The surface Earth is often thought of as a set of interacting systems, often with feedbacks between them. These interacting systems control the tectonics, geomorphology, climate, and biology of the surface Earth. To fully understand the nature of the Earth System, including the controls on its past evolution, its present state, and its future, an integrated perspective is required.
Learning objective
To introduce students to an integrated view of the surface Earth, uniting perspectives from different disciplines of the earth sciences.
To encourage students in the critical analysis of data and models in Earth Science.
Content
Planet Earth has had a complex history since its formation ~4.6 billion years ago. The surface Earth is often thought of as a set of interacting systems, often with positive and negative feedbacks between them. These interacting systems control the tectonics, geomorphology, climate, and biology of the surface Earth. To fully understand the nature of the Earth System, including the controls on its past evolution, its present state, and its future, an integrated perspective is required. This is a subject that pulls in observations and models from many areas of the Earth Sciences, including geochemistry, geophysics, geology and biology. The main goal of the course is to convey this integrated view of the surface of our planet.
We will achieve this integrated view through a series of lectures, exercises, and tutorials. We take as our framework some of the key events in Earth history, encouraging understanding of the controlling processes through integrated observations, ideas and models from disciplines across science.
Performance assessment
Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again)
Performance assessment as a semester course
: Special students and auditors need a special permission from the lecturers