GEOS 926 - The British-Irish Ice Sheet and the formation of modern British topography

FC NSMA

4 credits
Landscapes surround us all and often seem to be static, unchanging backdrops for our day-to-day activities. Yet, if we begin to look closely, landscapes are anything but static features; they are continually evolving at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. Earth Surface Processes, or geomorphology, is the study of landscapes, their forms, and the history and processes of their development. Geomorphology bridges the time scales of geology (millions to billions of years) and civil and environmental engineering (hundreds of years) to study the Quaternary (the last approximately 1.4 million years of Earth time). In Britain, modern processes are overprinting a landscape shaped by the British-Irish Ice Sheet and, in mountainous areas, alpine glaciers. Thus, any understanding of the modern landscape of London and surrounding areas must start with an understanding of the glacial processes during and prior to the last glacial maximum. This class will study these processes and how we can learn about them now, long after the glaciers and ice sheet have retreated.