The course starts with a brief history of historical geology and an overview of the major global events. We address major themes - sedimentology, stratigraphy, structural geology, paleontology, and plate tectonics in time and space -, which are woven together to unravel Earth's history. The focus is on large scale, processes relevant for understanding how climatic and tectono-sedimentary changes are recorded in the geological record. In addition, the interdependent aspects of these themes will be addressed. Smaller-scaled events will be highlighted during the practicals.

Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.