GEOL20110 Global Environmental Change

Academic Year 2023/2024

Earth History: the geological record of global environmental change.

The Earth is currently experiencing an episode of rapid climate change that most authorities consider to be the result of human activities. This change poses a challenge, even threat, to the functioning of Earth's ecosystems.

We can monitor on-going environmental change on local through to global scales using various instrumentation. We can make predictions as the future condition of the Earth System, for example via computer modelling. There is another approach which this module introduces you to. Environmental change over time is a natural phenomenon - part of the normal functioning of the Earth System. The geological record is thus an archive that records the causes and effects of such changes, - both in the relatively recent past (hundreds to thousands of years), and in deep time (tens to hundreds of millions of years).

This module therefore focuses on how the geological record "captures" and informs on global environmental change through time. It investigates how Earth Scientists reconstruct past environments and climates, and demonstrates, using selected case studies, what drives climate change and how ecosystems respond to these forcing factors.

There are three parts:
(a) an introduction to the geological timescale and the stratigraphy of sedimentary successions; these concepts underpin how we 'read' the geological record
(b) a review of the principal sedimentary rock types that are sensitive environmental indicators; it is these that allow us to translate from ' observing rocks' to understanding ancient environments
(c) a review of the large scale global processes that shape climate now and would have done so in the geological past. An introduction, using selected datasets, to the varied ways in which the chemistry and biology of fauna and flora serve as environmental proxies - and indirectly record fluctuations over time in key environmental parameters such as temperature, aridity, salinity and solar radiation.


The module assumes no previous knowledge of these topics, and its content is relevant to those interested in the geological, archaeological, environmental, geographical or biological sciences. It is, however, a Level 2 module so topics are investigated in moderate depth; this extends beyond a general introduction to each topic.

This is an on-line module (i.e. there are no scheduled classes). The workload comprises a series of lectures and independent exercises, presented using a combination of on-line and practical resources. Students complete this workload and supplementary reading in their own time over the course of the trimester. The course presenter will be available at scheduled periods throughout the trimester to assist.