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Why choose this programme option?

This programme option investigates sediments and the information they contain, and how life has evolved and diversified.   

About the programme option

Do you want to study Earth’s constantly changing surface and the interaction between life and its environment through time? Do you want to explore how a reservoir below ground can be a resource for energy or storage of CO2? Do you want to create reconstructions of how sea-level has changed as a consequence of plate tectonics and climate?

Earth's surface has changed and is constantly changing across all scales and time frames. The processes involved and the interaction between life and the physical environment are archived in the sediments and their fossils.

A master's degree in these subjects include micro- and macro-fossil studies into evolutionary and environmental changes through Earth's history. Many of these subjects bring together both sedimentological and stratigraphical investigations with geochemical analyses and fossils for tracing environmental change in the past and present. 

Sedimentary basins are a window into Earth's history, and they contain important reservoirs for water, petroleum, and CO2-storage. Seismic theory and methods allow mapping and exploration on all scales, providing insights into how the Earth changes and is structured on both the surface and below ground.

You will learn the fundamentals of how sedimentary basins are established through plate tectonic processes, how sediments are generated, transported, and stored, and how the basins are impacted by tectonic forces, volcanoes, compaction, and chemical alteration.

Career prospects

Published June 15, 2021 1:04 PM - Last modified Apr. 13, 2023 3:24 PM