The field trip has a three-yearly rotation, so different field trips take place to different regions with different professors.

2026: prof. Verstraeten, Almeria (Spain)

2025: prof. Kervyn, Massif Central/Chaine des Puys/Ardeche

2024: prof. Vanmaercke, Moldavian Plateau / Eastern Romania

2023: prof. Verstraeten, Spain

The exam is oral; you get some preparation time for random questions. It is open book, so you get to take the excursion guide and the compiled notes.

2026: Spain

June

17/06/2026

Each group got a selection of pictures (4-7 more or less, which you had to locate), than a picture of a rambla or gully with plants.

Group 1:

Locate these pictures on the map, describe the evolution of the environment since the 19th century, what are the drivers, what is the impact ( hydro - and geomorphological)?
1. Cerro pistolas: serres
2. Vague picture of the surrounding terraces around Lucainena de Torres (without the furnaces)
3. Minero San Diego, Rodalquilar
4. Mojacar, hotel

=> He expects mostly the link between these places and processes, not a separate summary

2. A picture with a lot of different plants in the Rambla Honda: How do you explain the distribution of these vegetation, which processes cause these? Why is there more vegetation in the rambla / which types / characteristics, identify Anthyllis shrubs in the picture, Do you see any stipa grasses (why only here and not on the rest of the terraces) Group 2:

Locate the photos and explain, based on the photos and/or images from the field trip guide, what the main erosion and sedimentation processes are: are these driven by humans or are they natural on a scale of 1000 km²? These were the photo's:
1. Puentes dam
2. Check dam (clear-water effect explanation)
3. Rambla Salada
4. Rambla Belerda
5. Guadix basin (gully)
6. Tabernas badlands (travertine dam partially visible)
You were given a photo of a rambla with different types of vegetation; explain which vegetation you see and why it occurs there. Also indicate the temporal and spatial changes of the vegetation in a semi-arid ecosystem (Tamarix, Oleander, and Stipa grass).
A common question regarding the task (without preparation) is linking the task to the larger context of the excursion. The task regarding alluvial fans had a question regarding whether this alluvial fan was not included in the analysis: what type of fan is this? Could this change in the future (linking the alluvial fan to the incision in the Tabernas basin which could cause a relative base level drop and thus trigger an incising alluvial fan in the future).

Group 4:

Four pictures: compare the incision/erosion in different basins
1. Capture point Río Aguas - Rio de los Feos
2. Badlands in Tabernas basin
3. Bank gully Rio Santiago
4. Canyon of Rio GorPicture of rambla, abandoned terraces and hillslope: taken east of Lucainena

Explain the temporal and spatial distribution of plants.

23/06/2026

some of the same pictures as the first exam day.

7 pictures with some of the same location but another angle
- Tabernas badlands view on the mesas
- tabernas badlands vie on the flattened surfaces
- playa torre garcia
- second picture of close up of the rounded pebbles and calcrete
- top of the sierra cabrera, rambla de los feos
- other side (last stop of day 6) with the red surface in de verte
- picture of the valley from the travertine on day 7, very green and there were orchids, we did not really see this but you can find the picture on his strava-
- Rambla near lucainena had to explain the different plants in and around the rambla

2025: France

You always got two questions from this set: (sorry, some are dutch, but i dont have the time or energy to translate them myself; google is your friend) There might be some doubles in here depending on who wrote it down and how well they remembered:

What are factors causing badlands formation? How would you stop badlands from eroding further?
Morphology of the Ardèche's course: what processes/lithologies influence it? What types of valley forms do you encounter in different regions?
Why is the Ardèche so susceptible to flash floods when compared to, for example, the Allier? How would you reconstruct historical floods on centennial and millennial timescales?
What type of material can you find under the volcanic rocks in the different formations we saw?
Name three different knickpoints we saw or whose influence we saw (doesnt need to exist anymore), discuss their formation and how you would estimate their retreat rate.
What were the three monogenetic morphology types we saw and compre them in terms of composition, eruption type, and hazard
You are a hazard risk manager on the ardeche what types of hazards are there and how would you assess the risk and how would you minimize it
3 ways of lake forming a lake and where you can find them
different types of erutions explain everything you know
Explain the meandering flow of the Ardèche, and the presence of its deep gorges around the Saint-Remeze plateau. Link this with the formation of caves.
Some deposits observed in the field were interpreted to result from phreato-magmatic eruptions. Describe what are the main characteristics of the deposit and the volcano morphology that can lead to that interpretation. Highlight how deposits from a phreato-magmatic eruption can vary within a single volcano and relate it to the evolution of the eruption dynamics.
Zet de volgende evenementen in chronologische volgorde. Geef voor elk aan wat de ruimtelijke omvang ervan is en hoe men deze kan dateren.
The Chaîne des Puys and the Limagne fault became a UNESCO World heritage site in 2018, and the Chauvet cave in 2014. Explain what this means and what are the arguments that were put forward in these applications. Explain what challenges these sites are facing for their preservation and their touristic valorization.
Waarom zijn de gorges in het Saint-Remeze plateau zo diep, hoe zijn ze gevormd en wanneer? Bespreek de verschillende fases.
2 stops bespreken die bewijs vormen voor uplift plioceen-pleistoceen en hoe we de rate van uplift daar konden bepalen
bespreek op verschillende ruimtelijke schalen de typische vorm van het kalksteenplateau in saint remèze
Alle knickpoints die we hebben gezien (beke een curveball) - noem er 4
De vulkanen in de Chaîne des Puys komen voort uit dezelfde magmaserie. Verklaar hoe deze serie is geëvolueerd om te zorgen voor de grote variëteit aan vulkanen in het gebied. Geef ook aan hoe deze evolutie mogelijk is. Leg vervolgens uit hoe het mogelijk is dat de verschillende types vulkanen net langs elkaar kunnen gevormd worden. Leg ook het verband uit tussen de invloed van de magmatische serie op het type uitbarsting.
... there's more but you get the idea right