to provide a sound understanding of how Quaternary climate and terrestrial environmental change can be examined;
to provide practical skills in the collection, identification and analysis of evidence for Quaternary terrestrial environmental change;
to discuss specific topics and communicate knowledge, understanding and skills to others.
Content
Lecture topics (12):
Introduction
Palaeorecords of environmental change
Geomorphological evidence
Site selection and sampling strategies
Lithological evidence
Botanical evidence
Faunal evidence
Dendrochronology
C-14 dating and annual layering
Luminescence and other dating techniques
Stratigraphic correlation
Environmental and climate reconstructions
Integration of Ice-core, Marine and Terrestrial records.
Several transferable skills will be trained during the course practicals, seminars, and excursion.
Practicals:
Analytical, technical, and team-work skills are trained in the Microscope Labs on: pollen; core description.
Problem solving skills are trained in Computer labs: data analysis; C-14 calibration and wiggle-matching.
Written communication skills are trained: scientific jounals analysis; article writing and evaluation of research proposals, short reports.
Excursion: Analytical and team-work skills are trained during a lithological description and interpretation of a ca 50m long core from the shallow sub-soil of The Netherlands at Deltares / Geological survey of the Netherlands.
Seminar presentation: training in verbal communication skills during short (15 minutes) individual presentation and discussion of recent scientific papers on different topics: Proxies; Dating and correlation; Events.
