Undergraduate Course: Advanced Field Skills for Earth Science (EASC10130)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course provides the advanced field skills component for the Earth Sciences degree, and also for Geophysics and Geology degree students. The course will provide training for all the field skills necessary to complete independent, professional-level field work and prepare students for field-based geoscience research projects. A wide array of field skills will be covered, including mapping, structural analysis and reconstruction, quantitative field techniques, and methods of data collection and integration. After attending this course, students will be able to collect and report geological field data on a professional level. |
| Course description |
The course is mainly field-based in SE Spain for 10 days. We will be based on the coast at Carboneras. At the proposed location, the field trip focuses on the development of Neogene and Quaternary sedimentary basins and associated magmatic and tectonic activity in the Betic Cordillera.
The course will start with some pre-trip exercises, including background reading and construction of a cross-section and rock relation diagram (10%). Lectures will be given on background geology, and key processes, and lab-based practicals on rock and thin-section identification.
The field course is skills-based and conveys advanced field techniques, but through the practical training, students will also gain a broad and integrated knowledge and understanding of the Neogene and Quaternary evolution of SE Spain. Emphasis will be placed on 4D model-building from geological field data. This will be developed through analysis of the tectonic, volcanic, and sedimentological history of the area. The trip will improve understanding of geological processes with an emphasis on interpreting rocks at the outcrop and regional scale. A wide range of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks will be studied, and training will be given in the field identification of rocks, and the spatio-temporal interpretation of deformation, sedimentary sequences, and a range of igneous phenomena. Students will also undertake a structural geological mapping exercise that will integrate observations from multiple scales. Training will cover various field techniques including digital mapping and model building as well as microstructural exercises on samples from the field area.
The principal learning outcomes are the further development of key field skills, and to gain confidence in their application, as needed to undertake independent field mapping projects. Students will learn how to exercise the autonomy and initiative required to conduct independent field work and will practise drawing on a range of sources to assist with making judgements. Students will also be trained in personal presentation skills of field observations and interpretations, as well as group and team-working, and professional practice.
The focus will be on building confidence, training and familiarisation with key field and communication skills.
This will include one field day on the basin margins, examining sediments near Lucaina des Torres, structural evolution of the area, range of depositional environments and measurements of structures and sense of movement indicators.
1 field day logging of debris flows in canyon near to Texas Hollywood; contained turbidites and ¿El Gordo¿.
1 field day on Messinian Salinity Crisis - Gochar canyon, Sorbas gypsum and Sorbas beds, covers controls of sedimentation ¿ sea level and climate, geochemistry of sea water and sediments.
1 field day on metamorphic basement: mapping the transition from ductile to brittle deformation and metamorphic units on aerial photograph, metamorphic mineral identification, and unravelling multiple deformation events. Additional half day working with thin sections and interpreting data at accommodation.
1 field day on Nijar margin; El Hoyazo
2-3 field days on volcanics, including Cabo de Gata, mapping, igneous centres, igneous petrology in the field and centre evolution, and processes involved in volcanism.
2-3 field days on regional mapping and structural geological mapping exercises, interpretation skills around El Saltador and north of Carboneras.
Students will be encouraged to use all of the information acquired in the field so far to identify other areas in the basin that they would choose to visit to test their hypothesis
Observations made during the field trip will be gathered together through the construction of a rock-relation diagram and field report.
***Note that this will be the only international field trip in our BSc (Hons) degree. Field course locations may change for a variety of reasons. While the course team agrees that the proposed region is excellent to achieve the learning outcomes, these could also be achieved in other regions, should travel restrictions, security risks etc. necessitate this. ***
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: 40 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Fieldwork Hours 100,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
96 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Pre-course exercises: «br /»
«br /»
Construction of a cross-section and rock relation diagram (10%); «br /»
«br /»
Hand-in during the field trip: «br /»
«br /»
Detailed geological map from small area (30%); «br /»
«br /»
Sedimentary log (20%); «br /»
«br /»
Hand-in after the field trip: «br /»
«br /»
Rock-relations diagram with field report summarising the 4-dimensional evolution of a geological region (40%) |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be from both formative and summative activities. Summative feedback includes oral feedback on the group presentations, and written feedback on the three pieces of coursework. Formative feedback includes discussion during field-days. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Employ a wide range of practical field skills for the effective documentation and interpretation of rock outcrops and other forms of surface geological data, including geological maps, logs, cross-section, sketches, and structural measurements
- Apply some advanced data acquisition, analysis, and visualization skills for geological field data in three dimensions, such as drones, GIS, and Python
- Critically evaluate the degree of uncertainty in various data collection methods and the relationship between surface and subsurface data
- Integrate and interpret a broad range of geological and geophysical data at different scales to develop a model for the geological evolution of the field area.
- Explain the extent to which established tectonic models and theories are consistent with primary field observations
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Diverse field skills fieldwork, including structural deformation data collection and analysis (ductile and brittle), regional mapping, sedimentary logging, rock/mineral/fossil identification, quantitative field techniques, methods of data collection and integration, stratigraphy, hypothesis building and testing, both in the field and through literature analysis, landscape interpretation within a geological context, 4D model building, individual and group presentations, professional practice, group work and collaboration. |
| Keywords | field skills,geology,transferable skills,hypothesis-testing |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Rachel Wood
Tel: (0131 6)50 6014
Email: Rachel.Wood@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Johan De Klerk
Tel: (0131 6)50 7010
Email: johan.deklerk@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage