Earth & Space Sciences

This course provides an overview of past climate and sea-level changes focused on how these changes are observed in the sedimentary records, and what processes, interactions and feedbacks between the components of the climate system may have led to the signal in the sedimentary archives. The course is composed of theory and case-studies. The theory part comprises an introduction to climate archives and marine and terrestrial system processes. Important sedimentary and geochemical proxies, including isotopes, are explained and students are trained in the evaluation of such data. Examples may deal with past climate changes, long-term carbon cycle perturbations and/or modifications of seawater geochemistry on time scales ranging from thousands to multi-millions of years. In the last weeks of the course, students read key papers and produce a review report or write a report about field/laboratory work/data. The course develops the necessary background for understanding the importance of observations and hypothesis testing. It also develops skills in analysing multiple datasets and in interpretation of which process feedbacks lead to the observations, as well as the ability to evaluate the validity of geological data archives and to model results through comparative studies. A series of lectures and practicals consist in signal analysis (data preparation, Fast fourier transforms or FFT, evolutive FFT, Filter design) of sedimentary climatic signals with the aim of extracting orbital components to better understand the influence of insolation on climate through time.

This course examines the geophysical imaging of the subsurface, including contrasting rock and fluid properties. Applications include environmental, engineering, resource, hazard, and tectonic studies. 

This course examines how and why volcanoes erupt from magma processes in the mantle to eruption at the surface.

This special topic explores the geological and volcanic history of the Auckland Volcanic Field. 

This course is structured as a research project in which samples are collected, investigated using various analytical methods, processed using statistical methods, and compared to other studies. The focus lies on abrupt climate changes and the role of ocean circulation during the last ~50 thousand years in the North Atlantic region. The course takes a hands-on approach, using marine sedimentary archives as the basis for reconstructing past climate and environmental conditions. Through weekly theoretical lectures accompanied by extensive practical work in groups (field excursion, laboratory analyses, presentations and data processing), the subject progresses and culminates in an individual written report as course exam.

This course examines the history of aeronautics, the commercial and scientific use of space, the operation of specifically aerospace technologies, and the exploration and exploitation of space.

This course covers the interactions between geology and human activities and gives an overview of environmental problems and challenges in geosciences. It deals with water- and soil-resources, contaminated sediments, carbon capture and storage (CCS), the use of micropaleontology in environmental studies to establish reference conditions, impacts of mining activities, climate change from a perspective of natural variation, sustainable use of natural resources, and waste- and pollution control.

This course includes a theoretical and practical introduction to the reflection seismic and acoustic method and to interpretation of geophysical well logs and geotechnical measurements. Teaching consists of integrated lectures and exercises and a one-day fieldtrip with the research vessel Aurora. Lectures include: acquisition and processing of reflection seismic data and other acoustic data; the physical principles of geophysical well logs and geotechnical measurements; the workflow in an integrated interpretation. The theoretical introduction is succeeded by interpretation of seismic data and qualitative and quantitative interpretation of well logs and geotechnical measurements and how such data are used for analyzing the geological structure and development of both shallow and deep sediments with focus on the industrial applications and the green transition.

This course provides research training for exchange students. Students work on a research project under the guidance of assigned faculty members. Through a full-time commitment, students improve their research skills by participating in the different phases of research, including development of research plans, proposals, data analysis, and presentation of research results. A pass/no pass grade is assigned based a progress report, self-evaluation, midterm report, presentation, and final report.