Undergraduate Course: Physics of the Earth (EASC08016)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Earth Science |
Other subject area | Environmental Courses |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | A comprehensive introduction to the physics of the Earth, concentrating on earthquake and controlled-source seismology, physical geodesy and the Earth's gravity field, and geomagnetism and geo-electricity. The course emphasises interpretation and understanding using the techniques of physics and mathematics. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | See above |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Class Delivery Information |
Two hours lecture plus 1 hour tutorial per week for 11 week(s), and three 3-hour practical classes (weeks and times to be confirmed, starting week 2). |
| Course Start Date |
12/01/2015 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 9,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 3,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
149 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 3:00 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | | 3:00 | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| At the end of this course, you should have a broad, comprehensive overview of the physical processes operating in the solid Earth and its core and a quantitative understanding of the principles of the geophysical techniques by which this information is derived. You will also have gained practical experience and understanding of geophysical exploration techniques and how observations can be interpreted. These practical sessions will give you experience of carrying out routine lines of enquiry into professional level problems. You will be able to critically evaluate evidence based solutions to these problems. The assessed scientific report and degree exams will give you practise conveying complex information to a range of audiences for a range of purposes which is a valuable transferable skill. |
Assessment Information
1 written exam in the diet, scheduled for the end of the year (70%).
Assessment of practical reports (30%). |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
This course is a general introduction to the quantitative techniques needed to understand the planet we live on, drawing upon the methods and theory of physics to build up a picture of the interior of the Earth and the processes which generate its structure and surface features. |
| Syllabus |
Part 1: Seismology: vibrations, waves and earthquakes (Ian Main)
L1. Basic elasticity: stress & strain tensors, elastic moduli
L2. Elastic waves: derivation of the 1-D wave equation for plane P and S waves
L3. Seismic refraction: two-layer problem for flat and dipping layers
L4. Seismic refraction: linear velocity change, Ray Tracing, Travel Time Curves
L5. Seismic recording: basic principles of the mechanical seismometer
L6. Seismic reflection: calculation of reflection coefficient at normal incidence
L7. The convolution model for a seismogram
L8. Seismic attenuation: geometric spreading, anelastic attenuation, and scattering
Part 2: Electricity and Magnetism (Wyn Williams)
L9. Fundamental units in magnetism and electricity
L10. The geomagnetic field; The magnetic field of a dipole; Multipole and spherical harmonic representation of the geomagnetic field
L11. Introduction to hydromagnetic dynamos
L12. Geomagnetic instrumentation and design
L13. Solar-terrestrial interactions of the geomagnetic field
L14. Telluric currents and the conductivity structure of the Earth.
L15. EM methods of prospecting
L16. Magnetic properties of rocks
Part 3: Gravity (Kathy Whaler)
L17. Gravity and the gravitational constant, G
L18. The geo-potential
L19. Theory of the reference Earth model
L20. Earth's gravity field
L21. Interpretation: theory
L22 Interpretation: modelling
Practicals
P1. Seismograms ¿ identification of seismic phases and their use in earthquake location.
P2. EM survey interpretation
P3. Interpreting gravity anomalies
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| Transferable skills |
Quantitative analysis, report writing, science communication. |
| Reading list |
Recommended purchase:
Lowrie, W., 1997. Fundamentals of Geophysics, Cambridge Univ. Press.
Additional texts where funding allows:
Kearey, P.K., 1991. An introduction to Geophysical Exploration, Blackwell.
Stein S. and M. Wysession, 2003. Introduction to seismology, earthquakes and Earth structure, Blackwell. (Recommended purchase for those continuing to honours in geophysical subjects).
Shearer, P. 1999. Introduction to Seismology, Cambridge University Press.
Reference texts:
Fowler, C.M.R., 2005. The Solid earth: an introduction to Global Geophysics, Cambridge University Press.
Mussett, A. and A. Khan, 2000. Looking into the Earth, Cambridge University Press.
All of these are available in the reserve collection of the KB library. |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Two lectures plus one tutorial per week. Three 3-hour practicals, plus independent work on the course work delivered, tutorial presentation, practical presentation and background reading/ reinforcement. |
| Keywords | Physics_of the_Earth |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Andrew Bell
Tel: (0131 6)50 4918
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Nicola Muir
Tel: (0131 6)50 4842
Email: |
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