THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Geosciences : Earth Science

Undergraduate Course: Environmental Geoscience 4th Year Field Course (EASC10086)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Geosciences CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryMarine Techniques and Processes Course: Five days' field work at Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory at the start of summer, end of the 3rd year.
The course is designed to build on skills first introduced/developed in the 3rd field course EASC09036 and laboratory techniques course EASC09045. The trip is designed to provide hands-on experience with water and sediment sampling methods, and bathymetric and hydrographic survey techniques, commonly used in coastal oceanography. Water and sediment samples are subsequently analysed for a variety of parameters and, together with bathymetric and hydrographic data, are used to provide insights on the physical and biogeochemical processes occurring in Loch Etive. A further element of the course focuses on coastal geomorphology and a prediction of how the local environment will respond to projected environmental change.

Field course locations may change for a variety of reasons, including security risks, increased costs or inability to access field locations. Any changes to the main destination of the field course will be announced as soon as possible.
Course description Students are provided with all introductory lectures and materials during the field trip.
There are four days of fieldwork in which students are rotated in groups between the following four exercises.
1) Water and sediment sampling and CTD profiling on RV Seol Mara.
2) Hydrographic and bathymetric surveys.
3) Analyses of water column and sediment porewater samples (in laboratory at SAMS).
4) Coastal geomorphology studies and tutorial in Ocean Data View software package.
Objectives and skills development are as described in Course Description and Learning Outcomes sections.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Field Course in Tropical Marine and Terrestrial Geoscience (EASC09036) AND Practical Geochemistry and Data Analysis (EASC10103)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs Fieldtrip contribution paid by students was £70 for June 2014 trip to Oban. Costs will be reviewed on a yearly basis and are subject to change. Please be aware that students who are taking this course as an elective will pay full price and not the subsidised fee advertised.
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Fieldwork Hours 40, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 58 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 100% coursework: report completed after delivery of the training component and data analysis.
Location of delivery will depend on the travel restrictions in place ¿ the situation will be regularly reviewed during the year.
Feedback Extensive feedback is provided through annotations and written comments on reports.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Synoptic interpretation of environmental data sets (hydrographic and biogeochemical)
  2. Scientific report writing skills
Reading List
Libes, S., Introduction to Marine Biogeochemistry.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Field techniques, Report writing
Keywords4th Year Geoscience Field Courses
Contacts
Course organiserDr Greg Cowie
Tel: (0131 6)50 8502
Email: Dr.Greg.Cowie@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Katerina Sykioti
Tel: (0131 6)50 5430
Email: Katerina.Sykioti@ed.ac.uk
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