參與臺大-科諾伯勒大學-筑波大學國際合作短期課程計劃人員：
計劃主持人： 海洋研究所張翠玉副教授
“Mountain in a Changing World” 暑期課程參與者：地質科學系洪淑蕙教授；碩士生： 邵思齊，吳文皓；博士生：柯俊杰； 海洋研究所碩士生：陳立瑾
“The CO2 Challenge” 暑期課程參與者：化學系廖尉斯教授；博士生：許朗，黃芊瑋
Supported by the project “Collaborative International Short Programs in Earth Sciences, Nanosciences, and Chemistry (CISPENC)” (PIs: Prof. Emmy T. Chang (IONTU), Prof. Pascale Huyghe (UGA), Prof. Takahiko Kojima (UT)) funded by the NTU–UGA–UT Trilateral Center, two faculty members from National Taiwan University, Prof. Shu-Huei Hung (Department of Geosciences) and Prof. Wei-Ssu Liao (Department of Chemistry), together with six graduate students from both the departments, attended the 2025 Summer School hosted by Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) in two interdisciplinary programs from June 23 to 30, 2025: (1) “Mountains in a Changing World” for Geosciences group; (2) “The CO₂ Challenge” for Chemistry group. This initiative exemplified how participating students and faculty from Taiwan, Japan, France, and other countries can foster academic growth, cultural exchange, and long-lasting partnerships. By integrating education, research, and global cooperation, the summer school nurtured a new generation of scientists equipped to tackle the pressing challenges of a rapidly changing world (Figure 1).
The program of “Mountains in a Changing World” combined interdisciplinary lectures with immersive field experiences in the French Alps. It aimed to foster international academic exchange while providing participants a first-hand understanding of mountain building processes, glacial retreat, and natural hazards under climate change. For NTU Geosciences students, the experience was further enriched by a visit of ISTerre (Institut des Sciences de la Terre), one of France’s premier Earth science research institutes on July 1, 2025.
Interdisciplinary Lectures: Climate Change, Hydrology, and Alpine Geology
The classroom component offered an interdisciplinary exploration of climate change, hydrology, and mountain-building processes. providing essential scientific foundations for the field excursions. Lectures began with an overview of global warming, emphasizing its unprecedented pace since the Industrial Revolution due to human-driven greenhouse gas emissions. Ice core and paleoclimate data illustrated the accelerating retreat of glaciers, diminishing snowpack, and increasing frequency of extreme weather events These changes have threaten water availability for over 20% of the global population dependent on meltwater.
Hydrological lectures expanded on this theme by exploring flood hazards in mountainous regions. Despite differing climates and geomorphology, both France and Taiwan share vulnerability to rapid-onset flood events. Students learned how watershed geometry, soil moisture, and storm intensity interact to shape flood risks. Particular attention was given to hydro-climatic modeling of glacier melt-driven floods, an increasingly urgent topic as Alpine glaciers continue to shrink.
Tectonic lectures framed the Alps’ geological evolution within the Wilson Cycle, from the opening of the Tethys Ocean to its closure and continental collision. The Alps uniquely preserve both passive margin (External Alps) and collisional (Internal Alps) structures, offering a near-complete Wilson Cycle exposed at the surface to understand ocean basin evolution and mountain building processes. These insights serve as an invaluable analog for other active orogens including Taiwan.
Field Excursions: Exploring Alpine Landscapes, Hazards, and Tectonics
The summer school also featured a series of immersive field excursions across the French Alps, offering participants first-hand exposure to key geological structures, glacial landscapes, and environmental hazards. Guided by Prof. Pascale Huyghe and Dr. Christian Sue of UGA, the trips explored diverse locations that illustrated the interplay between tectonics, climate change, and landscape evolution.
At Col d’Ornon, participants examined the Ornon Fault, a relict normal fault from the Mesozoic rifting of the Tethys Ocean (Figure 2). This structure juxtaposes metamorphic basement rocks against Jurassic limestones, providing a natural cross-section of a preserved passive margin later involved in Alpine collision.
In the Romanche Valley, the group visited sites of both historical and recent landslides, including the source area of the 1219 Grenoble flood and the 2015 slope failure near the Barrage du Chambon (Figure 3). These sites underscored how mountainous regions remain vulnerable to slope instability, with serious implications for infrastructure and water management.
At Col du Lautaret, a key climatic and tectonic transition zone, students toured the high-elevation Alpine Botanical Garden (Jardin Botanique Alpin du Lautaret). Jointly managed by UGA and CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), the garden serves as a long-term research station where experiments, such as snow-exclusion plots, investigate the response of alpine plants to declining snow cover (Figure 4).
The Chemistry group joined the Earth Sciences cohort for the final two days of field excursions. In Chamonix, the focus shifted to glacial geomorphology at Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France. From an elevated viewpoint, we observed a striking contrast between smooth glacially polished bedrock surfaces and sharp, jagged ridgelines that mark the glacier’s former extent. Inside the ice cave carved into the glacier, we viewed ancient ice layers trapped air bubbles and sediment deposits which recorded the glacier’s long history and provided visible evidence for its accelerating retreat in recent decades (Figure 5).
The most geologically comprehensive stop was Le Chenaillet, a well-preserved Alpine ophiolite. Along the geological trail, participants observed a complete section of oceanic lithosphere: deep-sea sediments, pillow basalts, sheeted dikes, gabbros, and ultramafic mantle rocks. A key highlight was the clearly visible oceanic Moho, marking the transition between crustal and mantle lithologies. These exposures provided a rare opportunity to study plate boundary processes and ophiolite emplacement, offering important analogs for Taiwan’s own subduction-collision setting (Figure 6).
Visit to ISTerre: Seismology, Instrumentation, and International Collaboration
On the final day of the program, NTU Geosciences Group visited ISTERRE (Institut des Sciences de la Terre), a premier Earth science research institute jointly operated by Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) and the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) of France. The visit offered a unique opportunity to explore the institute's cutting-edge research and technical infrastructure.
We were welcomed by ISTerre’s newly appointed director, Dr. Philippe Guéguen, and engaged in a series of rewarding discussions with ISTerre scientists. Dr. Erwan Pathier presented his collaborative research with Taiwanese geoscientists on crustal deformation in southwestern Taiwan, emphasizing the use of InSAR and geodetic techniques to monitor active tectonics and surface strain in complex subduction-collision settings. Dr. Pierre Boué introduced his work in seismic interferometry focusing on extracting body waves from microseism sources. Dr. Emmanuel Chaljub discussed seismic hazard assessment in urban environments, sharing insights from ongoing modeling efforts (Figure 7).
We also visited ISTerre’s Instrumentation Center, where technical staff demonstrated procedures for testing and calibrating broadband seismometers to ensure optimal performance in the field. Students were introduced to the assembly of field-ready seismic kits, including Centaur data loggers, broadband and short-period sensors, batteries, and solar panels. Instructional materials provided step-by-step guidance on real-world deployment scenarios, from sensor placement to data logging and telemetry setup (Figure 7)
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