Course description

“Paleogeomorphology” is a normative discipline of the educational-professional program “Geography” of the first (bachelor’s) level of higher education in Specialty “106 Geography”. The discipline is taught to full-time students in the 8th semester in the amount of 3.5 credits (according to the European Credit Transfer System ECTS).
The course is devoted to a relatively new field of knowledge – historical and natural science, which studies the ancient relief of the Earth and the laws of its development based on the reconstruction of the relief, relief formation conditions and types of morphogenesis by remnants and indicators of ancient relief preserved in the earth’s crust and on its surface.

The history and regularities of the formation of the Earth’s relief are considered in the widest time range – from the Archean to the Pleistocene and Holocene. But the detail of their consideration is different and increases with the approach of the modern geological epoch. The stages of development of the ancient relief of the Earth during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are highlighted and characterized in special detail. Particular attention is paid to the phased formation of the relief of the territory of Ukraine. The methods of studying and reconstruction of the destroyed and buried relief, as well as the practical significance of paleogeomorphological research, in particular, paleogeomorphological conditions of formation of sedimentary and placer mineral deposits are considered in detail.

The main objectives of the course are: 1) to acquaint students with the main problems of modern paleogeomorphology, the most important methods of paleogeomorphological research and patterns of development of the ancient relief of the Earth; 2) acquisition and deepening of knowledge about genetic types of buried relief and other types and typification of paleoforms; 3) to consider the features of sediments and rocks as indicators of the environment of sediment accumulation in continental and marine conditions; 4) consider the cyclical and phased development of the Earth’s terrain in terms of geologists, paleogeographers and geomorphologists; 5) to teach students to reproduce and characterize the reconstructed relief of sea basins and land of the Earth on different age sections; 6) to demonstrate the influence of paleogeomorphological conditions on the formation of different types of mineral deposits.

Upon completion of the course the student will know: the main factors and patterns of relief formation at different geochronological stages of formation of the earth’s crust and the relief of its surface; the role of various endogenous and exogenous factors in the formation of the Earth’s relief during the late Precambrian and Phanerozoic; basic concepts of formation of the paleorelief of the Earth; features of ancient sedimentation and relief formation in continental and marine conditions; conditions favorable for the preservation of ancient forms and fragments of the earth’s surface; practical significance of paleogeomorphological research.
The course program provides an opportunity to understand the main trends in the relief formation in the past and predict them in the future, taking into account climatic and other changes.