Soils and Environment

Studiewijzer 2018/2019

Globale inhoud

Soils are perhaps the most important essentially non-renewable resources on Earth. Soils are very dynamic systems which perform many functions and deliver services vital to humankind and to the survival of ecosystems. For instance, humanity all but completely relies on soils for food production. Unfortunately the majority of soils are very vulnerable to degradation by overexploitation as their regeneration rate is extremely slow. The sustainable use of soils and the protection of their functions therefore require a profound knowledge of (chemical) processes in soils and their interactions with the environment. In the course we will focus on:

• Factors of soil formation
• Important soil types with a focus on Luxemburg and basics of soil classification
• Catena principle
• Soil organic matter
• Important soil chemical processes and related soil forming processes and soil types (e.g., surface reactions as sorption and ion exchange, oxidation/reduction)
• Threats for soils such as contamination and acidification

Over the course of five weeks the principles of soil formation will be taught including practical work to identify different rocks and minerals. Then, the course will focus on soil chemical processes. In addition, one week will be filled with a soil scientific fieldwork  in Luxembourg, which will be followed by a written report of the results

Studiemateriaal

Literatuur

• Canvas

Syllabus

• Canvas

Leerdoelen

• Acquire the basic knowledge required to understand soil functions
• Understand the linkage between geology, relief, soil formation and soil characteristics and able to apply this knowledge to analyze and describe soil forming processes in the field
• Understand how key chemical, physical and biological processes function and govern the ecosystem services offered by soils and able to apply this knowledge to qualitatively and quantitatively analyse soil systems.

Onderwijsvormen

• Hoorcollege
• Werkcollege
• Veldwerk/excursie
• Presentatie/symposium
• Zelfstudie
• Zelfstandig werken aan bijv. project/scriptie
• Begeleiding/feedbackmoment
• (Computer)practicum

The course is a mixture of lectures, selfstudy, exercises including practical ones (rocks and sediments), excursion and field work in Luxemburg:

• Hoorcollege (lectures). Attendance not required but strongly recommended as the material covered is part of the final exam.
• Werkcolleges (working groups). Attendance required.
• Practicum (practical) about minerals and rock types. Attendance required.
• Excursion and fieldwork in Luxemburg (1 week: 28 September through 2 October 2015). Attendance required.

Verdeling leeractiviteiten

Aanwezigheid

Aanwezigheidseisen opleiding (OER-B):

• In geval van een practicum is de student verplicht ten minste 90% van de practicumbijeenkomsten bij te wonen en zich op deze bijeenkomsten terdege voor te bereiden, tenzij anders aangegeven in de studiehandleiding of studiewijzer van het vak. Indien de student minder dan 90% heeft bijgewoond dient het practicum opnieuw te worden gevolgd.
• In geval van werkgroepbijeenkomsten is de student verplicht tenminste 90% van de werkgroepbijeenkomsten bij te wonen en zich op deze bijeenkomsten terdege voor te bereiden, tenzij anders aangegeven in de studiehandleiding of studiewijzer van het vak. Indien de student minder dan 90% heeft bijgewoond, kan het vak niet worden afgerond.
  

Aanvullende eisen voor dit vak:

It is compulsory to be present during the working groups, practical work, excursion and fieldwork. You are allowed to miss one working group without consequences (but you cannot miss part of the fieldwork!).

If you miss more than one working group or fail to fully and completely participate in the other compulsory parts of the course, you will have to redo the course next year. With the exception that in this case you will only have to redo the fieldwork component of the course if your failure to be (fully) present was during the fieldwork itself (see also paragraph 7).

In special cases students may request the Examencommissie to waive compulsory presence during certain parts of the course.

Toetsing

The total required minimum grade to pass the course is 5.50. Because the final exam and the field component of the course present distinctly different learning goals, the minimum grade of 5.50 also applies to each individual component. This means that you cannot compensate a failing grade in one component with a higher passing grade in another component and failing one component will lead to failing the course in its entirety.

However, for all components with the exception of the presentations in the field, one resit is possible (see schedule). In addition, should you fail the resit, you will have to redo the course the next year, but you will not have to redo parts that you passed already. For example, if you pass the fieldwork and its report but fail the exam and the resit of the exam, you will not have to redo the fieldwork component and/or the writing of the related report.

Additional specification for the resit of the field report is that if you use the resit option, your maximum obtainable grade for the field report will be a 6.0. The reason for this is that otherwise the additional time available by missing the original deadline would offer an unfair advantage.

N.B. If there are special reasons why you are not able to complete a specific obligatory component in the course, contact the study advisors studieadviseur-iis@uva.nl before the examination date (or deadline when it concerns a paper). In the case of special circumstances, the study advisor, student and course coordinator can search for alternative solutions.

Toetsmatrijs (studentenversie)

Studenten die het vak al eerder hebben gevolgd

If you did not pass the course in a given academic year, you will have to redo the course the next year. However, you will not 

Opdrachten

See the information in the general reader and the field guide on Canvas for more details about the assignements.

Fraude en plagiaat

Dit vak hanteert de algemene 'Fraude- en plagiaatregeling' van de UvA. Hier wordt nauwkeurig op gecontroleerd. Bij verdenking van fraude of plagiaat wordt de examencommissie van de opleiding ingeschakeld. Zie de Fraude- en plagiaatregeling van de UvA: http://student.uva.nl

Weekplanning

Rooster

Het rooster van dit vak is in te zien op DataNose.

Aanvullende informatie

Student's are responsible for their own journey to and from the fieldwork area in Luxembourg. In addition, a compulsory fee of €125 will be charged to cover the costs of housing and living during the fieldwork (see Canvas for details).

Soil science and chemistry knowledge as taught during the courses 'Toekomstperspectieven voor de Aarde' and 'Energietransities'.

The number of participants to the fieldwork part of the course is limited. If the number of attendees is too larger, preference is given to students  following a major Aardwetenschappen from Future Planet Studies or Betagamma. Because of the logistic restrictions of the fieldwork, students are only allowed to follow the fieldwork part of the course once. If a student fails (part of) the fieldwork, an alternative assignment will be prepared as a resit.

The course is taught in English, but parts of the reader are in Dutch. For those who do not speak Dutch, alternative literature will be provided.

Vakevaluatie afgelopen jaar

Contactinformatie

Coördinator

• dr. B. Jansen

Docenten

• Olaf Brock MSc
• dr. Steven Droge
• N.T.R.J.M. Jonkman MSc
• dr. W.E. Morriën
• L.L. Mulder
• dr. Kenneth Rijsdijk
• A. Tietema