. The volume was determined by taking the average of two depth areas next to each other and multiplying it by the change in depth of the two areas. The Volume vs Depth curve is shown below.