Program overview
Quaternary Geology is a branch of geology that studies the Earth's environment and human relationships over the past approximately 2.6 million years. Simply put, it involves analyzing sediments left by glaciers, rivers, lakes, and oceans, as well as loess and cave deposits, to reconstruct ancient climates, sea-level changes, the evolution of flora and fauna, and even human migration routes. Core courses include Principles of Quaternary Geology, Paleoclimatology, Geomorphology, Chronology (e.g., radiocarbon dating, optically stimulated luminescence dating), Environmental Magnetism, and Pollen Analysis. If you enjoy fieldwork, hands-on experiments, and are curious about Earth's history and future environment, this major is a great fit. China has unique advantages in Quaternary research: ice cores from the Tibetan Plateau, loess-paleosol sequences on the Loess Plateau, and stalagmite records from karst regions are globally renowned research materials. Universities such as Nanjing University, Peking University, and China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) have strong Quaternary research teams, offering international students opportunities to participate in cutting-edge projects.