Earth & Space Sciences

The Earth is unique in our solar-system by being both geologically active and hosting a myriad of life. This module introduces the study of Planet Earth, from planetary formation to the present-day processes that control our climate. The course covers topics including the dawn of the solar system, the dynamic nature of the solid Earth, and the surface processes that shape the planet. We introduce oceanography, atmospheric science and the cryosphere to understand how climate has and will continue to change with time. Fieldwork will be introduced as two half-day excursions and you will gain experience critically assessing scientific data, working in groups, and giving oral and written presentations.

To understand the way that ecological and environmental systems function, we often look for associations and seek evidence of causality, or the pattern of interaction between components. We may ultimately seek to establish the nature of these relationships that we can make predictions for other systems or of future change. Reaching robust conclusions requires collection of sound data and proper statistical interpretation. This course equips students with an integrated knowledge of data collection and data analysis, for use in dissertation projects and careers beyond. This course considers the formulation of research questions and four broad themes: survey and sampling; relationships between variables; design, analysis, and interpretation of controlled experiments; and dynamic data and the principles of simulation modelling. 

The focus of the course is on the relations between terrestrial ecosystems and global climate systems. Seen in a historical and present perspective as well as on a temporal and spatial scale, the interactions between climate and ecosystem are put in perspective of the ongoing and future climate change. Further, the course explain how models and data bases are used to develop future climate scenarios and reconstruction of previous climate conditions, as well as the anthropogenic role in the present changes in climate.

This course explores cutting edge problems in earth, ocean, atmospheric, and planetary sciences. Topics are introduced through discussions of the current literature.

The course starts with five excursion days in Southwest and South Iceland. The excursions are always in the first week before official start of the semester at the School of Engineering and Natural sciences. Thus students attending the course must make sure that they arrive to Iceland in good time. The excursions focus on both constructive and destructive geological processes. Following the excursions an intensive program of lectures covering the main aspects of Icelandic geology occupy five additional weeks. The themes of the lectures are on volcanology, tephrochronology, tectonics, petrology, glacier, glacial geology, oceanography, geochemistry, Cenozoic climate, history, and natural hazards

The course gives a comprehensive summary of the environmental change that occurred during the Quaternary period with special reference to Iceland. Topics include the characteristics of the Quaternary and geological evidence for global climatic change; variations of Earth's orbital parameters; dating methods; glacial debris transport and glacial sedimentation on land and in water; evidence for climate change in glacier ice and marine and lake sediment; volcanic activity and the environment; the history of ice on Earth; paleoclimate reconstruction; and the glacial and climatic history of Iceland and the North Atlantic Ocean.

This class introduces the basic geological processes on earth and related rock records used by scientists. Topics include plate tectonics; minerals, sediments, and sedimentary rocks; metamorphism and metamorphic rocks; steam and drainage system; wind activity and the desert; development of terrain, cataclasis, and minerals; and energy resources.