Mark W. Williams

Department of Geography and

Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research

University of Colorado at Boulder

SYLLABUS: WATERSHED BIOGEOCHEMISTRY (Geog 4311, Spring 2006)

Instructor: Mark Williams
Telephone: 492-8830
Room: INSTAAR RL-1, Rm 101a
Office Hours: M 3-5 pm
E-mail: markw@snobear.colorado.edu
web site: http://snobear.colorado.edu/Markw/mark.html

Text (required):

Schlesinger, W. H.: BIOGEOCHEMISTRY: An Analysis of Global Change

This course is a quantitative investigation of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that determine the hydrology and hydrochemistry of headwater catchments (watersheds). A watershed is a natural unit of land from which the surface, subsurface and ground water runoff drain to a common outlet. In this course, the emphasis in on the movement and storage of water, nutrients, and solutes on and in the context of a natural land unit, the watershed. My intent with this course is to provide a process-level understanding of watershed biogeochemistry such that students will be able to understand the consequences of our planned and inadvertent human activities on water flow and quality at the catchment scale.

This course builds on and complements existing courses in Geography, particularly Introduction to Hydrology (Geography 3511). Specific topics include: hydrograph separation, isotopic and geochemical hydrologic tracers, water quality, pollution, geochemistry, nutrient cycling, field experiments, and simulation modeling. These processes will be applied to a range of geographic regions, emphasizing headwater catchments in montane environments.

The emphasis of the course will be primarily on material presented in class. Regular attendance is therefore suggested, since much of the material presented in class is not covered in the text. Exams will emphasize understanding, quantitative analysis, and to a large extent the ability to apply knowledge in a new context. The exam format will consist of quantitative problems, short answer, and essay questions.