This unit provides a foundation for the study of environmental science, and aims to provide students with an understanding of the basics of the earth as a system of systems. In particular, the unit focuses on each of the earth's major subsystems in turn - the lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere, and the interactions within and between each of them. Students will be introduced to a wide variety of earth science related topics including earth structure, rocks and minerals, plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes, weather systems and climate, global climate change and its consequences, oceans and coastal processes, surface and subsurface water, natural hazards, and biogeography. In addition, students will be exposed to the applications of spatial technologies such as remote sensing and GIS in the earth sciences.
PRESCRIBED TEXT - GEOSYSTEMS: AN INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, GLOBAL EDITION (9E)
