Introduction to Earth Sciences

This module introduces students to Earth Science, the multi-disciplinary study of the past, present and future of planet Earth and other planets in our solar system. The course is in 3 parts, each comprising 5-8 lectures, one or two laboratory class(es) and an independent on-line exercise. Most lectures and all practicals will be presented Face-to-Face, with recordings of all lecture and practical classes also provided online. No previous knowledge of the subject is assumed. The examinable content is that presented in the lectures, practical exercises and independent on-line exercises. No textbook is required. The first part considers the origin of the solid Earth, its atmosphere and oceans and how these have evolved over the past 4,600 million years. It examines in detail the concept of plate tectonics and explains how this relates to the global distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes, and impacts on other important processes that shape the Earth, including oceanic circulation, and climatic patterns. The second part examines how surface processes and burial generate the sedimentary rocks that record Earth’s history. This geological record is an archive of environmental change over time. Particular emphasis is placed on detailing the broad scale geological evolution of Ireland via analysis of sedimentary rocks of different age. The final part reviews the history of life on Earth as recorded in the fossil record, and emphasises the coupled evolution of the geosphere and biosphere. Selected key events in the evolution of life through time are discussed, including the origin and early evolution of life, evolution of animals and plants, and global scale environmnetal catastrophes through time. Particular emphasis is placed on the role mass extinction events have played, and whether the global scale biotic changes the Earth is currently experiencing warrants the descriptor ‘the sixth mass extinction event’.