Undergraduate Course: Environmental Geoscience 4th Year Field Course (EASC10086)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Marine Techniques and Processes Course: Five days' field work at the start of summer, end of the 3rd year to Oban.
The course is designed to build on skills first introduced/developed in the 3rd-year field course EASC09036. 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.
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| 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.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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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 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment Details
Written Exam: 0% , Course Work: 100 %, Practical Exam: 0%.
100% coursework: report completed after delivery of the training component and data analysis.
Coursework consists of a field report (75%) covering the Loch Etive physical and biogeochemical studies and an information pamphlet (25%) to address a selected aspect of the impacts of environmental change on Loch Etive and its region.
Assessment Deadlines
The fieldtrip report to be submitted 12:00 noon, Monday week 1, semester 1.
Information pamphlet to be submitted 12:00 noon, Monday week 2, semester 1.
Students must attain an overall mark of 40% (or above) to pass the course. |
| 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:
- Synoptic interpretation of environmental data sets (hydrographic and biogeochemical)
- Scientific report writing skills
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Reading List
| Libes, S., Introduction to Marine Biogeochemistry. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Field techniques, Report writing |
| Keywords | 4th Year Geoscience Field Courses |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Greg Cowie
Tel: (0131 6)50 8502
Email: Dr.Greg.Cowie@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Johan De Klerk
Tel: (0131 6)50 7010
Email: johan.deklerk@ed.ac.uk |
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