Earth and Life History

The course, consisting of lectures and demonstrations of rock and fossil samples, aims to provide an overview of 4.6 billion years of geotectonic and climatic changes on our Planet. We will explore the causes and consequences of major events shaping the current face of the Earth, explore how the history of Earth is connected with the evolution of life and how these interactions affected the development of the Ocean and the Atmosphere.

1) Understand the concept of geological time and the sequence and causes and consequences of key events in the evolution of the Earth system
2) Understand feedbacks between biological and geological processes acting on geological time scales

Written examination - there will be one examination for the entire module. For students outside of geosciences wishing to only cover this aspect of the course, it is possible to only write one part of the exam and obtain grade for only this course (2 CP).

written exam

See literature list for the full module.

1st SWS: Geological time
2nd SWS: Stratigraphy
3rd SWS: Origin of the Atmosphere and the Hydrosphere
4th SWS: Geology of the Precambrian
5th SWS: Life in the Precambrian
6th SWS: The End of the precambrian
7th SWS: Introduction to paleontology and its applications
8th SWS: Cambrian and Ordovician
9th SWS: Silurian and Devonian
10th SWS: Carboniferous and Permian
11th SWS: Mesozoic
12th SWS: Cenozoic
13th SWS: Quaternary
14th SWS: Preparing for examination

Gesteinssammlung