Undergraduate Course: Evolution of the Living Earth (EASC08023)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Earth Science |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course is intended as a foundation course for
all Earth Science students with emphasis on
processes that operate at the global scale. In
particular, the concept of the Earth System as the
operation of inter-linked components of the
geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere
is stressed. This concept is used to study the
interaction between geology, chemistry, physics and
biology affecting the surface processes of the planet
that together form the characteristics of the
environment in which we live. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 100 |
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
16/09/2013 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 30,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 30,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
136 )
|
| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
|
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Evolution of the Living Earth | 2:00 | | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | Evolution of the Living Earth | 2:00 | | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Students will be able to evaluate the degree to
which there is interaction between Earth
systems.
2. They will be able to assess the degree to which
recent climate change is exceptional compared
to previous times, and will understand the
significance and reliability of future
predictions based on climate model results.
3. Students will acquire a basic understanding of
geochemistry and its application to the Earth
system.
4. They will be able to extract and synthesise data
from important publications in these fields. |
Assessment Information
Assessment will be based on a mixture of continuous work elements and a degree exam in December. Continuous assessment will contribute 50% and the degree exam 50%. Continuous assessment will be based on the following work elements and allocations:
(i) 10% from précis of 10 academic papers. Students are required to read and summarise a set of four scientific papers. A reading list of at least 10 papers, selected from a range of palaeontological and palaeoclimatic topics, will be provided. Summaries should be less than 200 words, typed, in a written or bullet point format. They should concentrate on the main issues addressed by the paper and the main conclusions reached. Credit will be given for scientific clarity, where accuracy and precision are retained despite the short word length.
Two of the five submitted summaries will be marked:(ii) 20% from the Biogeochemistry and fluid flow practical exercises. (iii) 20% from the evolution of life practical
exercises.
|
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Part I Origin and Evolution of Life
Lecture 1 Building a habitable Earth -
Distance from sun, presence on
the surface of liquid water,
segregation of the earth into
core, mantle, crust, ocean,
atmosphere, tectonic activity,
the preservation of the
atmosphere.
Lecture 2 Origin of Life ¿ prokaryotes vs
eukaryotes. What we know and
plausible theories to fill the gaps
about the origin of life.
Evidence for life on the early
earth, and evidence for
atmospheric modification by
simple life forms.
Lecture 3 Origin of complexity - Evolution
of eukaryotes and metazoans.
Relationship between evolution,
radiation and the earth¿s
atmosphere.
Lecture 4 The Cambrian Explosion ¿Rise of
predation, skeletons, major
biological processes,
diversification and evolution.
Lecture 5 The invasion of the land ¿
implications for atmospheric
composition and the Carbon Cycle
Lecture 6 Major faunal innovation - faunas
which have sequentially
dominated the earth over the Paper
last 550 million years are
examined
Lecture 7 The invasion of the air
Lecture 8 Dinosaurs!
Lecture 9 More Dinosaurs!
Lecture 10 Wonderful Dinosaurs!
Lecture 11 Rise of mammals ¿ rise of
terrestrial ecosystems, implications
for Si and C cycles
Lecture 12 Role of Extinctions ¿ a global
environmental process.
Background and mass
extinctions. Is mass extinction
normal?
Lecture 13 Impact of life on the planet -
Gaia hypothesis, atmospheric
control, the impact of biota on
physical weathering, biota as a
flux and sink for important
chemical compounds.
Part 11 Environmental Chemistry
Lecture 14 Atoms and atomic structure:
Definition of elements and
compounds. The atom and its
constituent parts; the nucleus,
protons (p) and neutrons (n).
Atomic number). Atomic weights
expressed as atomic mass units.
What is the mass of an atomic
particle? Gram formula weight;
Avogadro¿s number. Definition of
element (same p), and isotope
(same p, various n). Summary of
elements listed by numbers of
protons. Representation of
elements by their symbol, with
their atomic number and mass
number
Lecture 15 Electronic structure of atoms
and periodic table: Electrons:
their relative mass, how far away
from the nucleus they are.
Electron orbitals: K, L, M shells,
orbital pairs, electronic
configurations. Elements listed by
electronic configuration, which
dictates the key chemical
properties we are often interested
in: bonding, volatility, metal vs
non-metal. Define and explain the
key parts of the periodic table, via
groups, and via split into
metal/amphoteric/non-metal
Lecture 16 Chemical Reactions and
reaction stoichiometries:
Bonding of atoms: ionic, covalent,
metallic, Van der Waals. Ionic
compounds and molecules. What
is a chemical reaction? How do
they occur. Reaction
stoichiometries: How to write and
balance a chemical reaction,
Lecture 17 Reactions in solution: Ionic
solutions. Dissolving things.
