Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | End of Module Assessment 2000 Words | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | Workshop Assignment Mapping and interpretation of geomorphological evidence 500 Words | 25% |
| Semester Assessment | Workshop Assignment Presentation and Interpretation of Palaeoenvironmental Data 500 Words | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Workshop Assignment Mapping and interpretation of geomorphological evidence 500 Words | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Workshop Assignment Presentation and Interpretation of Palaeoenvironmental Data 500 Words | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | End of Module Assessment 2000 Words | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Outline and explain the nature of climate changes that the Earth has undergone in the Quaternary, and especially during the last 200,000 years.
Describe the principal methods used to obtain palaeoenvironmental data and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
Present, analyse and interpret a range of palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental data.
Interpret geomorphological evidence to estimate past ice extent.
Discuss evidence from the Quaternary palaeoenvironmental record in the context of contemporary climate issues.
Brief description
This module aims to give students an understanding of the nature of climatic and environmental change during the Quaternary Period – the last 2.6 million years of Earth History, characterised by glaciation and changes in global ice cover. We will examine global records of Quaternary climatic variability obtained from ice cores and ocean sediments that provide the framework for understanding mechanisms of climate change. We will investigate the changing extent of ice cover across the globe at a range of scales. With a focus on the North Atlantic region, we will discuss the evidence obtained from lakes and bogs for rapid climate change during deglaciation and what that means for understanding contemporary climate variability. This module provides a background for understanding long-term processes in many subject areas, including climatology, oceanography, hydrology, geomorphology, glaciology, and biogeography.
Aims
2. to provide students with a critical view of the methods by which past environments and glaciation can be reconstructed;
3. to discuss the role of palaeoclimatology in understanding contemporary climate change.
Content
Lectures will cover topics such as:
• Long term, global records of palaeoenvironmental change
• The nature and timing of climate variability over the last glacial cycle
• Causes of long and short-term climate variability
• The polar ice caps
• Continental ice sheets during the Quaternary
• Mountain glaciation
• Terrestrial records of environmental change
• Rapid climate change in the North Atlantic
Module activities will provide students with the opportunity to explore lecture topics in more detail. Mapping and data analysis workshops will focus on interpretation and analysis and interpretation of glacial geomorphology and long term climate records, whilst seminar discussion will focus on latest research linking past and present climate change.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Co-ordinating with others | Students will participate in seminars and workshops that will encourage collaborative problem solving and debate. |
| Creative Problem Solving | Students will gain new knowledge from lectures about problem solving in approaches to reconstructing past environments using palaeoenvironmental and geomorphological data. They will need to be imaginative in their use of methods to bring together complex datasets. |
| Critical and analytical thinking | Students will integrate a range of palaeoenvironmental data sources to address questions about Quaternary climate variability and consider how the long term climate record informs contemporary climate change debates. |
| Digital capability | Students will be required to manipulate datasets and spatial data using digital methods to interpret the record of past environmental change. |
| Professional communication | Experience in professional communication will be gained through written assessments and contribution to seminar discussions. |
| Real world sense | Students will apply knowledge about Quaternary environmental change to current climate change issues |
| Reflection | Students will be able to reflect on assessment feedback and incorporate this into later assessments. |
| Subject Specific Skills | The aquisition, analysis and presentation of data related to reconstructing past environments. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5