The course provides an introduction to the chemical reactions and processes in aquatic geosystems and introduces the most important material cycles (e.g. of C, N, S, Fe, Mn). The range of topics includes: global element cycles, residence times of elements in the ocean, geochemical reactions such as redox reactions, solution / precipitation reactions, adsorption / desorption, thermodynamics, kinetics, diagenesis, diffusive material flows.
The course consists of lectures and exercises, in which the theoretical basics are first conveyed and this content is then to be applied or understood in subsequent practical exercises on the computer.

Anders als das Modul "Grundlagen der Allgemeinen Chemie" wird die Vorlesung dieses Moduls von Lehrenden des Fachbereichs Geowissenschaften angeboten. Es werden die für das Studium der Geowissenschaften wichtigen Grundlagen in der Aquatischen Chemie, Organischen Chemie und der Chemie der Gesteine vermittelt.

The course serves to impart basic geological skills in the field ("Skills in the field"). In a four-day field event, the students are introduced to the geological methods and working methods in the field. Basics of regional geology, stratigraphy and tectonics are worked out using selected outcrops. The focus, however, is on the participants` independent work under supervision. Own sketches of outcrops should be created and the tectonic measurement of a fold structure should be carried out with the geological compass. In a geological profile recording, the rock is used in the terrain. After instructions for geological mapping and inspection of a standard profile, the participants carry out a first small geological mapping in small groups on a scale of 1: 10,000. The areas, which are up to two kilometers long and a few hundred meters wide, are located in easily mapped sequences of the Paleo and Mesozoic Era of the Harz uprighting zone. The field exercise is carried out in the Harz, in the straightening zone on the north-eastern edge of the Harz and the subhercyneal basin to the north.

A general understanding of the geoscientific fundamentals imparted in the module is expected (basic geological processes, formation and composition of the most important rock groups, understanding and interpretation of geological maps).

The 16-20 participants of each project course jointly investigate a scientifically attractive marine sediment core applying a wide method range (e.g. core description, core logging, echosounding, proxy methods, micropaleontology, geochemistry, sedimentology, mineralogy, environmental magnetism, chronostratigraphy). Organized in teams of 4 students, they work half-days in research labs of supporting expert scientists. Each student takes responsibility for a certain method, analyses the jointly collected data, and presents the results orally in a final exam colloquium. Subgroups of 5-6 students interpret their complementary results in a scientific poster. Presentation skills are trained during the class.

A lab-based course (or alternatively a one-week block course) is offered to study paleoceanography in the past using suitable archives of ship expeditions or field campaigns. There should be an intense investigation of such archives with respect to core/outcrop description, analysis and interpretation. The archives will be chosen to be complementary to the case studies adressed in Modul Paleoceanography I.

Marine sediments consists of material that is produced in the ocean and particulate matter of terrigenous origin. Beside information from microfossil tests (species abundances, carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonates, etc.) and depending on the regional environmental conditions, the terrigenous fraction of marine sediments contains extremely useful information about regional and/or temporal variations in climate conditions. Inorganic as well as organic particulate matter can be used especially to reconstruct and understand the complex interrelations between solar radiation, hydrological cycle and large scale correlations (e.g. teleconnections).
This course gives an introduction to the very interesting field of the use and development of terrigenous proxies in marine sediments. Beside fundamental information on the major inorganic and organic parameters (e.g. mineral assemblages, element compositions, organic components), selected case studies will presented and discussed by all participants.