• Studies
• Courses
• • GEO4410

GEO4410 - Glacial and periglacial geomorphology

Course content

The focus of this course will be on geomorphological processes and landforms associated with glaciers, permafrost and periglacial environments. The course also has relevance for Quaternary geology. The course will give an insight into modern research methods, including field methods and theoretical approaches to understanding processes and impacts of meteorology and climate on glacial and periglacial landforms, past as well as present.

The course will have a theoretical part with lectures and seminars, and a practical part with fieldwork and excursion in southern Norway. The theoretical part will provide you with an up-to-date overview on glacial- and periglacial processes and landforms, while the fieldwork will provide students with personal experience from modern glaciers and periglacial environments, with and without permafrost. Seminars will deal with papers, based on field studies in Norway and other cold-climatic regions, to improve knowledge on such geomorphological processes, and to demonstrate the use of cold-climate landforms to reconstruct past environments and climatic conditions. Discussions will concentrate on identifying the critical questions for future cold-climate geomorphological research, and how procedures might be devised to address these questions.

Learning outcomes

• This course will provide you with knowledge on permafrost and a variety of glacial and periglacial geomorphological processes and –landforms.
• You will train your ability to discover knowledge for yourself, wanting to know more, and with long-term retention of this knowledge.
• You will train your ability to perceive relations between old knowledge and new.
• You will train your ability to apply your knowledge to solwing problems.
• You will develop your critical evaluation skills, including logic.
• You will develop your ability to communicate your knowledge to others.

Admission

Students at UiO must apply for courses in StudentWeb.

International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

The examination in this course is not available for external candidates. Only students admitted to the course may sit for the examination.

Prerequisites

Formal prerequisites

GEG2110 - Geomorphological processes+GEG2130 - Geomorphology of the Nordic countries, or similar courses.

Overlap

9 credits against GG366. 10 credits against GEO9410.

Teaching

The course will have a theoretical part with lectures and seminars, and a practical part with fieldwork and excursion in southern Norway.

General information about excursions at the Department of geosciences

Exam information

Written report on fieldwork (c.50%) and oral examination (c.50%).

Assessment and grading

Course grades are awarded on a descending scale using alphabetic grades from A to E for passes and F for fail. Read more about the grading system .

External auditor: Ivar Berthling

An external auditor regularly evaluates the academic quality of the course, including the form of exam used on the course.

Explanations and appeals

Students can request an explanation of their grades, and can also appeal against their grades or make a complaint about formal examination errors. Read more about explanations and appeals

Possibility of make-up exams and re-takes

You can usually resit an exam, but the conditions depend on whether you had a valid reason for absence from the regular exam. Read more about resitting an exam .

Withdrawing from exams and limits on re-takes

A student can sit for this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do this in StudentWeb at least two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit for the exam.

Exam options for students with special needs

Students may apply for access to alternative exam resources or exam forms on the basis of chronic illness and/or special needs that create a marked disadvantage to other students in the exam situation. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.

Other information

Auditor for this course is associate professor Ivar Berthling, Department of Geography, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Contact us