Undergraduate Course: Evolution of the Living Earth (EASC08023)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is intended as a foundation course for all Earth Science students with emphasis on processes that operate at the global scale. The interactions between geology, chemistry, physics and biology affecting the origin and evolotion of life, Earth surface processes, and the climate history of the planet are studied. These together form the characteristics of the environment in which we live.
This course should also be of general interest to Biology students by providing a thorough basis for understanding the geological aspects of global environmental change, and in particular, the evolution of life in this context. Chemists will benefit from an application of basic chemical principles to complex natural systems, while the course also provides an important background for those interested in temporal phenomena e.g. archaeologists.
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| Course description |
The course will consist of four main components:
The first part (13 lectures by Dr Stephen Brusatte) will present the evolution of the Earth in general and of life in particular. The roles of the atmosphere and geosphere on changes in the biosphere are discussed, emphasising the driving mechanisms (internal and external forcing) for change. Significant events in earth history are considered, including the origin of life, geochemical evolution of the atmosphere, and mass extinctions. The use of isotopic and other geochemical proxies will be introduced and used to illustrate key events. After covering this module, students will be able to recall the main features of the evolution of the planet and life on earth.
The second section (5 lectures by Dr. Alex Thomas) introduces the concept of global climate change across a spectrum of time-scales from many millions of years to inter-annual variations. The emphasis is on identifying the main processes that control climate variability and change on these different time-scales, and on using examples from Earth history to illustrate how these processes may interact. This leads to the concept of the ¿climate system¿; a complex coupled system where components may interact to either enhance or reduce any initial change in climate. Natural processes including those related to tectonic activity, weathering of rocks, changes in solar output, changes in the Earth¿s orbit around the sun, and natural ¿auto-oscillations¿ in the climate system (such as El Niño Southern Oscillation) are considered, as well as Anthropogenic processes of climate change related to changing greenhouse gas and aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere. From this module students will be able to recall the main timescales on which climate change occurs, and will be able to account for these scales of change with reference to current understanding on the topic. They will be able to assess the degree to which recent climate change is exceptional compared to previous times, and will understand the significance and reliability of future predictions based on climate model results.
The third part (6 lectures by Dr. Bryne Ngwenya) is a basic introduction to the foundations of chemistry that underpins our fundamental understanding of natural chemical reactions. The course assumes very little chemistry and starts from first principles (fundamental building blocks of matter) to chemical reactions and what drives them. The lectures will run in parallel with assessed laboratory practical sessions designed to consolidate the application of the chemical concepts to natural substances/processes. On completion of this module, students will acquire a solid grasp of chemical principles upon which to build their chemistry skills relevant to Earth Materials and Chemical Geology in later years.
The final part (6 lectures by Dr. Alex Thomas) looks at earth processes from an integrated point of view through a systematic study of biogeochemical cycles. The major biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are discussed and compared and detailed interactive practical sessions are used to illustrate measurement, analysis and synthesis of biogeochemical data. Links between the physical climate system and biogeochemical cycles are introduced to show how human activity is impacting on the environment. On completion of this module, students will be able to use the terminology and appreciate the merits of the cyclical approach to biogeochemistry. They will be able to recall the principal components of each biogeochemical element and the processes operating within each reservoir. They will appreciate the differences between the biogeochemical elements and also the human impact on each cycle.
