Hongrui Zhang: Katalogdaten im Herbstsemester 2023

NameHerr Dr. Hongrui Zhang
Adresse
Professur für Klimageologie
ETH Zürich, NO G 58
Sonneggstrasse 5
8092 Zürich
SWITZERLAND
E-Mailhongrui.zhang@eaps.ethz.ch
DepartementErd- und Planetenwissenschaften
BeziehungDozent

NummerTitelECTSUmfangDozierende
651-4043-00LSedimentology II: Biological and Chemical Processes in Lacustrine and Marine Systems
Prerequisite: Successful completion of the MSc-course "Sedimentology I" (651-4041-00L).
3 KP2GV. Picotti, A. Gilli, H. Stoll, H. Zhang
KurzbeschreibungThe course will focus on biological amd chemical aspects of sedimentation in marine environments. Marine sedimentation will be traced from coast to deep-sea. The use of stable isotopes palaeoceanography will be discussed. Neritic, hemipelagic and pelagic sediments will be used as proxies for environmental change during times of major perturbations of climate and oceanography.
Lernziel-You will understand chemistry and biology of the marine carbonate system
-You will be able to relate carbonate mineralogy with facies and environmental conditions
-You will be familiar with cool-water and warm-water carbonates
-You will see carbonate and organic-carbon rich sediments as part of the global carbon cycle
-You will be able to recognize links between climate and marine carbonate systems (e.g. acidification of oceans and reef growth)
-You will be able to use geological archives as source of information on global change
-You will have an overview of marine sedimentation through time
Inhalt-carbonates,: chemistry, mineralogy, biology
-carbonate sedimentation from the shelf to the deep sea
-carbonate facies
-cool-water and warm-water carbonates
-organic-carbon and black shales
-C-cycle, carbonates, Corg : CO2 sources and sink
-Carbonates: their geochemical proxies for environmental change: stable isotopes, Mg/Ca, Sr
-marine sediments thorugh geological time
-carbonates and evaporites
-lacustrine carbonates
-economic aspects of limestone
Skriptno script. scientific articles will be distributed during the course
LiteraturWe will read and critically discuss scientific articles relevant for "biological and chemical processes in marine and lacustrine systems"
Voraussetzungen / BesonderesThe grading of students is based on in-class exercises and end-semester examination.
651-4057-00LClimate History and Palaeoclimatology4 KP2GH. Stoll, H. Zhang
KurzbeschreibungClimate history and paleoclimatology explores how the major features of the earth's climate system have varied in the past, and the driving forces and feedbacks for these changes. The major topics include the earth's CO2 concentration and mean temperature, the size and stability of ice sheets and sea level, the amount and distribution of precipitation, and the ocean heat transport.
LernzielThe student will be able to describe the natural factors lead to variations in the earth's mean temperature, the growth and retreat of ice sheets, and variations in ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns, including feedback processes. Students will be able to interpret evidence of past climate changes from the main climate indicators or proxies recovered in geological records. Students will be able to use data from climate proxies to test if a given hypothesized mechanism for the climate change is supported or refuted. Students will be able to compare the magnitudes and rates of past changes in the carbon cycle, ice sheets, hydrological cycle, and ocean circulation, with predictions for climate changes over the next century to millennia.
InhaltThe course spans 5 thematic modules:

1. Cyclic variation in the earth's orbit and the rise and demise of ice sheets. Ice sheets and sea level - What do expansionist glaciers want? What is the natural range of variation in the earth's ice sheets and the consequent effect on sea level? How do cyclic variations in the earth's orbit affect the size of ice sheets under modern climate and under past warmer climates? What conditions the mean size and stability or fragility of the large polar ice caps and is their evidence that they have dynamic behavior? What rates and magnitudes of sea level change have accompanied past ice sheet variations? How stable or fragile is the ocean heat conveyor, past and present?
2. Feedbacks on climate cycles from CO2 and methane. What drives CO2 and methane variations over glacial cycles? What are the feedbacks with ocean circulation and the terrestrial biosphere?
3. Atmospheric circulation and variations in the earth's hydrological cycle - How variable are the earth's precipitation regimes? How large are the orbital scale variations in global monsoon systems?

4. Century-scale droughts and civil catastrophes. Will mean climate change El Nino frequency and intensity? What factors drive change in mid and high-latitude precipitation systems? Is there evidence that changes in water availability have played a role in the rise, demise, or dispersion of past civilizations?
5. How sensitive is Earth's long term climate to CO2 and cloud feedbacks? What regulates atmospheric CO2 over long tectonic timescales of millions to tens of millions of years?

The weekly two hour lecture periods will feature lecture on these themes interspersed with short interactive tasks to apply new knowledge. Over the semester, student teams will each present in class one debate based on two scientific articles of contrasting interpretations. With flexible scheduling, students will participate in a laboratory activity to generate a new paleoclimate record from stalagmites. Student teams will be supported by an individual tutorial meeting to assist in debate preparation and another to assist in the interpretation of the lab activity data.
KompetenzenKompetenzen
Fachspezifische KompetenzenKonzepte und Theoriengeprüft
Verfahren und Technologiengefördert
Methodenspezifische KompetenzenAnalytische Kompetenzengeprüft
Problemlösunggeprüft
Soziale KompetenzenKommunikationgeprüft
Kooperation und Teamarbeitgeprüft
Persönliche KompetenzenKreatives Denkengefördert
Kritisches Denkengefördert