GEO4171 – Floods, Avalanches and Landslides
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
The course is split into three parts focusing on the most common geohazards in Norway: floods, landslides and avalanches. Extreme precipitation, flooding and landslides are ultimately connected, and the course discusses floods and landslide hazards.
The course introduces different types of floods and further addresses extreme value theory, flood frequency analysis, and risk and uncertainty analyses. In the second part, the course describes landslide hazards, introduces tools and methods to collect landslide data, analyze the slope stability and predict risk areas. The final part of the course provides an introduction to snow avalanche mechanics and dynamics and modelling of those. It further provides an overview of avalanche forecasting and mitigation.
Learning outcome
After completing the course, you will be able to
- explain processes generating floods, landslides and avalanches
- apply flood frequency analysis
- apply models and methods for assessing slope stability and run-out zones of avalanches and landslides
- describe event inventories and susceptibility-, hazard- and risk maps for floods, avalanches and landslides
- describe common mitigation measures against floods, landslides and avalanches
- describe methods for forecasting floods, avalanches and landslides
- reflect on climate change impacts on floods, avalanches and landslides
Admission to the course
Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other master's degree programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may?apply to take this course as a single course student.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Formal prerequisite knowledge
The following course must be taken before the field trip in GEO4171:
Recommended previous knowledge
- MAT1100 – Calculus /?MAT1001 – Mathematics 1 (discontinued)
- FYS-MEK1110 – Mechanics / FYS1000 – Physics- the foundation of natural sciences and medicine (continued)
- STK1000 – Introduction to Applied Statistics
- GEO4131 – Geomechanics
- GEO4034 – Geohazards
or equivalent knowledge
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with GEO4170 – Landslides and debris flow (continued).
- 10 credits overlap with GEO9170 – Landslides and debris flows (discontinued).
Teaching
2*2 hours of lectures and 2*2 hours of practicals/exercises per week, where many of the practicals will be used to prepare a total?of 3 assignments that count towards the final grade.?
There will be a one-day field trip to a selected site and a 3-day?excursion with accommodation.?
Attendance at the first lecture is compulsory. Students who fail to meet are considered to have withdrawn from the course unless they have previously given notice to the Student administration (studieinfo@geo.uio.no).
We reserve the right to change the teaching?form and examination of the course in semesters where 5 or fewer students have been admitted.
To attend the field trip/excursion it is required that the following course is passed:
You will need to provide documentation that you have passed HMS0504 when you attend the field trip / excursion.
General information about excursions at the Department of Geosciences
As?the?teaching involves laboratory and/or fieldwork, you should consider taking out separate travel and personal risk insurance.?Read about your insurance cover as a student.
Cost of taking the course
The excursion has a fee of NOK 150?per day (if accommodation).
Examination
- 3 assignments from the weekly practicals count together 50% towards the final grade.
- The final exam counts 50% towards the final?grade.
- Both the 3 assignments and the final exam must be passed separately in order to pass the course.
The final exam may be written or oral depending on the number of students.
Mandatory assignments are valid for 5 semesters starting from the semester they were approved the first time.
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you?withdraw from the exam?after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
It will also be counted as 1 of the 3 attempts to sit the exam for this course if you sit the exam for one of the following courses:
- GEO4170 – Landslides and debris flow (continued)
- GEO9170 – Landslides and debris flows (discontinued)
Examination support material
No examination support material is allowed.
Language of examination
In this course any written exam questions or assignment questions may be available in English only.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F?is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.
Resit an examination
Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are?offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.
Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.