| Title: |
Arctic Tectonics and Volcanism : a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary educational approach |
| Authors: |
Senger, Kim; Shephard, Grace; Ammerlaan, Fenna; Anfinson, Owen; Audet, Pascal; Coakley, Bernard; Ershova, Victoria; Faleide, Jan Inge; Grundvag, Sten-Andreas; Horota, Rafael Kenji; Iyer, Karthik; Janocha, Julian; Jones, Morgan; Minakov, Alexander; Odlum, Margaret; Sartell, Anna; Schaeffer, Andrew; Stockli, Daniel; Vander Kloet, Marie Annette; Gaina, Carmen |
| Contributors: |
Department of Geosciences and Geography |
| Publisher Information: |
Copernicus GMBH |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Collection: |
Helsingfors Universitet: HELDA – Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto |
| Subject Terms: |
Large igneous province; Barents shelf; Svalbard; Geochronology; Magmatism; Mantle; Basin; Sea; Temperature; Initiation; Geosciences |
| Description: |
Geologically, the Arctic is one of the least-explored regions of Earth. Obtaining data in the high Arctic is logistically, economically, and environmentally expensive, but the township of Longyearbyen (population of 2617 as of 2024) at 78 degrees N represents a relatively easily accessible gateway to Arctic geology and is home to The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS). These unique factors provide a foundation from which to teach and explore Arctic geology via the classroom, the laboratory, and the field. UNIS was founded in 1993 as the Norwegian "field university", offering field-based courses in Arctic geology, geophysics, biology, and technology to students from Norway and abroad.In this contribution, we present one of the educational components of the international collaboration project NOR-R-AM (a Norwegian-Russian-North American collaboration in Arctic research and collaboration, titled Changes at the Top of the World through Volcanism and Plate Tectonics) which ran from 2017 to 2024. One of the key deliverables of NOR-R-AM was a new graduate (Master's and PhD-level) course called Arctic Tectonics and Volcanism that we have established and taught annually at UNIS since 2018 and detail herein. The course's main objective is to teach the complex geological evolution of the Arctic from the Devonian period (similar to 420 million years ago, Ma) to the present day through integrating multi-scale datasets and a broad range of geoscientific disciplines. We outline the course itself before presenting student perspectives based on both an anonymous questionnaire (n=27) and in-depth perceptions of four selected students. The course, with an annual intake of up to 20 MSc and PhD students, is held over a 6-week period, typically in spring or autumn. The course comprises modules on field and polar safety, Svalbard/Barents Sea geology, wider Arctic geology, plate tectonics, mantle dynamics, geo- and thermochronology, and geochemistry of igneous systems. A field component, which in some years included an overnight ... |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
We sincerely thank all the AGx51 students over the years for their contributions, including answering the questionnaire. UNIS logistics department supported all our field activities and undertook the necessary safety training. Schlumberger and Cegal generously provided an academic license for Petrel and the Blueback Toolbox, respectively. We thank the editor, Leslie Almberg; Aleksandra Smyrak-Sikora; and an anonymous reviewer for their comments which improved this paper.; https://hdl.handle.net/10138/589997; 85213860341; 001378672100001 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/10138/589997 |
| Rights: |
cc_by ; info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; openAccess |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.372A2D30 |
| Database: |
BASE |