Sediment Dynamics - Period 2

The goal of this course is to characterize, classify and interpret a selected number of terrestrial, coastal and marine sedimentary environments in terms of their geomorphology, facies distribution, sedimentary and post-depositional processes, stratigraphy and paleoclimatic significance. Special attention will be paid to - in order of appearance - periglacial and aeolian environments.

Periglacial environments (vacancy): processes and landforms that are specific to this environment and their paleoclimatic significance will be discussed. Special attention is paid to those phenomena which are also preserved in the fossil record. Late Weichselian and Holocene (fluvio-) aeolian sedimentary sequences of the type locality Lutterzand (eastern Netherlands) will be studied during a field excursion.

Aeolian environments (Prins & Stuut): the sedimentary processes responsible for sand and dust emission, transport, and deposition, the specific climatic setting of such environments, and associated landforms will be discussed. Special attention will be given to present-day dust source areas in Northern Africa and Eastern Asia, associated erosion-transport-deposition processes and the resulting dust deposits (Late Quaternary terrestrial loess deposits and marine dust records) and their paleoclimatic significance. A field excursion to the Zuid-Kennemerland National Park (along the North Sea coast, west of Haarlem) is organised to study the geomorphology of and active sedimentary processes in a coastal dune system.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.