Last modified: 16 Oct 2025 15:16
This course delves into the environmental changes that have occurred since the end of the last ice age 14,000 years ago (the Lateglacial and the Holocene). We will explore the evidence used to reconstruct past environments from proxy records preserved in archives such as peat bogs and the ice cores that suggest that climate and environmental conditions have been far from stable. Our discussion of the evidence will show that the Lateglacial and Holocene are characterised by a series of major but short-lived climatic oscillations as well as permanent transformations as a result of increasing pressure as human population has developed.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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Lecture Programme Week:
30. Introduction to Quaternary environmental change (2 hours)
31. Dating methods 1 Practical
32. Rapid climate change Practical
33. Rapid climate change Practical
34. Lateglacial vegetational patterns Practical
35. Holocene vegetational patterns Practical
36. Human-environment interactions in the British Isles Practical
37. Human-environment interactions in the wider North Atlantic Practical
38. Dating methods 2 x2 hours 39. Environmental change and the future Seminar
40. Environmental change and the future Seminar
41 Summary and Revision session x2 hours
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Exam worth 50% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Explain and synthesize the importance of a holistic approach to comprehending change and of the role of integrated approaches in tackling problems in environmental change. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand the nature and rates of environmental change as recorded in the stratigraphic record. |
| Procedural | Apply | Understand and apply the role of fieldwork and laboratory techniques in the science of environmental change. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Examine critically and interpret the issues involved in or distinguishing between natural and human influences on the environment |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Individual report worth 50% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Explain and synthesize the importance of a holistic approach to comprehending change and of the role of integrated approaches in tackling problems in environmental change. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand the nature and rates of environmental change as recorded in the stratigraphic record. |
| Procedural | Apply | Understand and apply the role of fieldwork and laboratory techniques in the science of environmental change. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Examine critically and interpret the issues involved in or distinguishing between natural and human influences on the environment |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback | ||||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | Understand the nature and rates of environmental change as recorded in the stratigraphic record. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Explain and synthesize the importance of a holistic approach to comprehending change and of the role of integrated approaches in tackling problems in environmental change. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Examine critically and interpret the issues involved in or distinguishing between natural and human influences on the environment |
| Procedural | Apply | Understand and apply the role of fieldwork and laboratory techniques in the science of environmental change. |
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