Scientific programming has become increasingly essential for manipulating, visualizing, and interpreting the large volumes of data acquired in earth science research. Yet few discipline-specific instructional approaches have been documented and assessed for their effectiveness in equipping geoscience undergraduate students with coding skills. Here we report on an evidence-based redesign of an introductory Python programming course, taught fully remotely in 2020 in the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington. Key components included a flipped structure, activities infused with active learning, an individualized final research project, and a focus on creating an accessible learning environment. Cloud-based notebooks were used to teach fundamental Python syntax as well as functions from packages widely used in climate-related disciplines. By analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from surveys, online learning platforms, student work, assessments, and a focus group, we conclude that the instructional design facilitated learning and supported self-guided scientific inquiry. Students with less or no prior exposure to coding achieved similar success as peers with more experience, an outcome likely mediated by higher engagement with course resources. We believe that the constructivist approach to teaching introductory programming and data literacy that we present could be broadly applicable across the earth sciences and in other scientific domains.

Key Points: • Extensive methane bubble plumes have been discovered on the Puget Sound seafloor. • The emission sites of these plumes are associated with major fault zones that penetrate the Cascadia forearc. • Dissolved methane arising from the plumes is mixed throughout the estuary by tides and local mixing. Abstract Methane gas plumes have been discovered to issue from the seafloor in the Puget Sound estuary. These gas emission sites are co-located over traces of three major fault zones that fracture the entire forearc crust of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Multibeam and single-beam sonar data from cruises conducted in 2011, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 identified the acoustic signature of over 330 individual bubble plumes. Dissolved gas from the plumes combines to elevate seawater methane concentrations of the entire Puget Sound estuary. Fluid samples from adjacent terrestrial hot springs and deep-water wells surrounding the estuary contain a helium-3 isotope signature, indicating a deep fluid source located near the underlying Cascadia Subduction Zone plate interface. However, limited data from this pilot study suggest that Puget Sound seawater emission sites lack either similar chemical isotope signatures or elevated thermal anomalies expected from association with a deep plate-interface reservoir. The existence of vigorous marine methane plumes arising from areas of thin sediment cover associated with deeply-penetrating forearc fault zones but presenting no thermal or chemical anomalies found in other similar forearc environments, remains an unresolved paradox. Plain Language Summary Puget Sound is a large inland sea located in western Washington State where seawater circulation is dominated by vigorous tidal forcing from the North Pacific Ocean. The deep Puget Sound is the largest estuary in North America measured by contained water volume and the second largest estuary in terms of area after Chesapeake Bay. Shipboard sonar images have revealed approximately 330 bubble plumes of methane gas and fluid rising from the seafloor of the estuary. Large clusters of bubble plume sites are concentrated over the major regional fault zones that penetrate the western North American plate beneath Puget Sound, including the South Whidbey Island Fault, the Seattle Fault and the Tacoma Fault Zones. Although the forearc Basin is surrounded by terrestrial hot springs and water wells that show a clear chemical signature of fluid arising from the underlying Cascadia Subduction Zone plate interface, based on our limited sampling there is currently no evidence for similar chemical or temperature anomalies in the Puget Sound plumes and the source of the methane bubble plumes is still unidentified.