Module Information
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Group Oral Presentation 15 Minutes | 20% |
| Semester Assessment | Consultancy Report on practical exercise 2250 Words | 60% |
| Semester Assessment | Practical Report on practical exercise 500 Words | 20% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Consultancy Report on practical exercise 2250 Words | 60% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Practical Report on practical exercise 500 Words | 20% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Group oral presentation 15 Minutes | 20% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Outline the fundamental controls on sedimentary processes and products (erosion, transport, deposition);
Apply terminology, concepts and methods of sediment and sedimentary rock observation, description, classification and interpretation in both laboratory and workshop settings;
Assess and interpret evidence for environmental change in sediment or sedimentary rock sections;
Evaluate the relative importance of natural factors (e.g. climate, tectonics, sea level) and human activities in influencing sedimentary environments.
Brief description
Sediments and sedimentary rocks act as an archive of the Earth’s surface environments during any given period. They document its main agents of landscape change, record its current and former climate, and act as a useful blueprint for any future changes our planet may face. This course will provide you with the tools to interrogate a diverse range of terrestrial and marine sedimentary processes and products. We will explore how they vary in time and space, consider the internal and external controls which influence these dynamic sedimentary systems (e.g. climate, tectonics, sea level, human activity), and examine how to disentangle the interaction of different sub-environments within a depositional basin. You will learn how to use active depositional processes today to help us decipher the depositional products of the rock record and assess how they may be used to reconstruct the environmental changes that have affected other planetary bodies (e.g. Mars, Titan).
Content
Source to sink: weathering and the sediment conveyor belt
Summit to sea: terrestrial and marine sedimentary environments
Principal agents of sediment transport: gravity, ice, wind, water
Facies and facies analysis: interpreting past, present and future sedimentary environments
Natural disruptors: earthquakes, volcanoes, storms etc.
New sedimentary environments: plastics and the Anthropocene
Is space the final frontier? Extra-terrestrial sedimentary environments.
Practical and workshop exercises will provide opportunities to apply the concepts and techniques introduced in lectures to the analysis of ‘real world’ sedimentary environments. This will include workshop sessions with self-directed learning exercises and practical sessions. Students will explore real-world applications of their sedimentary knowledge and skills by addressing global grand challenges in sedimentology at an end-of-module seminar.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Communication | Students will be expected to read academic literature and to communicate their knowledge in practical and consultancy reports using appropriate written scientific language. Oral communication skills will be developed through peer-learning environments in the workshops, practicals and the group presentation session. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will need to adapt to a more independent and self-directed learning style to complete the practical laboratory and workshop exercises. This component will also require sharing resources with other students on the course, fostering team-working skills which will benefit their adaptability and resilience in future groupworking and group-learning environments, as well as being valuable soft skills for their wider life and career beyond the university. |
| Information Technology | Students will be expected to research and present written, numerical and graphical data and information using appropriate digital software. Further reading is an integral component of student-directed learning, requiring competence in finding and engaging with relevant sources online and via library-based digital search engines. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Sediment description and analysis is a fundamental skill for physical geographers, earth and environmental scientists, and is commonly used in many environmental consultancy professions. The ability to communicate using appropriate scientific language is also a generic skill applicable to academic and consultancy settings. Self-directed laboratory exercises will provide opportunities for reflection on how students can build their understanding and improve progress at an early stage in the module. Students will be encouraged to build knowledge through independent reading from reading lists, and self-directed research beyond the core reading. |
| Problem solving | Students will be presented with problems relating to the nature and origin of sediments and sedimentary rocks during lecture-based, laboratory and workshop exercises. Students will be expected to explore potential solutions to these problems based on material introduced through lectures, laboratory/workshop classes and independent reading. |
| Research skills | This module will develop observational and interpretive analytical skills in the examination of a diverse range of sedimentary environments, and at a diverse range of time scales (ancient, modern, and future systems). Critical thinking skills will be developed through engagement with competing hypotheses in the academic literature, and in their peer-learning and independent practical exercises. Understanding uncertainty is a fundamental critical thinking tool in the geosciences. |
| Subject Specific Skills | This module will provide students with the skills to apply specialised terminology, concepts and methods relevant to sedimentary environments of the past, present and future. Students will develop expertise in a range of research methods, including planning and conducting research, and producing reports. These skills will be practiced and developed through laboratory and workshop exercises. Students will be expected to use journal/web-based sources appropriately and effectively. |
| Team work | Collaborative team-work and peer-learning in small groups will form and integral part of the laboratory and group presentation exercises. Students will be expected to play an active part in group activities. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6