Solute and solvent. Concept of
dissociation into ionic species in
solution, solubility product and
what this means. Activity and
Concentrations. Redox chemistry,
Eh and pH concepts.
Lecture 18 Drivers of chemical reactions:
Energy considerations: idea of
vibrational, translational and
rotational contributions to how
much energy it takes to heat up a
substance by 1¿C (heat capacity),
entropy (with entropy explained
in simple terms). Energy
considerations in making and
breaking bonds - enthaplies.
Lecture 19 Composition of the Earth and
the Geochemical Cycle:
Distribution of the elements,
importance of water and oxygen,
chemical reactions in the oxygen
cycle. The state-steady
geochemical cycle.
Part III Global Biogeochemical
Cycles
Lecture 20 Introduction to Biogeochemistry
Biogeochemical elements, Advantages and
disadvantages of the cyclical approach,
terminology and box models.
Lecture 21 Global Carbon Cycle 1
Forms and isotopes of carbon,
major reservoirs, a) atmosphere, CO2-
seasonal and anthropogenic changes,
b) hydrosphere-carbon speciation,
concept of alkalinity and buffering
capacity of seawater, c) lithosphere,
including fossil carbon burning.
Lecture 22 Global Carbon Cycle 2
Mechanisms for exchange and fluxes
between terrestrial biosphere and
atmosphere, diurnal variations in CO2:
Flux from atmosphere to oceans. Prime
mechanisms of carbon transport in
oceans, primary and new production.
Fallout fluxes.
Lecture 23 Global Nitrogen Cycle 1
Natural nitrogen compounds HNO3, NO2,
N2O, NH3 amines etc. Biological
transformations of nitrogen compounds;
nitrogen fixation, ammonia, assimilation,
nitrification, assimilatory nitrate fixation,
ammonification and denitrification.
Lecture 24 Global Nitrogen Cycle 2
Nitrogen inventories in the aquatic and
terrestrial systems. Fluxes of nitrogen
and anthropogenic perturbations. Is the
global nitrogen cycle in balance?
Lecture 25 Phosphorus Cycle
Natural forms of phosphorus in
the environment. Important reservoirs
and sub-cycles: Weathering of
phosphorus minerals and flux of
phosphorus to the rivers and oceans.
Form of phosphorus in the ocean.
Deposition of phosphorus to ocean
sediments. Diagenetic concentration of
phosphorus into economic deposits.
Links between the phosphorus cycle and
the carbo-nitrogen cycle.
Part IV Global Climatic and Environmental
Change
Lecture 26 Timescales of climatic change
The habitable Earth; ¿Faint young sun
paradox¿; the Climate System; structure,
composition and circulation of the
atmosphere and of the ocean.
Lecture 27 Climate change over millions of years
Evidence for past climatic change;
weathering of rocks as a possible
thermostat for Global climate; the role of
tectonic processes in driving climate
change; past ¿greenhouse¿ and ¿icehouse¿
times in Earth history; the Cretaceous
¿greenhouse¿ World as an example.
Lecture 28 Glacial-interglacial cycles and
millennial timescale climate
variability
Cooling from the Cretaceous into the
modern ¿icehouse¿; glacial-interglacial
cycles of the past 2 million years and the
role of orbital forcing; millennial
timescale variability during the last
glacial-interglacial cycle; climate of the
Holocene.
Lecture 29 Mechanisms of natural short-term
variation in climate
Natural short-term variations in climate
due to stochastic processes, variations in
solar irradiance, effects of volcanic
eruptions, effects of large meteorite
impacts and auto-oscillations such as the
El Niño Southern Oscillation;
Anthropogenic climate change and the
role of greenhouse gases and aerosols.
Lecture 30 Climate Change: the Past 1000 years
and the Next 100 years
Sources of information on short term
variations in climate; nature and drivers
of climate changes over the past 1000
years and anticipated changes over the
next 100 years.
|
| Transferable skills |
Laboratory skills; Critical thinking; |
| Reading list |
Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of
Evolution on Earth, A.H.Knoll, Princeton University
Press.
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Butcher et al., Academic
Press.
Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change, W.H.
Schlesinger, Academic Press.
Geology and Environment in Britain and Ireland, N.
Woodcock, UCL Press.
Earth¿s Climate Past and Future, W.F. Ruddiman, W.H.
Freeman and Co. New York
Invertebrate Palaeontology , Clarkson, E.N.K., Blackwell
Dinosaurs! Brusatte, S. |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Lectures and Practicals |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Bryne Ngwenya
Tel: (0131 6)50 8524
Email: Bryne.Ngwenya@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Nicola Muir
Tel: (0131 6)50 4842
Email: Nikki.Muir@ed.ac.uk |
|
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