Please note: Due to alternative arrangements for teaching and
assessment in place from 18 March 2020 to mitigate against the restrictions in
place due to COVID-19, information shown for 2019/20 may not always be accurate.
Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information
for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Advanced Tectonics Fieldwork |
| Unit code |
EASCM0052 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
M/7
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Cooper |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
All ‘must pass’ units in years 1, 2 and 3 of the programme of study.
|
| Co-requisites |
N/A
|
| School/department |
School of Earth Sciences |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Science |
Description including Unit Aims
Students will examine the tectonic evolution of the Greek island of Naxos. The unit builds on previous field classes and will provide specific experience in describing and interpreting rock and deposit types the students will not have seen before.
Naxos comprises a medium-high grade, Barrovian-type metamorphic core complex. The unit will provide specific experience and develop skills in recognising and recording metamorphic assemblages and evidence of complex deformation associated with the process of continental thickening and burial followed by exhumation and unroofing.
Fieldwork will be based around two projects in which field data are collected and analysed to address specific questions about the metamorphic and structural evolution of the island.
Students will combine their advanced fieldwork skills with literature review and critical thinking to gain a better appreciation for the limits of our current geological understanding of complex areas such as Naxos and consider how further research could advance this understanding.
Students should note the following: This unit runs in parallel with Advanced Earth Sciences Fieldwork. Geology students must choose one of the two units, however a minimum number of 10 students is required for Advanced Tectonics Fieldwork to run. If this number is not met all Geology students will take Advanced Earth Sciences Fieldwork.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit you will be able to:
- Read and report on scientific literature relevant to fieldwork
- Recognise and use various metamorphic minerals and fabrics as a means of estimating metamorphic grade, facies, and protolith type.
- Develop and gain skills in field petrography in order to recognise relationships between metamorphic mineral growth, fabric formation, and deformation.
- Analyse field petrographic data to interpret a sequential development of mineral growth and deformation and to generate a metamorphic pressure-temperature-deformation path.
- Plan and execute field projects within a defined timescale and produce a report on the outcomes of the work.
- Integrate field data from different localities in order to interpret the main features of the tectonic evolution of the island.
- Seek out, using literature and web resources, data that are required for synthesising a research proposal.
- Demonstrate an understanding of use of appropriate methodological tools for answering research questions.
Teaching Information
Fieldwork
Assessment Information
- Oral presentations in small groups or pairs on an assigned aspect of the geologic background pertinent to the field trip based on pre-reading of relevant literature (10%).
- Metamorphic and structural E-W traverse across the centre of the island to document and interpret the character of the metamorphic complex (40%). Students will be required to submit a field map, cross-section, stereonet, and 1-page geological abstract.
- One-day project on the recognition of the metamorphic evolution and structural fabrics indicative of grade, uplift process, and timing to derive a pressure-temperature-deformation path (25%). Students will submit a 1-page annotated P-T-d path.
- 90-minute open-notebook test on the metamorphic and structural evolution of Naxos and potential for further geological investigation (25%).
Reading and References
Essential
- Lister and Forster (1996), Inside the Aegean Metamorphic Core Complexes, Journal of the Virtual Explorer, v. 27, doi:10.3809/jvirtex.2007.00167.
Recommended
- Platt et al. (2014), Metamorphic core complexes: windows into the mechanics and rheology of the crust, Journal of the Geological Society, doi:10.1144/jgs2014-036.
- Whitney et al. (2013), Continental and oceanic core complexes, GSA Bulletin, v. 125, p. 273–298, doi:10.1130/B30754.1.
