EAS 3220 - Biogeochemistry of the Hawaiian Islands

(PBS)

Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: EAS 2200, EAS 3030, and one semester each of college level chemistry and calculus, or permission of instructor. Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited to: students enrolled in the Cornell University Earth and Environmental Systems Field Program in Hawaii.

L. Derry.

A field-oriented biogeochemistry course held on the island of Hawaii. Field, class, and laboratory work focus on how landscape age and climate strongly control biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem development in Hawaii, and on carbon cycling at short and long time scales. Other topics include weathering processes, succession of ecosystems, evolution of nutrient cycles, impacts of invasive species, and volcanic gas fluxes. The course is structured around field projects, carried out both as groups and individually.