248. Geology of the Bahamas.

A field-oriented course explores the geologic and biologic aspects of the Bahamas. The course includes a ten-day field trip to San Salvador, Bahamas as well as laboratory research, lectures and independent projects at the St. Lawrence University. Topics include pre-Holocene platform sediments; Quaternary sea level changes sea level changes and climate; modern tropical carbonate depositional environments, including mangroves, inland hypersaline lakes, lagoons, tidal flats, nearshore subtidal environments, coral reefs and the platform wall; modification of modern sediments by organisms; and calcareous algae as major sediment producers. Emphasis is on importance of reefs in a global ecosystem both in the geological past and today, and modern human impacts on fragile tropical and subtropical coral communities of the Bahamas. Studies include evening lectures and independent research projects.
Prerequisite: GEOL 316 Carbonate Sedimentology.