Undergraduate Course: Earth and Planetary Structure (EASC09019)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | The course consists of 18 lectures, with some tutorials, including groups of students presenting results of guided independent learning. There is also one computer-based practical and problem sheets to support learning.
The course covers the following modules:
Cosmogeny and Comparative Planetology;
Composition and Dating; and
Physics of the Earth's Interior. |
| Course description |
1) Cosmology, celestial mechanics, and the search for extrasolar planets.
2) Meteorites and their composition and origin.
3) Comparative Planetology: surfaces, energy budgets, geophysical properties, and atmospheres.
4) Mantle composition: cause of magmatism, crust formation.
5) Global Seismology and the Earth¿s interior. The Preliminary Reference Earth model, and free oscillations.
6) Earth material properties. Composition changes as a function of depth. Hydrostatic equilibrium and the effect of compression.
7) Convection in the mantle and outer core.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 18,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 5,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
72 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
100 %,
Coursework
0 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Written Exam: 90%, Course Work: 10 %, Practical Exam: 0%.
The assessment will consist problem sheet in which you are asked to determine the internal density structure of the Earth depending on the observed moment of inertia. You will be expected to solve simple differential equations, as well as use a computer programme to predict density distributions. You will be expected to interpret these results in terms of what you have learnt in the lectures. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- To be able to interpret global geophysical information in terms of simple models of planetary interiors.
- Understanding of heath flow through the Earth¿s surface and implications for crust formation and plate tectonics. To be able to understand the possible forms of convection in the mantle and core, and the constraints of fluid motion from geophysical observations.
- To understand and evaluate the different methods used to search for exoplanets. Deducing chemical and physical properties for other planets by compariom to those of the Earth.
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Reading List
Planetary Sciences, Imke de Pater & Jack J. Lissauer, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
New Theory of the Earth, Don L. Anderson, Cambridge University Press, 2007. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Earth_Planetary Structure |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Wyn Williams
Tel: (0131 6)50 4909
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Ken O'Neill
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: |
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