AUSTRIAN ALPS
Introduction
A one week residential field class to the Hohe Tauern Alps in Austria for Level Two BSc students with an emphasis on research in mountain environments including glaciology, proglacial rivers, vegetation, soils and water quality. This module is offered as an alternative to the Mediterranean Field Class. The field class is based in the Rudolfshutte, Uttendorf. Preparation for the field class is through a series of computer and reading based fieldwork planning/familiarisation exercises. Subjects covered include Alpine glaciation and glacial processes, fluvial sediments and bedforms in proglacial channels, soil types and processes, water quality, vegetation types and ecological relationships, natural resource exploitation, mountain hazards and human adaptations, conservation and national park management, GIS and remote sensing. The emphasis is on field research including training in field techniques and the formulation of hypotheses for research projects.
The module is mainly assessed on work done in the field.
