Hieronder wordt een engelstalige beschrijving gegeven van de studiethema's, de mogelijkheden en voorwaarden van dit programma voor master-studenten, die een bestaand master-traject volgen in een mariene wetenschap en in aanmerking willen komen voor de extra aantekening "Marine Scientist of the Netherlands".
General background: Although two-thirds of the Earth is covered by oceans on average 3.7 km deep, our knowledge of marine processes, phenomena and ecosystems is still very limited. Yet, the oceans are a major player in current global issues regarding e.g. economy, climate, health, hazards and biodiversity related issues. The life and work of 65% of the world’s population is directly related to the oceans. Understanding marine physical, chemical, biological and geological processes, as well as deciphering the functioning of marine ecosystems are critical aspects of the planet’s ecology and climatology and is also vital for a sound, science-based ocean and coastal zone management.
Scientific background: Marine environments are still very poorly studied and understood; recent scientific discoveries underscore this issue. For example, it is becoming increasingly evident that marine microbes, in particular Bacteria, Archaea, Protista and associated viruses, of untold diversity, account for 98 % of the marine primary production. Moreover, they represent over 90 % of the total oceanic biomass and are responsible for the far greater part of food web processes and the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, other elements and nutrients. It is only very recently that we start to realize that the microbial biodiversity is phenomenal and may differ very considerably in different marine habitats (depth, latitude, salinity, temperature, pressure, etc.), including sub-seafloor ecosystems. Furthermore, it is also becoming clear that the deep oceans appear to play a crucial role in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, other elements and nutrients, represent high species diversity and probably contain important biological, mineral and chemical resources. Moreover, the ocean floor interfaces the bio- and geosphere thus representing the niche of important biogeochemical and geochemical processes. The slow growth, the long life span and late maturity of many eukaryotes make the system extremely vulnerable for human activities. Another example involves the climatic and socio-economic consequences of the future relatively rapid rise in anthropogenic atmospheric CO2. The uptake of ca 40% of the anthropogenic CO2 by the oceans so far has a major impact on the ocean chemistry and biology. The pH is decreasing, the CaCO3 compensation depth is shoaling, and the biodiversity will probably change dramatically causing unexpected changes in biogeochemical cycling and thus climate. Moreover, over the last years a number of observations, mostly based on long-term monitoring of physical, chemical and biological parameters, have been explained by ecological mismatches due to global change. For example, the rapid increase by 2 oC of the seawater temperature over the last two decades in the Dutch Wadden Sea, caused a much earlier appearance of larvae of benthic species like Macoma baltica in the water column. This while their food, algal biomass regulated mainly by the light regime, was virtually absent and their predators, North Sea crabs, were already present. As a consequence, benthic shellfish gradually decrease, impacting a.o. bird populations and also shells fisheries. There are strong indications that these kinds of mismatches are much more general than expected and that they will dramatically increase in the decades to come, thus impacting significantly sustainable exploration of marine resources.
In addition, the last decades have also witnessed an expanding exploitation of the marine sedimentary archives, where e.g. palaeoceanography, palaeoclimatology, palaeobiology and geomicrobiology, together or individually, made significant contributions to understanding past, but also present, and future global climate change.
The above illustrates that Marine Sciences have developed and will continue to develop as a science of sciences by integrating classical scientific disciplines. A modern marine scientist should thus be trained in what we term the ‘big four’, i.e. marine (micro) biology, physical oceanography, marine (bio) chemistry and their ‘palaeo’-counterparts. The combined Dutch universities and institute facilities, laboratories, and expertise in these fields should be explored to constitute a national educational program in the marine sciences.
Participating Master Tracks and Institutions:
A. Physical Oceanography
A.1. Meteorology, Physical Oceanography and Climate (MPOC); UU-Dept. Physics and Astronomy.
A.2. Coastal and Fluvial Systems; UU-Dept. Physical Geography
B. Biological Oceanography
B.1 Limnology & Oceanography; UvA-Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED)
B.2. Marine Biology & Oceanography; RUG-Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES).
C. Paleoceanography
C.1. Biogeology; UU- Depts. of Earth Sciences and Palaeoecology.
C.2. Plant Biology: UU- Depts. of Earth Sciences and Palaeoecology.
C.3. Palaeo-Climate and Geo-systems; VU-Dept. Palaeoclimatology & Geomorphology.
D. Multidisciplinary Oceanography
D.1. Integrated sea-going course; organised by 'Fundamental Research Sea and Coast'; FOKUZ, a joint venture of NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and the Netherlands Institute for Ecology, Centre for Estuarine Marine Research (NIOO-KNAW/CEME). This course will be organised every year from June 2009 onwards. More information and the possibility for registration at this page.
