Module manager: Prof Jeff Peakall
Email: j.peakall@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
Successful completion of level 2 geology or equivalent material (e.g., SOEE2910)
| SOEE2910 | Palaeoenvironmental Analysis |
| SOEE3060 | Adv Sedimentology & App |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module examines how complex sedimentary successions arise in response to a range of both intrinsic operating processes and to a range of external controls such as sea-level change, climate change, and tectonic basin development. Additionally, this module examines- the nature of the carbon sink in the deep sea, and microplastic transport and sedimentation.
To present an integrated account of aspects of advanced sedimentology from sediment source to sediment sink, and critically examine recent and ongoing research into the dynamics of sedimentary environments, their recognition in the ancient record and their environmental application.
To be able to demonstrate an awareness of the principal intrinsic controls on sedimentation in a variety of sedimentary environment settings and to show how such environments respond to external controls such as changes in sea level, climate and tectonic setting.
Students registered on this module will acquire skills in sedimentary logging, sedimentary architectural analysis, relating complex 3D and 4D relationships in space and time, and distinguishing between intrinsic versus external controls on the sedimentary record.
This course will provide training in how to relate sedimentological evidence to regional and global external forcing. Additionally, it will demonstrate how sedimentological and stratigraphical principles can be applied to identify palaeoenvironments. The role of deep-sea systems in microplastic transport and deposition, and as carbon sinks, will also be covered. Development of geological skills relevant to the analysis of sedimentary sequences and their relative position within evolving sedimentary basins forms an integral part of this course
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fieldwork | 2 | 10 | 20 |
| Lecture | 14 | 1 | 14 |
| Private study hours | 116 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 34 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 150 | ||
Students are expected to undertake approximately 3 hours of independent study and additional reading as an accompaniment to each lecture in the course.
Student progress within the module will be monitored on the field course through discussions at the various localities. Further it will be assessed through marking of the fieldwork report and the two essays at various stages through the module.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | 2,500 words | 33 |
| Essay | 2,500 words | 33 |
| Practical Report | Fieldwork Report (2,500 words) | 34 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team