Rivers in the Landscape(10 cr)
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| GEOG2075 | Geography | 2 | 10 | Spring UK |
- Code
- GEOG2075
- School
- Geography
- Level
- 2
- Credits
- 10
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
This module considers how rivers behave in the landscape and the controls on their morphology and dynamics. A combination of lectures and laboratory practicals will allow us to explore the geomorphological and ecological processes that maintain river channels at scales from millimetres to kilometres, and seconds to millennia. Students will gain an understanding of how rivers work, providing fundamental information necessary for environmental management.
Target Students
Only available for year 2 Geography students returning from Study Abroad.
Classes
Teaching will take place through a mixture of lectures, seminars, laboratory practicals, and a local field trip.
Assessment
- 100% Assessment: Coursework Summative. 2000 word individual essay.
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
This module assumes no prior knowledge in introducing the fundamentals of water flow, sediment transport and bank erosion in rivers. The module aims to provide students with the underpinning science of fluvial flows and the interaction between hydrological, geomorphological and ecological processes in fluvial landscapes. The module covers the dynamics of rivers with straight, meandering and braided planform patterns and the creation and maintenance of aquatic habitat. Lectures are interspersed by small-group laboratory practicals and a local field trip.Learning Outcomes
a. Knowledge and understanding:
- Understanding of the fluvial system.
- Comprehension of how the movement of water and sediment controls river channel form.
b. Intellectual Skills:
- Recognition that ideas and explanations are contested and that in many areas of fluvial geomorphology no consensus exists.
c. Professional Practical Skills:
- Laboratory skills in problem solving, data gathering and visual observation of natural forms and processes.
- Field-based methodologies commonly employed by government and consultancy agencies in assessing river condition.
d. Transferable Skills:
- Communication of ideas, concepts and observations through written and visual means.
Conveners
- Dr Matthew Johnson