DCU Home | Our Courses | Loop | Registry | Library | Search DCU
<< Back to Module List

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).

As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Evolution of Ireland's Physical Landscape
Module Code GY209 (ITS) / GEO1012 (Banner)
Faculty Humanities & Social Sciences School History & Geography
Module Co-ordinatorJean Williams
Module TeachersGránia Shanahan, Susan Hegarty
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
None
Description

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the various elements that make up the physical landscape of Ireland. It is broken into three broad areas – (a) the bedrock foundation, (b) the glacial legacy and (c) how Ireland became populated with plants, animals and humans following the retreat of the last ice sheet. In this module students develop knowledge and skills in map reading and interpretation, interpreting graphs and linking various elements of Irish physical geography. The module is taught around learning statements with associated in-class activities within a lecture-format, supported by in-class assessment for learning throughout. Students are expected to attend and engage in the module.

Learning Outcomes

1. Describe the geological history of Ireland
2. Identify signs and patterns of glaciation on the Irish landscape and explain their significance in terms of the pattern of glaciation
3. Describe the transformation of the Irish physical landscape from glaciation to Holocene, with reference to climate, flora and fauna
4. Relate modern global earth surface processes to particular landforms on the Irish landscape
5. Explain and interpret a selection of maps and graphs used in earth science



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture24Lectures
Independent Study101Independent Learning
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Part I: Building blocks of the land – the rocky framework
● Irish palaeogeography: Precambrian and Cambrian artefacts ● Ordovician and Silurian landscapes: Ireland between 485 and 419 million years ago ● Orogenies in Ireland: Formation of Caledonian mountains and the mountains of the southwest ● Devonian and Carboniferous Ireland: The formation of Ireland’s most characteristic rocks, and the influence of this on the landscape ● Post-Carboniferous Ireland: What happened in the last 300 million years?

Part II: Polishing the stone – glaciers and glaciation of Ireland
● Irish Quaternary geomorphology and the ice sheets of Ireland: the heritage that the ice sheets have left us in general: Physical characteristics of Ireland’s glacigenic deposits ● What do these deposits look like, and why are they useful? Case studies of glacial landscapes ● How did the ice affect specific areas in Ireland?

Part III: Dressing a barren land: the Holocene and the colonisation of Ireland
● Early and mid-Holocene vegetation ● What happened once the ice had left? What plants came first and how did this spread? ● The arrival of animals

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
AssignmentAssignments as required50%n/a
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List

  • Aalen, F.H.A., Whelan, K. & Stout, M.: 1997, Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape 1997. (1st ed), 2011 (2nd ed), Cork University Press, Cork,
  • Edwards, K.J. and Warren, W.P. (eds): 1985, The Quaternary History of Ireland, Academic Press, London,
  • Davies, G.L.H. and Stephens, N.: 1979, The geomorphology of the British Isles: Ireland, Methuen & Co. Ltd, London,
  • Jebb, M and Crowley, C. (eds): 201, Secrets of the Irish Landscape, Atrium, Cork,
  • Mitchell, G.F: 1976, The Irish Landscape, Collins, Glasgow,
  • Mitchell, G.F. and Ryan, M.: 1997, Reading the Irish Landscape, Townhouse Press, Dublin,
  • Sleeman, A, McConnell, B.& Gatley, S.: 2004, Understanding earth processes, rocks and the geological history of Ireland, Geological Survey of Ireland, Dublin,
Other Resources

40738, 0, Articles on Loop,

<< Back to Module List