67098 - Quartenary Geology

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, the students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge and skills in Quaternary Geology for a critical analysis of outcropping and buried Quaternary successions. Specifically, students will be able to:

- plan and develop an integrated bio-sedimentary approach aimed at the description and interpretation of Quaternary successions;

- reconstruct the sedimentary and environmental dynamics of both natural and human-dominated depositional systems during the Quaternary period;

- identify and evaluate the main controlling factors influencing the depositional architecture and evolution of Quaternary successions.

Course contents

The Quaternary period: stratigraphic subdivision; dating methods for Quaternary deposits; Quaternary isotope stratigraphy, climate variability and sea-level changes; Milankovitch and sub-Milankovitch cycles; high-frequency climate and sea-level changes during the present interglacial period (proxy data and current state of knowledge); basic concepts on depositional environments and facies; depositional architecture of Quaternary successions from the Mediterranean area and relationships with climate and sea-level changes at Milankovitch and sub-Milankovitch scales; allogenic and autogenic forcing factors controlling the depositional architecture of Quaternary successions (Mediterranean case studies); the mid-late Holocene successions as depositional archives of high-frequency alluvial-deltaic dynamics and the human impact; the concept of the Anthropocene.

Readings/Bibliography

Lecture notes and bibliographic material provided during the course.

Teaching methods

Lectures, field work.

Assessment methods

Written test and oral test. The written test, in case of a positive result, will be valid for one year. The written test (time: 2 hours) consists of (i) questions about the course contents and (ii) facies and sequence stratigraphic interpretation of logs and/or sections. The oral test consists of one question on the exercises done during the written test and 1-2 questions about the course contents. The final mark will be calculated on the basis of the written test (70%) and the oral test (30%).

Teaching tools

LCD projector.

Office hours

See the website of Veronica Rossi