ESS 230: Rivers and Beaches

Introduction to Earth surface environments, the processes that shape them, how humans affect them and are affected by them. Weekend field trips examine mountains, rivers, deltas/estuaries, beaches, and environments beyond. Focus on linkages between these environments to illustrate coupling between landscapes and seascapes.

General Course Information

• ESS/Ocean 230 Syllabus (MS Word)

Lectures (Powerpoint files)

• Introduction 2007  .PPT or .PDF
• Source to Sink 2007  .PPT or .PDF
• Mountains: Weathering 2007  .PPT or .PDF
• Mountains: Soil 2007 (updated 10/3/2007)  .PPT or .PDF
• Mountains: Erosion 2007  .PPT or .PDF
• Rivers: Materials and Sediment Transport 2007  .PPT or .PDF
• Beyond the Beach 2007 (updated 10/10/2007)  .PPT or .PDF
• The Floor of Puget Sound 2007 (Updated 26 October 2007)  .PPT or .PDF
• Marine Sedimentation 2007 (Updated 10-15-2007)  .PPT or .PDF
• Estuaries and Deltas 2007 (Updated 26 October 2007)  .PPT or .PDF
• Alluvial Rivers 2006  .PPT or .PDF
• Bedrock Rivers 2006  .PPT or .PDF
• Floodplains 2006  .PPT or .PDF
• Channel Response 2006  .PPT or .PDF
• River Restoration 2006  .PPT or .PDF
• Human Impacts on Rivers 2006  .PPT or .PDF
• Human Impacts on Estuaries and Deltas 2006  .PPT or .PDF
• Beaches: Part I 2007 (Updated 4 Dec)  .PPT or .PDF
• Beaches: Part 2 2007 (Updated 4 Dec)  .PPT or .PDF
• Washington Beaches 2007 (Updated 4 Dec)  .PPT or .PDF
• King of Fish: The Thousand-year Run of Salmon 2006  .PPT or .PDF
• Dirt: Erosion of Civilizations 2006  .PPT or .PDF

Midterm Preparation

• Midterm Example Questions (PPT) or (PDF)

Field Trips/Labs

• Field Trip 1: Mt. Rainier to Nisqually Delta PDF (3 mb) or PPT (30 mb)
  Nisqually Field Trip Questions (MSWORD)
  • Field Trip 1 related links (optional):
  • View Field Trip #1 stops in Live Search / Microsoft Virtual Earth
  • View Field Trip #1 stops in Google Maps
  • Field Trip 1 location file for Google Earth (KMZ)
  • National Park Service slideshow of 2007 flood damage (PDF)


• Field Trip 2: ESS/Ocean 230 Cruise Questions (MS Word)
  • Field Trip 2 Plots:
  • Plot EB-1A.PDF (Elliot Bay Station 1)
  • Plot EB-1B.PDF (Elliot Bay Station 1)
  • Plot EB-2A.PDF (Elliot Bay Station 2)
  • Plot EB-2B.PDF (Elliot Bay Station 2)
  • Plot EB-3A.PDF (Elliot Bay Station 3)
  • Plot EB-3B.PDF (Elliot Bay Station 3)
  • Plot NR-1A.PDF (Nisqually Reach Station 1)
  • Plot NR-1B.PDF (Nisqually Reach Station 1)
• Field Trip 3: Olympic Peninsula Rivers & Beaches (MS WORD)

Course Reserves

• Library Reserve Instructions (Powerpoint file)
• "Ocean Basins" from Oceanography, M.G. Gross, Prentice Hall (PDF)
• "River Deltas" from The Coast of Puget Sound, J.P. Downing, Puget Sound Books (PDF)
• "Sediments" from Oceanography, M.G. Gross, Prentice Hall (PDF)
• "The Estuarine Environment" from The World Ocean, W.A. Anikouchine and R.W. Sternberg, Prentice-Hall (PDF)
• "River Deltas" from Coasts, R.A. Davis, Prentice-Hall (PDF)
• "Inshore Oceanography," from The World Ocean, Anikouchine and Sternberg, Prentice-Hall (PDF)