Lectures, exercises and excursions serve as an introduction to atmospheric sciences, soil science and hydrology. Students gain a broad vision of the cutting edge topics that are being researched and studied at D-USYS and D-BAUG at ETH, Eawag, and WSL. This will be the base for a future dialog between the field of landscape architecture and the field of natural sciences and engineering.

Geological Mapping in the Alps in pairs with an assigned supervisor. Common activities are an introductory excursion, and a final presentation of the report and map, either in the field or in class. The scheduled two weeks are set at the beginning and end of the summer, to allow interested students to add some mapping days.

No description available.

The Planet Earth, its interior and the plate tectonics as unifying theory. The rock cycle and the minerals and rocks. Igneous, Metamorphic and Sedimentary rocks. Deformation and earthquakes. Exploration of the earth interior.

The surface of the Planet Earth, main processes and formation of Sedimentary rocks in various environments. Time in Geology, stratigraphy and fossils, relative and absolute ages. Surface processes, water in the surface and subsurface, Ice and glaciers. Climate systems, Carbon cycle. Impact of human activities, anthropogenic climate change. Geobiology and early history of Planet Earth.

The course is aimed at students in the Earth Sciences interested in the Alpine orogenic belt, from surface processes to crustal motion to mantle dynamics. It conveys the essentials of Alpine-Mediterranean geology while bridging the gap between regional geology and modern, process-oriented geodynamic research.

Mapping of sedimentary rocks and stratigraphic units with the final production of a geological map at 1:10.000 scale. Writing a report illustrating the main facies and characters of the units, the Quaternary surficial deposits and the tectonic structures affecting the sedimentary rocks.

Theoretical background and application of some basic methods for sediment analysis.

Microscopy of carbonate (1st half of semester) and sliciclastic rocks (2nd half) rocks as well as siliceous, phosphatic and evaporitic sediements.

Students will be trained for 10 days in the field analysis of sedimentary rocks. They will learn how to measure sections, they will combine facies analysis with analysis of sedimentary structures in the field. The area of study selected for this course changes from year to year.

Sediments preserved a record of past landscapes. This courses focuses on understanding the processes that modify sedimentary landscapes with time and how we can read this changes in the sedimentary record.

The course will focus on biological amd chemical aspects of sedimentation in marine environments. Marine sedimentation will be traced from coast to deep-sea. The use of stable isotopes palaeoceanography will be discussed. Neritic, hemipelagic and pelagic sediments will be used as proxies for environmental change during times of major perturbations of climate and oceanography.

Course covers the theory and applications of tectonic geomorphology. Topics include the use of fluvial terraces and other geomorphic markers to map uplift, methods of dating surfaces and landscapes, topographic evolution over active structures and landscape evolution of active mountain ranges. Methods include field mapping, DEM analysis, and computer modeling.