Part I Origin and Evolution of Life (Dr Stephen Brusatte, SB)
Lecture 1 Building a Habitable Earth SB
Lecture 2 Origin of Life SB
Lecture 3 Origin of Complexity SB
Lecture 4 The Cambrian Explosion SB
Lecture 5 The Evolution of Life SB
Lecture 6 Faunal Innovation SB
Lecture 7 Palaeozoic Ocean Evolution SB
Lecture 8 The Invasion of Land SB
Lecture 9 The Permian and Triassic World on Land SB
Lecture 10 Dinosaurs SB
Lecture 11 The Rise of Mammals SB
Lecture 12 Mesozoic and Cenozoic Oceans SB
Lecture 13 Impact of Life on the Planet SB
Part II Global Climatic and Environmental Change (Dr Alex Thomas, ALT)
Lecture 14 Timescales of climatic change ALT
Lecture 15 Climate change over millions of years (Academic Precis)
Lecture 16 Glacial-interglacial cycles and millennial timescale climate ALT
Lecture 17 Mechanisms of natural short-term variation in climate ALT
Lecture 18 Climate Change: the Past 1000 years and the Next 100 years ALT
Part III Environmental Geochemistry (Dr B T Ngwena, BTN)
Lecture 19 Atoms and atomic structure BTN
Lecture 20 Electronic structure of atoms and periodic table BTN
Lecture 21 Chemical Reactions and reaction stoichiometries BTN
Lecture 22 Reactions in solution BTN
Lecture 23 Drivers of chemical reactions BTN
Lecture 24 Composition of the Earth and the Geochemical Cycle: BTN
Part IV Global Biogeochemical Cycles (Dr Alex Thomas, ALT)
Lecture 25 Introduction to Biogeochemistry ALT
Lecture 26 Global Carbon Cycle 1 ALT
Lecture 27 Global Carbon Cycle 2 ALT
Lecture 28 Global Nitrogen Cycle 1 ALT
Lecture 29 Phosphorus Cycle ALT
Lecture 30 Global Sulphur Cycle ALT
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 90 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 30,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 30,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
136 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Appropriate clothing for practicals
Practicals in weeks 6-11 involve working with chemicals. For your own safety, and that of others, you must wear suitable clothing. Footwear must be closed toe (no sandals or flipflops). Clothing should cover exposed skin: shorts, skirts and kilts are not suitable. Long hair should be tied back. Scarfs and long neck ties must not be worn in the laboratory. If you insist on dressing up for class then a bow tie is acceptable. You are also expected to bring a lab notebook to the environmental chemistry practicals.
The course will be delivered through a series of lectures, laboratory practical classes, and tutorials. In the practical course, the students will use physical and geochemical measurements to examine various aspects of global environmental processes.
Assessment will be based on a mixture of continuous work elements and a degree exam in December. Continuous assessment will contribute 50% and the degree exam 50%. Students MUST pass both the Continuous Assessment and Examinations components of the course (with a pass mark of 40% each).
Continuous assessment will be based on the following work elements and allocations:
(i) 25% from the History of Life practical exercises.
(ii) 20% from the Biogeochemistry and fluid flow practical exercises.
(iii) 5% from a short Excel data processing exercise
Assessment deadlines
Origin and Evolution of life practical work must be submitted at the end of the practical class in week 5.
The lab reports, and excel data processing task, must be submitted by 12pm on Tuesday week 11 to the Turnitin boxes on the course Learn page.
The exam will comprise 4 sections (A Origin and Evolution of Life; B Global Climatic and Environmental Change; C Environmental Chemistry; and D Global Biogeochemical Cycles). Each section will have 2 questions (8 in total). Students must answer 6 questions. Students must answer at least 1 question from each section.
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| Feedback |
The first Origin and Evolution of Life practical in week 1 will be marked and returned for feedback. The following 3 practicals will be reviewed in the subsequent practical session.
Reports from the Environmental Chemistry practicals in the first two weeks will be used to provide feedback on report writing.
There will be an online discussion forum where students can ask questions and discuss the course content and related topics.
There will also be opportunity for feedback and discussion during the tutorials. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 2:00 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand and eveluate the processes that have led to the habitable planet that we inhabit.
- Assess the degree to which recent climate change is exceptional compared to previous times, the drivers of climate change over a range of timescales, and will understand the significance and reliability of future predictions based on climate model results.
- Acquire a basic understanding of geochemistry and its application to the Earth system.
- Extract and synthesise data from important publications in these fields.
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Reading List
Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth, A.H.Knoll, Princeton University Press.
Earth's Climate Past and Future. William F. Ruddiman Freeman and Co. New York
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Butcher et al., Academic Press.
Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change, W.H. Schlesinger, Academic Press.
Invertebrate Palaeontology , Clarkson, E.N.K., Blackwell
Dinosaurs, Brusatte, S. Benton, M., Quercus
In addition to journal articles and web based content linked on Learn.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Laboratory skills; Critical thinking; |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
3 x 1 hour lectures and 1 x 3 hour practical per week. There will also be 1 x 1 hour tutorial each week from weeks 3 to 10; students will be allocated into a tutorial group that fits their overall timetable. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alex Thomas
Tel: (0131 6)50 8749
Email: Alex.Thomas@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Katerina Sykioti
Tel: (0131 6)50 5430
Email: Katerina.Sykioti@ed.ac.uk |
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