Evolution of life, climate and oceans

Through this course, several disciplines will be covered in order to provide a reminder and/or the basics concerning: the Biosphere, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere, as well as and above all, their evolution since the origin of the planet. The disciplines (and major themes) covered will be

-Paleontology: Evolution, Biochronology and Geological Eras, Biodiversity and Past Crises.

-Climatology and Oceanology: How to study the climate? What is the role of the ocean and the terrestrial biosphere. Faced with contemporary global issues, tools are developed to better characterize the mechanisms of climate change and their impacts on terrestrial and marine environments from the past to the future via the modification of biogeochemical cycles on a global scale. Environmental geochemistry will be a central method to characterize both the anthropogenic and natural footprint.

The main objectives are to understand the interactions of these envelopes with the Geosphere (covered in more depth in the HAT102T geology course) and to know how to analyze a current natural landscape with respect to its evolution over geological time.

The objective is to provide an exhaustive reminder and/or an upgrade of the prerequisites required for students with a naturalist (and biologist) background on the evolution of life, climate and oceans through a series of examples and/or models illustrating the interactions between the latter, in particular during the major periods of disturbance that our planet has already experienced in the recent to very distant past. Through these examples and practical work in the classroom or in the field, the students are expected to gain a concrete vision of the changes in biodiversity, climate and oceans in the past in order to better understand the societal issues concerning the future of biodiversity and climate change in the future.

Basic Life and Earth Sciences

Recommended prerequisites*:

HAT103T Discovery of Environmental Sciences

HAT102T geology

HAV108B EU From organisms to ecosystems

Continuous controls (practical work + field trip) and final exam.

• Synthetic description of the concepts covered in CM:

Through several examples from the recent (Pleistocene) to the very distant (Archean) past, we will show how climate, oceans and biodiversity have evolved over the last 3.8 billion years, trying to highlight the complex interactions between them and their responses to other possible disturbance factors (e.g. Terrestrial Geodynamics, Extra Planetary).

• Synthetic description of the practical sessions and number of hours associated with each session

Practical work (9h): Technical and practical approach to relative biochronology (dating) and to the reconstruction of paleoenvironments (paleoclimates & ocean dynamics) from fossil organisms.

Lab (3h): Climate/Ocean: Approach to environmental geochemistry (stable and radiogenic isotopes, organic and molecular chemistry, physiological geochemistry and climate science, understanding biogeochemical cycles at the global, ecosystem and community scales, geological cycles and ecological significance). Case studies (ocean acidification, coral bleaching, ENSO variations, marine pollution)

Practical work (3h): Support to the field trip, data/results analysis, implementation of the methodology of field data collection. Sampling of plants from different environments (lagoons to sea) and observations of the fauna. Identification and collection of organisms that will be available to the generations of students who will follow and continue this work. Identify indicators of environmental change. Analysis of the coastline (coastal erosion).

• Description of the themes/manipulations addressed during your field trip(s) and details of the destinations/sites

The objective is to put into practice in real conditions, the different techniques and knowledge acquired in the UE, namely: from the taking of field data (between Causse and Littoral), to reconstruct and/or analyze paleoenvironments or ancient to very recent environmental proxies (e.g. climatic changes), to apprehend paleobiodiversity and its age and to follow the evolution of these parameters in time (see TP) then to put them back in a more global context as approached in CM.

Hourly volumes* :

            CM : 15h

            TP : 15h

            Field : 6h