Course goals
This first-year MSc course aims to provide geology and geophysics students with the necessary background concerning the larger scale context of the closely related processes of basin formation and orogenic evolution in the framework of lithosphere-scale mechanics.
Content
The course is meant for students who are particularly interested in combining a physics-based understanding with observations in understanding the evolution of sedimentary basins and orogenic systems.
Learning objectives
After following this course, students will be able to
Infer processes that play a role in sedimentary basins and orogenic systems formation and evolution, on the basis of their main geological and geophysical features;
Explain how conceptual models of these processes can be developed further into quantitative models by taking into account the relevant physics;
Illustrate how geological observations can be used to test and refine the proposed conceptual models of evolution (concept of testing working hypotheses);
Analyze basin and orogen formation, evolution mechanisms and (sub)surface processes, which are needed to further understand locations and potential of economic-relevant geo-resources;
Evaluate crustal- to lithospheric-scale processes, relevant for quantifying the orogenic evolution at continental margins and interiors and their paleogeography in terms of subduction processes combined with accretionary and plateau-type orogenesis.
Transferable skills
The course contributes to the following transferrable skills:
Ability to work in a team: the student work out together the assignments in a team of two, both members sharing the responsibility of delivering the product;
Written communication skills: every project (assignment or computer lab) contains an explanatory description in a fixed length format. The students learn how to transmit efficiently data interpretation;
Problem-solving skills: assignments have multiple solutions with successive levels of solving problems not anticipated before and interpretation adjusted;
Technical skills: students develop technical and visualisation skills by developing numerical codes and performing analogue modelling that includes spatial geometries and interpretation techniques.
Flexibility/adaptability: students use industry approaches to solve practical problems that require an advanced degree of flexibility;
Analytical/quantitative skills: knowledge obtained during classes are extensively applied to real practical situations that require solutions. Computer labs train students in using MATLAB to quantitatively analyse a given problem.
