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Semester 2

Volcanoes, Environment and People (GEGR10139)

Subject

Geography

College

SCE

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Course Summary

This course aims to assess relationships between volcanoes, the environment and people and to investigate how tephra (volcanic ash) layers can be used to study these interactions. Whilst tephra layers provide valuable information on volcanic activity and its impacts, they also offer a means of studying wider environmental change and the potential impacts of the environment on people and humans on the environment. We will study volcanic eruptions, investigate how their direct and indirect effects can be used to exemplify extreme events, and how tephra layers can be used as chronological tools (through tephrochronology) to assess rates of change and their spatial patterns. This requires a multidisciplinary approach and we will combine a number of disciplines ranging from geology, volcanology, glaciology, geomorphology, soil science, climatology, history and archaeology.***PLEASE NOTE FIELD COURSE LOCATIONS MAY CHANGE FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, INCLUDING SECURITY RISKS, INCREASED COSTS OR INABILITY TO ACCESS FIELD LOCATIONS. ANY CHANGES TO THE MAIN DESTINATION OF THE FIELD TRIP WILL BE ANNOUNCED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE***

Course Description

Volcanoes, Environment and People (VEP) begins by introducing volcanoes, eruptions, tephrochronology, geochemical analysis and dating techniques in the first four weeks. Firstly we will introduce the different types of volcanic activity and the implications for tephra production. Next, several case studies are used to illustrate the environmental and cultural impacts of eruptions. As the recent Icelandic examples demonstrated, even relatively small eruptions can have serious consequences for distant modern societies. The principles and practice of tephrochronology will be introduced using mainly examples from the North Atlantic region. This will include the important concepts of tephra isochrones, intervals of time and environmental tracers. The teleconnections between tephra layers, ice cores, tree rings and ocean cores are also assessed. It will be shown how tephrochronology can be used to record not only volcanic histories, but also establish, date and evaluate rates of environmental change and human-environment interactions. Geochemical methods of characterising tephra layers will be considered next, and we will discuss how this can be used to identify sources, types of eruptions and correlate deposits. We will also have a hands-on session where we will demonstrate different types of tephra and allow you to see samples prepared for analysis. The dating of tephra layers is considered next and we will discuss the various methods of obtaining ages, including using historical information, ice core records, and radiometric dating. There will also be an exercise in calibrating radiocarbon dates and the chronological interpretation of a complex tephra stratigraphy at an Icelandic archaeological site. The rest of the course builds on the introductory knowledge gained during the first four weeks to discuss in more detail the application of tephrochronology to volcanology, glaciology, archaeology, environmental studies and human-ecodynamics. We will explore the interaction of volcanic activity and glaciers in Iceland, floods and the dispersion of tephra from eruptions in 1918, 1996, 2010 and 2011. We will also discuss how tephrochronology can help us to identify and date eruptions and floods from Eyjafjallajökull 6-7th and 10th centuries AD, as well as dating glacial geomorphological features and aiding our understanding of past climatic fluctuations. Before moving onto consider how tephrochronology can be applied to understand human-environment interactions, the extent of soil erosion in Iceland will be discussed and the reasons why Icelandic soils are so susceptible to being eroded. After introduction the Norse colonisation and settlement of the North Atlantic region and Iceland in particular, the next three lectures will discuss how tephrochronology can be applied to studying cultural and environmental change through chronology and landscape reconstruction. Iceland provides a superb natural laboratory to study these interactions between the environment and people. Precisely dated tephra layers also enable the rates of change to be calculated, which elsewhere is very difficult to measure. We are able to explore notions of changing resilience, threshold crossing events, catastrophe cusps and early warning signals. The course finishes with a fieldtrip to East Lothian, which provides an opportunity to study exposures of Carboniferous age tephra layers and apply knowledge gained in the course.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 50%, Coursework 50%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Assessment Information

Class Work: Degree essay summary to be handed in at the end of the lecture in Week 4Degree assessment: 2,000 word essay (50%) to be handed in in Week 8and a 24 hour Take-home exam two short essays (50%)

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