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for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Advanced Earth Sciences Fieldwork |
| Unit code |
EASCM0051 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
M/7
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
|
| Unit director |
Professor. Rust |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
All 'must pass' units in years 1, 2 and 3 of the programme of study.
|
| Co-requisites |
N/A
|
| School/department |
School of Earth Sciences |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Science |
Description including Unit Aims
This virtual field course to the Galápagos, Equador, will allow students to fully participate in the scientific process – from inception to completion. The overall aim is to combine advanced fieldwork skills with literature review and critical thinking to develop a research proposal to address an outstanding problem in Earth Sciences.
The Galápagos provides a unique setting for scientific research spanning topics of interest for Environmental Geosciences, Geophysics and Geology, including, but not limited to:
- evolution of a volcanic terrain and relations with evolution of living organisms
- processes of volcanic eruptions and eruption dynamics,
- hazards associated with volcanic eruptions, gas emissions, earthquakes and landslides,
- geophysical monitoring for hazard mitigation
- geophysical investigations to study the architecture and dynamics of a volcano
- regional tectonics in relation to magmatism, faulting, and geothermal systems
- risks associated with natural hazards on an island with an economy that depends on tourism,
- impact of tourism on a fragile ecosystem,
- issues associated with water resources,
- rock-water interactions and/or the implications of changing ocean chemistry,
- early development of soils,
- biogeochemical cycling on land and in the ocean.,
- interaction of oceans and climate over a range of timescales
- development and use of geochemical proxies for assessing the rates and amplitudes of environmental change
- planning and delivering complex scientific experiments.
The unit will be delivered online starting with dominantly synchronous presentations, discussions and group activities, tapering into dominantly independent work offline. If government guidelines allow, there will be one day-long fieldtrip, looking at an older example volcanic deposition in shallow sea.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the class you will be able to:
- Use the scientific literature to propose a plan of field work directed to an outstanding problem in Earth Sciences
- Read and report on scientific literature relevant to field work
- Plan a field campaign focused on gathering preliminary data for a research proposal
- Describe the diagnostic features of islands visible on Google Earth with respect to aspects of the underlying geology, past and recent processes and anthropogenic influences
- Integrate field data from different localities
- Understand the pitfalls encountered in collecting and preparing data and /or samples for subsequent analyses (e.g. chemical, physical, modelling, statistics, resolution, coverage etc.)
- Seek out, using literature and web resources, data that are required for synthesising a research proposal
- Demonstrate an understanding of use of appropriate methodological tools for answering research questions
- Write effectively for different intended audiences (e.g. layperson, professional)
Teaching Information
The first phase will be dominated by synchronous online group activities: overview lectures by staff, group exercises using Google Earth and data provided by staff, short talks by students on journal articles about a broad range of studies of the Galápagos. If government guidelines allow, there will also be a one-day local fieldtrip, looking at older volcanic-sea deposits. The second phase will be dominantly independent work, building to the final assessment: a research proposal with a component of field work. There will also be some synchronous sessions with (or discussions of asynchronous content from) guest scientists, staff office hours and opportunities for feedback.
Assessment Information
Formative
Summative
- Presentation (oral; 5-10 minutes) of a relevant scientific paper and preparation of a single slide to complement the presentation (15%)
- 2-hour open-notebook test on the group component of the unit (group exercises, local field day, talks and discussions with lecturers and invited scientists) (25%)
- Final proposal based on fieldwork and literature review. 8 pages (50%)
- Professionalism: - including behaviour, engagement, and participation in unit activities. The default is that this mark is the average of other components (i.e. it does not affect total mark) but the mark will be adjusted for exceptionally positive or negative behaviour on agreement of three members of staff. This mark may also be reduced for cases of poor academic practice or plagiarism (10%)
Reading and References
Recommended reference:
Harpp, K. S., Mittelstaedt, E., d'Ozouville, N., & Graham, D. W. (Eds.). (2014). The Galápagos: A natural laboratory for the Earth sciences (Vol. 204). John Wiley & Sons.
(e-book available through the University of Bristol library)
Further reading will depend on the chosen area of study for each student.
