Entry requirements

120 credits with 80 credits within physics and mathematics; alternatively with 60 credits geoscience, 15 credits mathematics and 15 credits physics.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of the course, the student should

• understand the basic configurations of plate boundaries and how they may develop through time on a flat and a spherical earth
• understand the role of the Earth's magnetic field in deciphering past plate motions
• be able to describe isostatic compensation and calculate Earth's responses to simple loads
• be able to describe the difference between compressional waves, shear waves and surface waves and explain how these wave types can be used to extract information about the elastic properties of the Earth's interior
• be able to calculate travel-time curves for simple Earth's structures
• be able to explain how earthquakes are located and how they can be categorised into strike-slip, normal and thrust faulting on the basis of worldwide observations.
• understand the principal ways in which waves are transmitted, reflected and refracted in the whole earth and explain the major constitution of the Earth's interior
• understand the equations describing convection in the Earth's mantle and describe the major forces acting on the surface plates.
• be able to describe how movements in the metallic outer core can sustain the Earth's magnetic field in time and space
• be able to explain in some detail how geophysical studies of Earth's subduction zones and mid-oceanic ridges can unravel the processes of deformation, heating and melting.
• be able to explain in some detail how geophysical studies of sedimentary basins and continental margins have added to the understanding of their formation.

Content

Plate tectonics. The Earth's magnetic field and palaeomagnetism. The formation of the Earth. Dating methods. The Earth's shape and gravity field, the geoid, isostasy. Seismicity, source mechanisms, stress field. Heat flow in continents and oceans. Convection in the Earth's mantle and core. The composition of the Earth. Structure of and processes forming oceanic and continental crust.

Instruction

Lectures, exercises, seminar presentations

Assessment

Written examination