The module “Engineering geophysics” consists of a ground penetrating radar internship. Knowledge of 3-D terrain surveys, data evaluation, operation of different georadar devices and antennas, data processing with topographical correction, etc. should be conveyed. This enables the students to assess the potential of geophysical exploration measures with regard to the depth, resolution and influence of the subsurface materials.

The module “Quaternary geology and paleoclimate” is divided into a lecture part and an excursion. The lecture deals with the position of the Quaternary and its climate in the history of the earth, causes of ice ages, Quaternary archives and their proxies, Quaternary dating methods, the Quaternary climate dynamics, and an overview of the regional Quaternary geology of southern Germany. The excursion visits either Quaternary sediments in the Upper Rhine Graben, the Alpine Foreland, the Pleistocene glacial deposits in the southern Black Forest, or active Alpine glaciers.

The “Regional geology” module focuses on the geology of Central Europe. The focus is on the overview of the geological structure of Europe with special consideration of the Caledonids, Variscids, Alps and their foreland basins as well as the post-Variscan overburden. The guideline is the geodynamic development of Central Europe on the basis of modern plate tectonic models. Data from sedimentology (sedimentary basin), petrology (metamorphosis), structural geology (mountain building), geophysics (crust structure, plate tectonics, paleomagnetics), geochemistry (magmatism, crust development) and geochronology (magmatism, crust age, sediment provenance, stratigraphy) are used as examples ) included.

The module “Sediment geology II” consists of a lecture part and a multi-day field internship. Both serve to impart knowledge about the classification of sedimentary basins, plate tectonic frameworks, subsidence and thermal development, backfill patterns, etc. to the students and to apply these to characteristic outcrops in the context of the field course. For this purpose, examinations are carried out on site using Gamma Ray, a hand drill and other procedures. The aim is to introduce the students to modern methods of basin analysis, especially sequence stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy, and to design geological subsurface models.

The module “Sedimentary geology III” consists of a lecture and an exercise and is held entirely in English. The lecture “Sedimentary Petrography and Provenance Analysis” deals with the source-to-sink concept, the classification of sedimentary rocks (especially sandstones) and their interpretation in the context of provenance, tectonics, climate and reservoir properties, as well as multi-proxy provenance analysis techniques (heavy mineral analysis, single-grain techniques). In the exercise, the students learn how to identify typical sedimentary minerals, rock fragments, heavy minerals, interstitial components and diagenetic phases using the polarization microscope. Selected software used in compositional data analysis is introduced.

The module “Sedimentary geology V” deals with erosional processes and erosion parameters with a focus on water erosion. Methods for measuring erosion and sediment fluxes on different spatial and temporal scales (e.g. sediment traps, tracers, cosmogenic nuclides, sedimentary fingerprints, sediment loads, sediment budgeting), as well as erosion models on various scales (e.g. USLE, BQART) are introduced.

In the module “Sediment geology V” the repetition and consolidation of the knowledge about basic earth surface processes (weathering, erosion, transport, deposition), description and quantification of erosion parameters with a focus on water erosion, methods for measuring erosion and sediment flows on different spatial and temporal scales are available (e.g. sediment traps, tracers, cosmogenic nuclides, sedimentary fingerprints) in the foreground as well as erosion models on various scales (e.g. USLE, BQART), global importance of the sediment loads of river systems and the quantification of the sediment budget.