Structure of the course
The course "Impacts and their Role in the Evolution of Life" will take place from 16 to 25 August 2013 at Kuressaare and the Kaali impact crater site on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. It aims to give students a thorough introductions in the role of meteorite and comets impacts in the formation of Earth, its atmosphere and the evolution of life evolution of life. The course consists of lectures, pratical exercises and student-led discussions. Participants will also have the possibility to display their own research results in two poster sessions. The following subjects will be covered by the lectures:
- Roles of impacts in the formation of habitable planets
- Physical and chemical properties of comets and meteorites
- Detection and investigation of impact craters by geological methods and remote sensing from space
- Ecological consequences of impacts and the role of impacts in mass extinctions
- Transfer of life through meteorite impacts
- Threat of life on our planet by near-Earth asteroids and comets
Lecturers
The following lecturers will give presentations at the summer course:
Dr. Alexis Brandeker Stockholm University, Sweden
Prof. Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, UK
Dr. Richard Court, Imperial College London, UK
Dr. Dirk Elbeshausen Natural History Museum, Berlin, Germany
Prof. Henning Haack Natural History Museum of Denmark
Dr. Argo Joeleht University of Tartu, Estonia
Prof. Kalle Kirsimäe University of Tartu, Estonia
Prof. Christian Koeberl University of Vienna, Austria
Dr. Tomas Kohout University of Helsinki, Finland
Prof. Karen Meech University of Hawai'i at Manoa, USA
Dr. Jüri Plado University of Tartu, Estonia
Prof. Hans Rickman Uppsala University, Sweden
Dr. Siim Veski Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Prof. Vivi Vajda Lund University, Sweden
Practical exercises
The lecture programme will be complemented by practical exercises concerning:
- Electromagnetic mapping of impact sites
- Analysis of pollen indicators of the Kaali impact event.
- Microscopy of impactites
- Georadar profiling at Kaali
These practical exercises will take place at the Kaali crater site, with the Kaali school functioning as a field site.
Preliminary programme
A preliminary programme of the summer course can be downloaded here as an .xls file here and as a .doc file here.
Poster sessions
The poster sessions will be held on Saturday, 17 and Sunday 18 August 2013. Poster boards are white and have a height of 2 metres and a width of 1 mtre. DIN A0 in portrait format will thus be OK.
Participants will be allowed a 4 minutes presentation for their posters (no discussion). The presentation will take place in the lecture room at Georg Ots Spa Hotel. Powerpoint slides can be used. For a smooth run of these poster talks, they are asked to bring their talks on a memory stick or CD-ROM.
Excursions
Excursions to geologically interesting sites like the Panga cliffs and/or the Vilsandi National Park will be carried out. Also cultural sights with connection to the Kaali impact will be visited.
Tere tulemast Eestisse!
