This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.
Undergraduate Handbook 2025-2026 (archived)
Module GEOL1101: Understanding Earth Sciences
Department: Earth Sciences
GEOL1101: Understanding Earth Sciences
| Type | Level | Credits | Availability | Module Cap | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 1 | 20 | Available in 2025/2026 | Durham |
Pre-requisites
- None.
Corequisites
- None.
Excluded Combinations
- None.
Aims
- Introduce the following fundamental subject areas within Earth Sciences: petrology, sedimentology, structural geology and palaeontology.
- Introduce a systems approach to thinking about Earth features.
- Show how Earth Sciences understanding for individuals, and a community, is derived from research processes.
Content
- A first term focusing on treating the Earth as a system, whole Earth composition and scientific reasoning.
- A second term focusing on Earth history and life.
- An introduction to scientific writing skills.
Learning Outcomes
Subject-specific Knowledge
- Petrology: understand the principles of melt generation/magmatism and of metamorphic reactions and assemblages. Relationships to chemical cycling and crustal growth.
- Sedimentology: processes of erosion, sediment transport and deposition. Main sedimentary rock associations. Principles of sedimentology (logging, facies analysis, sequence stratigraphy etc). Relationships to climate, tectonics and evolution.
- Structural geology and tectonics: main structural features of the continents and oceans and techniques for their analysis. Relationships to plate tectonic cycles and global and regional climate.
- Palaeontology: understanding fossils and evolution. Relationships to tectonic and climatic drivers.
Subject-specific Skills
- Understanding of research methodologies in Earth Sciences, and an appreciation of the specific research foci in Durham Earth Sciences.
Key Skills
- Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data sets.
- Inter-relation of different branches of science.
- Writing skills.
- Identifying and avoiding plagiarism.
- Use and misuse of generative AI.
- Finding, accessing and citing scientific literature.
Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module
- Lectures. Practical classes to expand on concepts introduced in lectures.
Teaching Methods and Learning Hours
| Activity | Number | Frequency | Duration | Total Hours | Attendance Monitored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 20 | 1 per week | 1 hour | 20 | Yes |
| Practicals | 20 | 1 per week | 2 hours | 40 | Yes |
| Preparation and Reading | 140 | ||||
| Total | 200 | ||||
Summative Assessment
| Component | Component Weighting | Element | Length/Duration | Element Weighting | Resit Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examination | 50% | Two-hour unseen written examination | 100% | ||
| Practical Assessment | 50% | Two-hour unseen practical test | 100% |
Formative Assessment
Discussion and feedback at every class meeting. Exercises similar to practical examination questions.
Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods
and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative
assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress
procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be
required to leave the University.