| source Lund University (X) |
level |
department Geology (X) |
The fossil record reveals that life has changed dramatically since it originated and that evolution is intimately associated with changes in physical conditions on our planet. Not only have the various groups of organisms evolved but also the biosphere, as a whole, has changed conspicuously since its origin over 3.500 million years ago.
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page
We open the course with a discussion of the formation of Planet Earth, its relation to other planets in our solar system and its differentiation into core and mantle. The major part of the course is devoted to an understanding of how the Earth s crust is formed from its mantle, how the crust evolves and is metamorphosed and how these processes change with time. Plate tectonics and rocks formed in various settings are the principal starting points to understand how Planet Earth works. To reach a deeper apprehension we will devote time to melting and crystallization and brittle as well as ductile deformation processes. Comprehensive problems to be treated are, e.g.: how do orogenes form and evolve? How are the metamorphic processes connected to orogenies? Besides studying rocks, we will use some time to discuss the evolution of the atmosphere, the origin of life and its evolution. Parallel with the theoretical studies we practice identification of rocks and minerals especially under the polarizing microscope. The course involves a field excursion primarily devoted to training of how to describe magmatic and metamorphic rocks.
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page
Preliminary contents:
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page
How was the Swedish landscape formed? As Scandinavia has been the centre of several glaciations the erosive and land forming processes of the continental ice sheets have been of significant importance in the formation of today s landscape. Most sediments and landforms are more or less directly produced by glacial movements or from melt water originating from glaciers, or deposited in glacial lakes/sea at deglaciations. We will start this course with the ice; during a field course we will visit Hardangerjökulen, an active glacier in Norway. We will be on the glacier, in front of it and, if circumstances permits, also underneath it. We will learn how a glacier operates, where melt water is formed and where it flows, as well as how different sediments are deposited and how different landforms are produced. Back in Lund there will be a number of lectures and exercises, combined with field investigations and laboratory work, analyses of maps and interpretation of aerial photographs. This will all increase your knowledge and apprehension of how continental ice sheets once formed a glacial landscape.
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page
What changes have the environment experienced since the continental glaciers of the last ice age started to recede? How has the landscape changed and how have flora and fauna responded to variations in climate and human activity? If you attend this course you will be able to answer such questions and obtain knowledge of up-to-date methods in palaeoclimatology and landscape history. You will also learn how to date and analyze various types of geological material and become familiar with a range of palaeoecological techniques. During field work we will collect sediment cores and analyze them in the laboratory, using various techniques. Lectures are combined with the analytical work and seminars. The results will be presented in a report. During excursions we will visit interesting localities in southern Sweden.
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page
What is the explanation for repeated glaciations during the past few million years and how many glaciations have there actually been? How much and how fast has Earth s climate varied, what are the mechanisms behind major climate changes and how do we know? How has the landscape, vegetation and human life been affected by the glaciations? How do we affect the climate system today, what will our future climate be like and when will the next ice age come? If you attend this course you will get the answers to these and many related questions. You will also get a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the latest discoveries in Quaternary geology. The course starts with a lecture series combined with literature studies, discussions and brief excursions to Denmark and the province of Skåne (where Lund is situated). About two weeks are set aside for a written assignment on the climate and glaciation history of some specific period or part of the world, followed by oral presentation of the report. The course ends with an exciting excursion through southern Sweden to the Scandes Mountains where we will have a closer look at the evidence of former glaciations. The course provides practice in acquiring information from scientific primary publications as well as oral and written communication in English.
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page
The development of ancient sedimentary basins is analysed using modern sedimentological and stratigraphical principles. The course is generally built around a field trip to the southern parts of the Pyrenees where a complete sedimentary basin from 45-70 million years ago has been lifted above sea level due to tectonics. In a transect from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic we study different types of fossil soils, lake- and river deposits, various shelf environments, continental slope and deep-sea sediments. A number of oil companies also organize their education in these areas in the southern parts of the Pyrenees because of the superb geology.
Score: 11.284119 Details | Listing | Web page