GEO4214 – Fossil Proxies for Reconstructing Ancient Climates and Environments

Paleoenvironmental reconstructions are based on the physical, chemical and biological signatures preserved within fossil assemblages to infer ancient climates, landscapes and ecosystems. By integrating data from plant remains, animal fossils, sedimentology and stable isotopic ratios, quantitative and qualitative proxies (indicators) records can be established for parameters such as temperature, precipitation, seasonality and elevation.

This course gives an introduction in the discipline palaeoclimatology, high-lighting the fossil record of land plants and algae and their microfossils (pollen, spores, dinoflagellate cysts and other algae remains). The focus is on their biology, morphology, ecology and their application as indicators of past environments and climates.

After completing the course, you will know

• how plants and algae evolved through the phanerozoic, transferred and adapted from marine to terrestrial environments ("terrestrialization")
• how to use palynological surveys of fossil pollen and spores that reveal vegetation and climate history
• how to use marine palynology of algae (acritarchs, dinoflagellate cysts) to reconstruct marine environmental change
• how to reconstruct sedimentary environments by evaluating the composition of organic particles (palynofacies)
• how to reconstruct palaeoclimate (atmospheric pCO2 levels, temperature, precipitation) based on morphological features and the stable isotope composition of plant fossils (stomata frequency, leaf margin, tree rings)
• how to use statistical methods to infer palaeoecological and palaeoclimatological trends from palynological assemblages
• how sedimentary transport and post-depositional processes control the plant fossil record

Students admitted at UiO must apply for courses in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other master's degree programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may apply to take this course as a single course student.

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

The course includes a compulsory field course and excursions. A health-and-safety course for safety in the field must be passed before you can go on these:

• HMS0504 – Field Safety

• GEO2120 – Sedimentology / GEO2160 – Paleontology and Paleoecology / GEL2120 – Sedimentology, paleontology and stratigraphy (discontinued)

2 x 2 hours of lectures and 1 x 2 hours of practical exercises with either (1) literature study and quizzes on Canvas or (2) a palynological analysis of a Holocene core every week throughout the semester.

Exercises are mandatory to attend and will be performed in the microscopy lab and in the computer lab in the Geology building. A written report on selected topics must be submitted, which counts towards the final grade.

There is a compulsory one-day excursion to the Botanical Garden and Natural History Museum at Tøyen, where plant evolution based on examples of "living fossils" will be discussed.

Attendance at the first lecture is compulsory. Students who fail to meet are considered to have withdrawn from the course unless they have previously given notice to the course responsible.

We reserve the right to change the teaching form and examination of the course in semesters where 5 or fewer students have been admitted.

General information about excursions at the Department of Geosciences

As the teaching involves laboratory and/or fieldwork, you should consider taking out a separate travel and personal risk insurance. Read about your insurance coverage as a student.

• Attendance at exercises and the excursion must be approved before the final examination for the course.
• The written report counts 50% towards the final grade.
• A final written examination counts 50% towards the final grade.
• Both the written report and the final written examination must be passed separately in order to pass the course.

Mandatory assignments are valid for 5 semesters starting from the semester they were approved the first time.

It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.

Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.

Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.