Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments

Online Course

University of Southampton

Future Learn

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Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments

What is the course about?
Prerequisites & Facts
Cost, Certificate & Degree
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What is the course about?

Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments

The course Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments is an online class provided by University of Southampton through Future Learn. It may be possible to receive a verified certification or use the course to prepare for a degree.

Understand the importance of our planet’s seafloor and get an introduction to the exciting field of ocean science.

Course description

Discover fascinating seafloor habitats and learn how humans affect them
3 weeks

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.

The composition and global distribution of marine sediments.
Biodiversity; how it is measured and how it has changed through geological time.
Scientific illustration and taxonomy (the classification of living organisms).
Defining and classifying functional groups.
How humans benefit from, and impact on, marine benthic ecosystem processes.

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.

This course is for students from pre-A level to undergraduate who have a passion for, or are studying, marine science, biodiversity, earth systems, global change, ecosystem services or human interaction with marine environment.
It will also be of interest to teachers in these areas, or those with a general interest in ocean science.

University of Southampton
Southampton is a place for ambitious people keen to stretch their intellectual abilities and help change the world.

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Prerequisites & Facts

Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments

Course Topic

Nature & Environment, Science, Engineering & Maths

University, College, Institution

University of Southampton

Course Skill Level

see course summary

Course Language

English

Place of class

Online, self-paced (see curriculum for more information)

Degree

Certificate

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Degree & Cost

Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments

To obtain a verified certificate from Future Learn / University of Southampton you have to finish this course or the latest version of it, if there is a new edition. The class may be free of charge, but there could be some cost to receive a verified certificate or to access the learning materials. The specifics of the course may have been changed, please consult the provider to get the latest quotes and news.

University of Southampton

Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments

provided by Future Learn

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