EU Field placement

This EU is primarily a training course for geological mapping in the field, built in two parts:

1 - A pre-learning in 2 days of fieldwork in the northern Montpellier region. Introduction to field mapping methods (measurement, transfer) and to the survey of structural and sedimentary sections in the St Martin de Londres basin. The students are followed in the field in small groups of 10, using project-based pedagogy (complementary work) and group pedagogy in the field (dialogue, interaction) guided by a teacher who guides them in questioning, locating and reporting cartographic data.

2 - A deepening of the learning process through an immersion in a long field course of 8 days in the Alps (Digne region). With the help of project-based and inverted pedagogy (autonomous work alternated with supervised days, i.e. rotation of small groups), students learn to map in a high relief region where rocks are very deformed, and field observation and spatial data are very complementary. The total immersion of the fieldwork allows for supervised work and monitoring of the student's daily work.

Hourly volumes:

CM : 2 h (introduction of basic notions)

TD : 10 h (3h of GIS, 7h of image analysis, and construction of sections)

Field : 60 h (12h in St Martin, 48h in Digne)

This training allows students in Montpellier to learn how to locate maps, take measurements in the field and transfer data to construct a geological map. It aims to provide the fundamentals of observation and measurement in the field, which are the foundation of any student intending to work in the geosciences. This training also allows the student to interpret and understand the large-scale geological structures commonly observed in the subsurface by integrating observations and measurements at different scales (sample, outcrop, landscape). Finally, it aims to put into practice the knowledge acquired throughout their degree, particularly in cartography, sedimentology, tectonics, geomorphology and field geology.

Geological field mapping and GIS at L2 level

Map analysis and construction of L2 level sections

Tectonics

Sedimentology

Recommended prerequisites:

Geology of France

Continuous assessment: 13 assessments in the form of elements constructed and corrected (spatial image interpretation, sections, minutes, log ...) during the training, allowing in-fine to build a geological map and its annexed documents. An interpretative commentary of the map is requested during the last evaluation.

• Synthetic description of the concepts covered in CM:

2h class:

- Framing of the expected work: the documents to be handed in, reminder of the measurements to be taken, the terminology of the objects to be represented, their meaning, the representation conventions, the chart of symbols and codes used for the data transfer.

- Reminder on orthographic projection.

- Presentation of the regional geology of the two mapping sites.

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

3h of TD for the framing of the map transfer under GIS,

7h of TD for the supervision of the construction of the sections and the analysis of images.

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

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

Basin of St Martin de Londres, from Mas de Londres to La Jasse. Cartographic location, lithofacies, dip measurements, identification of structures, panoramic observation drawings, transfer of data on the minute (bench by bench) and the notebook.

The sub-Alpine front in the Digne area, around the village of Esclangon. Cartographic location, lithofacies, measurements of dips, identification of structures, drawings of panoramic observations, transfer of data on the minute (bench by bench) and the notebook.

- Cartographic location,

- Identification of lithofacies, structural objects and unconformities in the field,

- Construction of geological maps: transfer of dip data, orthographic projection of formation boundaries, faults, folds and unconformities,

- Transfer of data to a geographic information system (QGIS)

- Structural section construction,

- Construction of sedimentary section,

- Map Commentary.