NNMK17007U CANCELLED: Quaternary and Glacial Geology

The landforms and sediments in the Danish landscape are of fundamental importance for the society as a raw material, foundation for buildings and infrastructure, and as a groundwater resource. Most of the sediments were formed during the last ice ages by glaciers, melt water streams, sea level changes and periglacial processes in the deglaciated landscape. This is all caused by global environmental changes. The course aims to give the students an understanding of the genesis of the landscape and its internal architecture in relation to the Late Quaternary environmental changes. Processes, sediments and landforms in modern glacial environments will be studied as an analogue to the Pleistocene deposits. Sedimentological, geomorphological, biological, and structural geological methods will be demonstrated in the field at selected Danish localities. We will also study the Quaternary geological history from the stratigraphy in open sections and wells, as well as from geophysical data of buried valleys and glaciotectonic complexes. Analyses of digital elevation models, sediment core databases, and geological sections will be used to propose conceptual depositional models for selected areas. Initially, the course will focus on specific themes related to glacial landforms, sediments, and stratigraphy. Subsequently, we will focus on complex, glacially overprinted landscapes with examples from selected sites in Denmark. Finally, groups of students will write a report about spatial analysis of glacial landforms, sediments and stratigraphy including a proposal of a morphological-geological model for a selected study area in past or modern glacial environments. During the course, students will work with Quaternary geological data in Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Other modern methods and data types will also be applied, e.g., structure-for-motion analyses of photographs of geological sections, elevation models from LiDAR, and geophysical surveys.