Case Studies in Tectonics

Course Objective

The aim of this course is to complete the general understanding of tectonic settings and concepts that students have gathered during their bachelor with more in-depth exploration and analysis of concrete, well-know regional case studies plate tectonics.

Course Content

'Case studies in tectonics' focusses on various tectonic settings on a global scale. We will explore the coupling between lithosphere-scale processes and the structural geological and geomorphological expression on the major tectonic plates, including the Pacific, African, Eurasian, North and South American, Australian and Antarctic plates. We will investigate these major tectonic plates by diving into the details of Archaean and Paleoproterozoic cratons, extensional tectonic settings (rift systems, break-up, spreading, back-arc dynamics), compressional tectonic settings (orogenies, ophiolite obduction, subduction systems, fold-and-thrust belts) and strike-slip tectonic settings (transform faults, continental escape, pull-apart basins and pop-up structures, quenching). We will do so by revising already learned structural geological skills and introduce niche-examples of structural geological techniques to unravel the tectonic history of specific case studies in tectonics.

Teaching Methods

The overall scheme of this intensive course is designed using different learning activities to encourage the students to actively apply the key structural geological concepts and skills to investigate plate tectonics.
There course consists of: lectures on case studies in tectonics; a technical exercise to learn the most commonly used structural
geological methods on a real-world example; a larger case study during the students themselves will work with actual data to resolve the tectonic evolution of a specific region; a group exercise during which two groups of students will discuss a tectonic case study on which opposing views currently exist.

Method of Assessment

Individual case study - report: 40% - Group exercise - debate: pass/fail -Duo exercise - poster presentation: 40% -Class participation/lecture attendance: 20%

To pass this course: the average grade needs to be 5.5; three out of four of the assessments need to be 5.5 or pass.

Additional Information

Case studies in tectonics introduces the students to a wide variety of tectonic cases, focusses on integrating different scales in structural geological settings, exploring the interplay between lithospheric processes, geomorphological expression and its structural representation on the scale of orogenies and basins, from macro-scale (kilometer and outcrop-scale) to micro-scale.

Recommended background knowledge

Veldpracticum Geologie en Geochemie (Betics), Deformatie van Gesteenten (AB_1080)